The Heartache of Giving a Home to a Stray Kitten

Hello,

I'm starting a blog series with the goal of helping out street animals around our area and near us. I plan to use the payout from these posts to help neglected animals on the streets. Whether it's by providing them with food to ease their hunger or by donating to shelters that do more than we can on our own.

A few days ago, my partner and I went through a very sad time. We adopted a tiny stray kitten, just 4 to 6 weeks old, and after only a month, he passed away. It was a deep emotional loss for us. When we're both at home, we avoid making eye contact because it leads to hugging and tears, a painful reminder of how much we miss him.

This all began when we heard the cries of a little kitten outside our apartment complex. He was in a sewer, and most of our neighbors just ignored strays like him, letting them fend for themselves. They'd occasionally give them food, but there was no real attachment, and they'd show no remorse if one of them disappeared. We were in a tricky situation since we weren't allowed to have pets inside, but the apartment owner made an exception for our 2-year-old cat as long as we had a cage for it. However, when we saw this kitten, crying and searching for its mother, terrified of all people and running away from anyone who got close, we couldn't turn our backs. We took care of it.

In just a month, this little kitten more than doubled in size. He is still looking for his mother back then and was always biting lose cloths and sucking on it. But sadly, he passed away far too soon due to a severe case of Upper Respiratory Infection. We were devastated. This day, I decided to start this series. While we don't have much extra money to spend, we hope that our time and effort in creating regular blog posts will make a difference. We plan to use the earnings from each post to buy food for street animals, and even for pets that may not have enough to eat.

In our country, it's common for cats and dogs to never see a vet in their entire lives. There's a prevailing notion to let them be, feed them, and hope they can recover from illnesses on their own. A significant number of cats and dogs in our country live on the streets, without a place to call home. Many of them might have owners, but due to various reasons, they're not a top priority in the family budget, which often leads to them not getting enough food or care. Then there are those who genuinely care for their pets but lack the resources to provide for them adequately, resulting in skinny, undernourished animals. You can even see pets with collars on the street that are as skinny as those street dwelling ones.

Weeks before we adopted the kitten, we were already feeding street cats outside our apartment complex. We provided two meals a day as to fit our schedule, one in the morning and another after we finished work. These 3 usually comes. I can only feed them in these alley way so the owner of the apartment wont be mad at us.

The pure white cat, always ate quickly and left immediately. So, we decided to follow her and see if she had a home but lacked food. Our search led us to her makeshift home, where she was caring for her three kittens in an empty lot under a shed filled with discarded items.

Kind-hearted individuals had provided her with a makeshift bed using cardboard and rags to lie on. We quickly got her an extra portion of cat food.

Sadly, when we are away for a week due to a family emergency, we returned to find them gone, and we haven't seen them since. We can only hope that others have stepped in to help. The loss of our adopted kitten taught us a painful lesson about the harsh realities street animals face every day.