I rescued a young cat last night...UPDATED w/ PICS

[Robin'sBrood]

DH and I went to an Outback for dinner last night (my parents babysat

) and when I walked out of the front doors there was this adorable little cat. She was hiding under an SUV with her cute little face staring at me. I spoke to her and she meowed a little so I bent down to let her sniff my hand. She acted like she was going to run but calmed down as I spoke softly to her, sniffed my hand, and then let me pet her. I quickly grabbed her and walked over to our van with her.

This Outback is in the parking lot of a large outlet mall off of I-95 between Smithfield and Selma (NC). There are no houses around and it's a very busy mall area... traffic everywhere. DH asked me what I was going to do with her (we can't have cats due to allergies

) and I said I don't know but there was no way I could leave her there. She's young, probably 6 months or so. And it was so cold. Poor baby.

Anyway, of course she got away from me in the van and I was really afraid that she was going to freak out and scratch DH as he drove, or get up under the brake pedal... but she hid under a back seat the whole time. I called my brother, who still lives with my parents, and asked I could borrow one of his carriers and if he would help me get her out from under the seat and into the carrier.

My father and brother are big time cat lovers (as am I) so they said to leave her with them overnight since I don't have anywhere to keep her. We set her up in the laundry room... they had an unused litter box and litter on hand, as well as some dry and wet cat food. She ate about 1/4 of a can of food while she was still in the carrier.

Well, I called to check on her today and it sounds like my Dad & brother have already fallen for her. I was going to see if I could get her in a cat rescue group, but it looks like that might not be necessary. The only thing that may change this is if their other two cats don't accept this little girl. Hopefully they will, but you never know with cats. Please say some

that all will work out!

Thanks, gotta get ready for work now...

 

[Reinbeau]

Aw, the poor sweetie, good thing she found you!

 

[OrpingtonManor]

How great of you to get her out of harms way last night!

Cats will mostly work things out if given enough time. My big concern is that she might be carryng something that can infect the other cats. Is there ANY sign of poor health? Eyes clear with no drainage? No discharge from the nose? No mites? No fleas? Stools normal?

I adopted a kitten about that age from the humane society. I thought that would be a safe way to go. However, it turned out that she had feline herpes. My older cat caught it 10 days after they were introduced. If I had known, I could have vaccinated him or returned the kitten. The story has a happy ending. Both cats get along fine. They will have herpes as carriers for life. As long as their diet is good, there really is no problem. But, there was eye drainage from the kitten when I got her. The shelter records just said she had a cold.

I know you want to take care of this kitty, but be cautious.

 

[cluckychick]

We have a feral momma cat that runs around here and she had a batch of kittens in our barn last year. Upon moving them during a rain storm my dog got loose and attacked the momma cat and I just knew she was done for so we searched and searched and found all 3 kittens and brought them inside and tamed them, litter trained and found new forever homes for them. About 2 months later momma cat shows up again still kicken it

Well the last month during the bitter cold she's been coming up on the porch after dark and we go out and give her a handful of cat food. My indoor kitties sit at the back door and just make a fuss. Well every night my DH and I have been sitting there while she eats, moving the food bowl closer and closer to us. Two nights ago he reached down and petted her and she allowed it. Last night she was all over him brushing up against him but still skittish. A little bit longer and she'll be fully catchable and off to the vet to be fixed

 

[rooster0209]

Thank goodness you were there to save her.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Just got home from visiting my parents'/brother's new addition. She is adorable! She looks like a very light colored tortoiseshell with tabby markings mixed in. She's tiny and has a little round pumpkin head with huge eyes. She's started purring and "kneading bread", playing with toys, eating well, and has used the litter box. She's just as healthy looking as can be but is being kept "quarantined" in the laundry room until she can be checked out by the vet, just in case. My brother took some pics of her while I was there tonight, I'll get him to send me a couple so I can post them on here.

Cluckychick, that's a wonderful story about your little feral mama.

 

[CochinLover]

YAY FOR RESCUES. its usually not the case though. I just had an adoption event today and of course no adoptions.

We have not had any adoptions in about 7mos straight so i am especially glad to hear ur brother and dad are planning on keeping the baby. sigh makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[silkiechicken]

Best of luck!

If it didn't run as soon as you got near it, might try to see if someone lost it. Ferals hide, but young pets used to humans will let you touch them.

 

[Florida chick]

I am very glad you were so kind, but hope they kept her seperated and in quarentine.... She could very well be Feline Leukemia positive or have other diseases.

I hope she is healthy and all is well you are kind generous people.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
I thought about that too but there are absolutely no houses anywhere around that area... it's a very busy shopping/eating area just off of I-95 about half way between NY and FL... so I wouldn't know where to begin looking.

My guess is that she was an unwanted female kitty who was dumped somewhere in that mall area.

Whatever the case I do know that when she goes to the vet they're going to have her scanned to see if she is microchipped.