I captured a little feral kitten in our warehouse last Friday and took her to Cats Protection same day. They rang me Wednesday night frantic saying she had been wormed and frontline put on and was acting really weird running round in circles and shaking. I took her to a vets same night and they kept her in - rang back yesterday morning and she was no better. The vet thinks she may have had underlying problems anyway and it probably wasnt the treatment she had that caused this. I had to give permission last night to put her to sleep (I insisted they wait until I was with her when she went) - and it was so horrible - she was so tiny and just shaking every now and then. I know it was the right thing to do but just feel gutted she never even had a life and anyone to care for her...(I've got 3 cats of my own and one of them is half feral from work) - I was probably going to take her in when she was up to it too. There really isn't a point to this post but just needed to get it off my chest There are still some bigger kittens by work so have to try to capture them now and hopefully they will have better luck...

That's sad BD but she did have you caring for her at the end. Good luck with the other kittens - my cat started life as a semi-feral and I'll never regret taking her on.

You gave her love and care at the end and did a very wonderful thing x

Regrettably, very few feral kittens survive the first few weeks (we have a feral colony on our big field) and less than one in five survive even with human help. Ultimately, it is nature's survival of the fittest.

Even if they do survive, their life expectancy is usually much shorter as feral colonies are often very inbred. Feral cats rarely make good housecats, unless you have a lot of patience.

I always advise people who want new kittens to get them from a friend or a rescue centre, as these will be normally disease free.

Thanks for the replies. I just really wanted her to have a nice life - she was tiny though and vet thinks that she may have had development problems (as other kittens here are larger). I'm glad she isn't suffering though but it just broke my heart seeing her on the table being injected but couldn't leave her on her own...

I've still got a semi-feral cat at home called Scampi (for about 4 years) - she will never be totally tame but she loves winding round my legs and if she is on the stairs you can stroke her face/head - I was hoping to take this kitten home for her to hopefully bond with and she is crying out for affection (my other 2 male cats just do not want to know her).

I've also finally decided its about time I started volunteering at the Liverpool Cats Protection so hopefully that will help a little...

It was good of you to try to help. Sadly feral mortality is very high - thats why cats have so many kittens so frequently.
Good luck with the other kittens - if they are still fairly young there's a good chance they will respond to human contact and make a reasonable house cat. Otherwise at the very least they can be neutered and be re-homed as outdoor cats.

Australia have the right idea in culling two million of the mangy things

Seriously!

I really think you are in the wrong board! They are not mangy things, they are living beings and shouldn't just be killed because they were unfortunate to be born to other feral cats. Maybe Australia should just be setting up TNR programmes instead!

Do me a favour and don't comment on my thread in such a heartless manner!

Take no notice Bobby. You did a beautiful thing for the kitten in her short life. And made her feel cared about at the end.

So sad to hear this, but that wee one knew you cared. So lovely of you to be there at the end

what a lovely thing to do , my Mum took in a feral kitten this week , he has an infected tail due to it being attacked by something Mum took him to the vet got him checked over and cleaned up he is on anti biotics and is doing well , he has a good appetite and is a little livewire charging around the place and for now is being kept separate from her other cats ,

Oh go away you horrible person.