Hi all,
We recently (a few days ago, actually) came into the care of a very young kitten (about 3 weeks old) who had been abandoned by her mother and various humans. We took her in, fed her, she cried a lot but liked to crawl into my hair and sleep in it (it probably reminded her of her mother.) We knew we couldn't keep her because my dad hates cats and we already have 4, so I was spreading the word that we had a kitten that we were interested in giving away to a nice home.
Well, this morning, I woke up and checked on her (I kept her in a pet carry case at night to sleep in, well-protected.) Oddly enough, she wasn't crying at all or anxious to get out. She just kind of laid there, alive but dopey, lethargic---clearly something was wrong.

I took her downstairs, called the vet, tried to revive her spirits until the appointment rolled around. She would open her mouth trying to cry but nothing came out. I left her with my mom when I went upstairs to change my shirt. When I came back, the kitty had passed. :( :cry:

Has this ever happened to anyone before? Did I do something wrong? Could this have happened because she had gone without sustinence for an unknown number of days, and feeding her regularly at my house caused a disruption in her digestive system? I feel so bad. She was the sweetest little thing. My friend who was planning to take her in was sorely disappointed as well. :( Does anyone have an experience with this at all? Any tips for when it could happen again? This is really kind of heartbreaking.

I've never heard of that sort of thing. I just want to say I'm sorry that happened, skunkpumpkin. It's good that you took her in and gave her a nice place to live. :(

Poor little kitty.

You may like to look at this website: http://www.shelterpetsink.com/feline_panleukopenia.htm

It says that very young kittens can die of this disease without showing any symptoms.

It could be that, or something else. I'm pretty certain she had some kind of illness which you were unaware of and that the way you cared for her had nothing to do with it.

It's wonderful that she was able to receive so much love in her short life.

Tiny kittens like that have a very high mortality rate. They are just so small and fragile. My mom recently had a five-week-old kitten die in a similar way, except that she had diarrhea and stuff first. When they are so young and small, their systems are very unstable--bad things can happen fast. And the time she spent starving outside very likely affected her negatively.

I'm so sorry. :( Remember that you gave her what she needed most--love and someone who cared about what happened to her.

I'm so sorry about the poor kitten. :hug: At least she got some real lovin' before she went to the big kitty bed in the sky.

:) thanks everyone. It's somewhat of a comfort to know it's not uncommon. It's just pretty sad.

I'm so sorry. :hug:

:hug: I'm sorry. :(

:( thaaaaaanks guys. (hugs accepted :))

In that case, I'll give you a :hug: too. :)

I have lost 2 of my male bettas within a 48 hour span of time, so I know where you are coming from.

aww. :hug: for you too.

So sorry. An old post (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showpost.php?p=754790&postcount=7) of mine about a similar situation.

a similar thing happened to us a few years ago. my dad has a used car lot and in one of the cars we found a tiny little kitten. we took her in and named her "pinto" (after the car she was in). the vet gave us some formula to give her but she died a few weeks later. like others have said, small kittens have a high mortality rate and you should feel good that you gave yours some much needed love in its short time here

again, thanks so much for understanding you guys.

Christy ~ that is so heartbreaking! I'm really sorry you had to witness that :hug: And yeah, I can't look at the (only) two pictures of the late kitten I have without tearing up a bit.

Awww so sorry :-( It sounds like you gave her a wonderful life, even if it was short. It would have been even shorter if not for your loving care. Sounds like you did a wonderful job and i hope that your heart can recover from this sadness soon.

A lot of times when a mother cat abandons a kitten its because she knows something is wrong with it, so she might have had something internally wrong that you couldn't have fixed. My boyfriends family has taken in quite a few of these little guys that they find wandering from feral cat colonies and to date only two have survived to adult hood. I'm so sorry for you loss I know how hard it is to lose little guys, epically when you've put so much work into keeping them alive.