Make sure the cat or kitten has food, water, and shelter. It's unexpected and even may cost money to resolve, but nonetheless, there it is, and it's not going to go away! While you absolutely did not cause the problem, it has become yours, much like a storm that drops a tree in your yard. Healthy kittens, abandoned without their mother, will soon starve or become ill or injured.

A dumped pregnant cat may shortly have kittens beneath your porch. If you wander outside one day with your morning coffee and are greeted by the forlorn mews of an abandoned cat or kittens, you might be tempted to hope they will just 'go away.' However, ignoring them will only make the situation worse. However, it's hard to catch someone who merely slows down and tosses a cat alongside a country road or leaves a box of kittens at a campground. In New York State it is punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or a year in prison.

When my phone rang this Sunday, the news was particularly bad: Two female cats and three tiny kittens (pictured) had been left at Carol's door.Ībandonment of domestic animals is illegal. We helped neuter Carol's outdoor cats in 2002 (all of them were offspring of cats abandoned on her property), so luckily we are there to help when new cats appear in her life. I volunteer with a feral-cat trap/neuter/return group in addition to my job with Petfinder. Her income is fixed as well, and she has no money for vet visits for new cats. Another cat or kitten has been thoughtlessly abandoned during the night.Ĭarol is a senior citizen, and all of her own cats are fixed.

Almost every summer, Carol goes out on the porch of her remote rural home and discovers an unfamiliar feline face.

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