Expert: Ali - 9/19/2008

Question
QUESTION: There's a 4 mo old feral kitten and an alpha male living in an abandoned yard on a busy city street near me. If I rescue the kitten, and separate him from his father(?) - whom he is clearly affectionate towards - he will suffer for it and so will the alpha. He is being fed by locals, and my apartment is cramped compared to the space he's used to.

On the other hand, the alpha is clearly ill (black lips, bad teeth and salivating) and this unbelievably healthy and energetic offspring can NOT end up like that if I can help it.

Plus he would be a great buddy to our 6 mo old male who had been abandoned in a parking lot 4 months ago and needs a buddy since he doesn't go outside.

I called a service to neuter strays, but maybe I ought to just let them be together rather than cramping the kitten into my apartment with another (lonely) cat?

ANSWER: Ubu,

It's important to understand the difference between stray and feral. A stray cat has had some contact with people and will warm up to them if given the chance, in fact some stray cats seek out human attention. A feral cat is a cat who hasn't had much contact with people and is (at least initially) fearful of human beings. Some feral cats can be tamed if you have lots of time to devote to the cause and you are very patient and take things slowly. Some cats will thrive on the care, attention and constant companionship in a home environment, just because this kitten is stray/feral doesn't mean that he wouldn't be happy being a member of your family. I'm very glad to hear that the local people are providing this kitten with food, however cats should have love, affection and medical care when they need it. Given that the male cat who is usually around the kitten is sick you need to consider the potential that he may have been exposed to or infected with serious viral or bacterial infections some of which can be life threatening over time. Feline leukemia and FIV are viral infections that affect the immune system and can make it easier for secondary infections to take hold. Some cats infected with feline leukemia and FIV won't show any symptoms while other cats become very sick, very quickly and die. Feline leukemia and FIV can be loosely compared with HIV/AIDS in people but it's important to realize that these viral infections can't be passed onto human caregivers although your kitten may contract these infections if they are present.

You have a difficult decision to make in terms of deciding whether or not you are prepared to provide a home for this kitten. I do think that it would be worth your while to use a humane live trap to catch the kitten or lure him into a cat carrier with something irresistible like tuna, salmon or sardines and have the little one checked over by your family vet and tested for the contagious viral infections that I've mentioned above. If the little one is deemed healthy in every way by your vet then you can certainly bring him inside and start off his time with you. I have written numerous answers regarding proper new cat/kitten introductions and caring for fearful strays or feral cats and how to give yourself the best chances of success. If you do decide to take this kitten in you will need to isolate him in a room behind a closed door for a minimum of 2-3 weeks so that your resident kitten gets a chance to get to know the new kitten and is protected from any potential viral/bacterial infections that the new little one could have been exposed to. If the older male cat is gravely ill you may want to consider having him examined by your family vet. If he is beyond help it would be kindest to euthanise him so that he doesn't continue to suffer, however if he has a treatable illness you may end up with two cats at the same time when you were only expecting one.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I really appreciate your prompt and thorough response. Here in Portugal there is no RSPCA for help or information -- and rather dubious advice from private association vets.

If you don't mind I wanted to clarify two things:

1) I cannot house the TWO cats together (I can only take one), so should I consider NOT housing either of them?

The kitten is uncannily affectionate toward the alpha (lots of hip bumps and sticking close to his side; the alpha is unusually vigilant and protective of the kitten). Plus, since they're being fed, is it fare to take them away from the freedom they have and put either of them into my apartment. There may be love, but not much space.

2)Also, You mentioned sending photos: was that so you could give an informal opinion of their health of sorts?



ANSWER: Ubu,

As promised I have managed to get some information regarding vets in your area from an animal welfare organization called WSPA. This is the link that they sent me and according to them if you contact vets on their list you should be able to find a good vet in Portugal. I hope that you find this link helpful, and since this is the first time that I have recommended checking with this organization I would certainly appreciate feedback so that I know whether or not this is a good resource to use in future. Best of luck for you and the cats.

http://www.wspa.org.uk/members/findmember/MemberSocietyForCountry.aspx?country=P



You mentioned in your initial question that the older male cat seemed to be very sick. If he has a contagious illness you could potentially be exposing your resident kitten to it and the kitten that you are thinking about rescuing has most likely already been exposed to any illness that the older cat may have. That's part of the reason that I recommended trapping the cats and having a veterinarian give them a thorough examination including blood and urine testing to ensure that their internal organs are functioning properly and to check for serious, contagious feline viral infections like feline leukemia and FIV which can potentially open the door to life threatening secondary infections and organ failure.

I have contacted a couple of international animal rescue organizations, some of whom have licensed vets on staff. I'm hoping to find some local help for these kitties. The positive side of this is that if I find organizations that are willing to work with you to provide the best possible care for these two cats and even provide your resident cat with basic vet care including vaccines, deworming, neutering and any other care that he may need. A licensed vet will be able to tell you whether or not the older cat is seriously ill, what resources will be needed to help get him healthy again and what the best treatment options are. If you want to rescue the kitten and the older cat you can certainly do so, but as I said in my last answer it is wise to keep them away from your resident cat until you have received information to the contrary from a licensed vet and everyone has been properly cared for. I was under the impression that you wanted to focus your rescue efforts on saving the kitten so that's why my advice was geared more towards the kitten's needs.

Since space is an issue I would suspect that rescuing the kitten would be the most efficient use of resources since you mentioned that the kitten seems healthy while the adult cat seems to be quite sick. Since the adult cat is sick I think it's important to have him assessed by a vet, if the vet determines that this kitty is beyond help it's best to humanely euthanise him in order to prevent ongoing suffering and having to watch this kitty die by inches for however long it takes for him to die on his own. The kitten has the opportunity to come and live with you in a home where he can be given medical treatment, a steady supply of food, clean water and affection. Once the little one got used to spending the time indoors with a family he would most likely prefer it to the uncertainty that comes with living outside and being at the mercy of human beings while depending on their kindness and compassion to get fed. Indoor cats usually have a much healthier existence, they aren't under constant stress because they are constantly worried about where their next meal will come from and they don't risk being hit by a car, being abused by one or more cruel human beings, getting attacked by larger predators including domestic dogs and they aren't as likely to be exposed to serious infections that could potentially cost them their lives in the depleted state that they subsist in.

In short there isn't anything wrong with providing a home for the kitten, he will most likely miss being outdoors, at least initially, but once he discovers the comfort of curling up next to a human on the furniture or playing without the constant fear of being ambushed by people or animals or of simply fading away as a result of starvation. I'm left to wonder how healthy the adult cat is since you mention that he is salivating and seems ill. It's quite possible that the most important thing you can do for this little fellow is to end his suffering peacefully and gently by having a licensed vet administer an overdose of an injected anesthetic. The process of euthanasia is quite quick and is done to ease the suffering of a sick or injured animal. While I understand your reluctance to do such a thing since the cat is still well enough to move around on his own, if he is terminally ill this would be an act of mercy. No cat lover ever wants to make the decision to end a cat's life, however if this kitty's internal organs are failing and his body is severely depleted due to ongoing illness and surviving on scraps of food given to him by compassionate people he may not ever recover. The truth is that he may simply be worn out from living on the streets and too sick to have a meaningful recovery. The other honest possibility is that the older kitty simply has a damaged tooth or a tooth that needs to be extracted. If this is the case a licensed vet can anesthetize this little guy, neuter him, remove any teeth that are infected and causing problems, deworm him, provide him with long acting flea protection and give routine vaccinations for fatal illnesses like rabies and distemper. If the vet is able to patch the older cat up there's no real reason why he couldn't be re-release near your home where you could provide food and clean water for him.

In most cases I add the part about sending a picture along simply because I enjoy seeing the faces of the cats and kittens that I'm able to help through this website. In your case, since you don't have immediate access to high quality care provided by a licensed vet photos would give me a general idea of what the cats' body conditions are like. If you could get close enough to the older cat and have someone hold him while you took pictures of his teeth this may also provide some clues as to how he's doing. I may be able to provide you with an educated guess as to what the odds are that the older cat is seriously ill or if he is in such poor shape that humanely euthanising him may be the best option. The better the quality of the pictures the more likely it is that I can provide you with any kind of opinion. Obviously I'm not a vet, but I've fostered many cats and kittens with differing health issues ranging from starvation to abuse. In that capacity I may be able to provide you with an idea of just how urgent it is to have the older cat looked at and what kind of condition the little kitten is in. By no means am I claiming to provide you with veterinary advice nor is my opinion to be substituted for veterinary care. I will contact you once I have found some local resources that you could try which will hopefully be fairly soon.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: "I have contacted a couple of international animal rescue organizations, some of whom have licensed vets on staff."

If you have any contact with qualified vets in Lisbon, especially ones catering to rescue of strays, please let me know! I can't tell you how frustrated I have been even trying to get through to the few 'legitimate' animal organizations here. They all have websites and talk about the great work they are doing, but none seems to be actually doing anything. I certainly haven't got any help capturing strays, treating or sterilizing them - which is what they all say they specialize in!

So, do let me know if you come up with any leads.

all the best
Ubu  

Answer
Ubu,

I have sent WSPA's link your way to help you out with the two strays you wrote me about which will hopefully yield a good vet to provide medical attention to this older cat and the kitten. I must admit that even in Canada very few "animal welfare" organizations are willing to get into starting up a catch/spay or neuter/vaccinate and release program, mostly because of the prohibitive costs involved. It's a sad statement of fact that many of these organizations are understaffed and rely entirely on public donations which are unfortunately not as forthcoming as they should be.

According to the person from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) who answered my request for help in your situation the link that I sent you should be a good start when it comes to finding well qualified vets in Portugal. Apparently there are a few vets in Portugal that are actively working with WSPA, but you will have to direct your specific questions to this organization in order to have the best chance of having access to their resources and help your local stray population. Unfortunately all too many organizations look good on paper, I do believe that WSPA is a reputable organization with a more hands on approach than most. With a little luck you should be well on the way to finding a vet who is actively working with WSPA....

If you do manage to get into contact with WSPA and the organization agrees to help you care for the strays in your area you may be able to borrow a humane live trap to catch the strays and use sterilization to reduce the sheer numbers of stray/feral or unwanted cats and kittens. The great thing about spay/neuter programs set up to control the stray/feral population is that no more kittens will be born. This ultimately translates into a slow, but steady decline in the population. Many people mistakenly believe that euthanasia is the answer to reduce the populations of unwanted cats and kittens, fortunately for the cats there have been a few major studies pertaining to this very issue done around the world. The conclusion that the scientists came to is that if they surgically sterilized each of the cats in a given colony the population decreased. In colonies where euthanasia was the method of population control the deceased cats were quickly replaced by one or more cats who were fending for themselves nearby. As for the stray/feral rescue programs I haven't really seen much else...I will try to find something for you, but given the fact that I have yet to see anything that seems promising the only thing that I can promise is that I will do my best to find organizations willing to work with you and help care for these abandoned, unwanted strays as well as the feral cats. You may want to try contacting vets working with WSPA in your area, they may be willing to help you capture, spay/neuter, vaccinate and release the large numbers of cats roaming freely in your area. I can't promise that these services would be provided free of charge, however animal rescue/protection agencies may be willing to help you out by taking care of these urgent needs at cost rather than paying full price...

In North America the vast majority of stray and feral cats aren't fortunate enough to have the most basic necessities provided to them. The stray/feral cats that do manage to receive regular meals and basic vet care do so as a result of committed volunteers who provide food and water at designated locations and in many cases these volunteers take money from their own pocket in order to pay the vet costs. In terms of finding an international organization that is willing to provide the most basic care such as vaccination and sterilization I really don't know how successful I will be, however I will continue to look for resources in your area that may be willing to provide some assistance to these cats. I'll keep you posted if I do manage to find anything that looks like it might be useful to you.

I'm also interested in hearing about how things are progressing when it comes to getting medical care for the older cat as well as rescuing the kitten that you were considering providing a home for.  I sincerely hope that you will be able to find the resources to help these two cats (and many others) out and manage to give them a better life than what they would have living on the streets, depending upon the kindness of strangers for their very survival. Please keep me updated as to whether or not you manage to successfully find the type of resources you are looking for.