A moral dispute with a kitten; little help?

[Asotcha]

Hi all, its been a pretty crazy day. Thanks for stopping by, I'm interested in what you guys think.

So, it was probably 11:30 or so today, and my sister was over visiting. She and our mom and I were sitting outside talking in the backyard, when I saw a kitten come into view. I saw it there a month before one morning and tried to get its attention (to see if it was healthy or needed help) but it went back into the pen and I didn't see it after that, though I started to put water near the pen after that, just in case.

(We have a big pen in the corner of the yard to throw yard trimmings into. its full of blackberry vines and we've also known opossoms and even rats to stay there sometimes, and a couple of years ago a wild kitten ended up there that we raised and kept. Mom went down there to throw vegetable trimmings away, and the poor thing tried to lick tomato juice off her fingers. now hes fine, though.)

The kitten is pretty skinny, and was badly infested with fleas. Luckily for her, my sister once did a cat rescue program, and since we have lots of pet cats we had just the right stuff on hand to help. We gave her flea medication (some 'Advantage', adjusted for her weight so it wouldn't be too much.). there were over 300 big fleas on that little cat; the largest ones were the size of ants. It was so bad that my sister had to help pick them off her, and the baby got so tired scratching that she started falling asleep even while some of them were on her Face.

Throughout the day, she also ate a whole can of cat food, and drank a ton of water. We made plans to take her to the vet tomorrow so she could get treated for worms (going on the assumption that she'd been eating frogs/lizards and who knows what else, and to be sure she didn't have a tapeworm. Also to get bloodwork to see if she was anemic. Too many fleas can actually kill kittens; it messes with their blood and saps away vital nutients. Sis estimated her age to be about 12 weeks; so since they can get pregnant at 4 months, we got her at the perfect time to prevent wild litters.

The rest of the day was chaotic fitting the baby into our routine, but really nice too. She's a real cuddlebug, and made herself at home pretty quickly. It was about 8 pm and dark outside when a few people walked past the house and asked if we'd seen their kitten.

They hadn't seen her since that morning, and wanted to ask since our yards were close together. Someone in the family rescued a bunch from where they worked, and she was the one they decided to keep. We were even shown a picture on a cell-phone. its the same cat.

Incredibly, mom pretended not to recognize the picture, so I had no choice but to play along. We told them that we'd keep an eye out for her, and as soon as they were gone and we were back inside, I told her that we had to tell the truth. this was why she was so nice; she had people who missed, loved, and were worried about her. The picture we were shown was of her sitting on someones shoulder in a kitchen, taking a selfie.

Mom doesn't think that they deserved to have her back because of all the fleas she had. She said that it felt like turning a kid back over to an abusive family. I said that while not everyone takes care of their animals very well, if they hadn't cared then they wouldn't have come by looking for her.

The three of us that were there this morning had a speaker-phone call over it, and we figured that the only way not to look like evil, lying douchebags (my words, not theirs) was to have her spend the night and say we found and medicated her then, but didn't want to wake up their household by brining her over too early (it's important that they know not to give her more of that flea stuff before a month has gone by or she could get sick).

In spite of myself, its hard to keep a firm vision of right and wrong here. It's hard to unsee the mental image of that kitten letting my sister pick dying fleas off her face, and imagining all of them coming back--let alone the idea of wild litters springing up when so much can be avoided just by spaying this one cat now.

Its also terrible to think about that worrying family who doesn't know what happened to her and why she didn't come back home.

Even if mom tries to keep the kitten secretly with the gameplan of never telling our neighbors the truth, It's impractical because we also have freakin Windows in our house. What could she possibly say for herself?

It feels like there is literally no 'winning' situation here.


TL:dR A kitten was found that needed care, her family came by looking for her that night. My mother does'nt want to give her back because she doesn't think they'll take good care of her as she grows up. I think its bad that they didn't manage her flea situatin, but that its Freakin Heartless to kep that cat from them! And I'm disgusted by her attitude, knowing her family misses her. I also want the cat to be well taken care of though, so no solution really jumps out as being 'right' its just all different shades of fucked up!

[Nadiru]

That's not a moral dilemma at all, on multiple levels. In keeping the kitten in a good home you're maximizing happiness, satisfying the utilitarian and the animal rights activist. In showing kindness to a strange animal which you're not obligated to, you're satisfying both the virtue ethicist and the Christian. The only real breach of a moral code is maybe one which argues that property is being stolen thus you're doing harm, but this is emphatically the wrong forum to argue property rights on.

[Deleted]

You medicated the Cat.

It's your Cat now.

It's not like they gave a shit. Just ask them how much they paid for the Kitten and reimburse them.

[announced]

obviously the other people arent smart enough to take care of a kitten. just keep it. they have already shown how inept they are at helping an animal with thier most basic needs (food, water, flea medication/shots) and therefore if you returned it they'd probly kill it.

[Fawkess]

I agree with everyone above me the cat was in very poor health and you took care of it, i would say keep it

[Shelly]

Sounds like you have enough cats already. Bring the cat to a no-kill shelter.

[Sorrowseer]

In my opinion, learn more, you said they came around with a pic of the kitten and it was supposedly rescued from work or something, learn how it got away from them, see if they were intending on treating the fleas you treated, if it had fleas like that it prolly got them after going missing, as taking selfies with a flea infested kitten is a bit odd.

Learn more.

[THE Bigzoman]

They hadn't seen it since this morning?

So, by their own admission, that cat was in THAT kind of shape and they knew about it?

Fuck them. Keep it.

[Fawkess]

also check out your neighbors house to see if the cat was living in a health condition, see how long it has been missing, see how long they have been looking for it and how hard.

If they just lost it last morning and it was in this bad of a condition then keep it, they should have taken better care of him/her

[Zantos]

Not only should you keep the cat, take photos of it. Get good documentation of its condition. Then call the proper authorities on that family.

- - - Updated - - -

In my opinion, learn more, you said they came around with a pic of the kitten and it was supposedly rescued from work or something, learn how it got away from them, see if they were intending on treating the fleas you treated, if it had fleas like that it prolly got them after going missing, as taking selfies with a flea infested kitten is a bit odd.

Learn more.

A cat would not get a infestation that badly within a matter of hours. It had to be living somewhere that had them bad. I had outdoor cats when I was younger. They Never had a infestation such as what the op described.

[Venant]

If you are bringing it to the vet, get a written documentation on the condition of the cat. It sounds like those people were not properly caring for their animal.

[pateuvasiliu]

You can do right by them and give them the cat back.


Or you can do right by the cat and not give it to abusive owners. Go to the vet, prove they were bad owners and don't deserve the cat, keep it.

[Deleted]

You will need evidence of the cats poor state if you're going to steal someone else's property, they will find their cat one day and they will have cause to take it back or even pursue legal action.

[pateuvasiliu]

You will need evidence of the cats poor state if you're going to steal someone else's property, they will find their cat one day and they will have cause to take it back or even pursue legal action.

As long as the cat doesn't have an ear chip they can't prove it's theirs.

[Deleted]

They hadn't seen it since this morning?

So, by their own admission, that cat was in THAT kind of shape and they knew about it?

Fuck them. Keep it.

This sums it up well. They don't seem to be able to take care of cats.

[Erolian]

No animal obtains a case of fleas like that without living somewhere with tons and tons and tons of fleas, so many that the animal was too tired/old/young/sick to scratch itself and mitigate it somewhat even if it would still have fleas. That animal was going to die if you're not exaggerating the amount of fleas. Do not return.

[Independent voter]

Aren't the neighbors going to see the cat eventually? Is that going to cause problems?

[Talby]

Before jumping onto the hate the previous owner train, did they mention how long ago the cat was rescued? It's possible they had received it the day prior and were purchasing medication to help it. Though idk, from the sounds of it they had the kitten for awhile so ya I would keep it.

And it doesn't matter if they see the cat, so long as they document how bad in health it is, they don't have a leg to stand on if they try to pursue ownership legally (not an expert don't quote me on this.)

[Zantos]

Before jumping onto the hate the previous owner train, did they mention how long ago the cat was rescued? It's possible they had received it the day prior and were purchasing medication to help it. Though idk, from the sounds of it they had the kitten for awhile so ya I would keep it.

Thats what I was going to say. According to the op, they had seen it a month earlier.

[Rhyseh]

Tough one. It's easy enough to say "keep it", however it is highly unlikely that your neighbours won't discover you've "taken" their cat for however long you remain neighbours. Largely I think it's going to depend on your living arrangements and how close/visible your house and windows are to your neighbours. Cats love to sit in windows and look out, chances are it will be spotted some time in the next few months. Also there are some pretty horrible people out there.... If you have existing animals then you have to consider them being potential targets if your neighbours are particularly cruel and some people are disgustingly cruel, believe me.

My $0.02: See if there is anyone in your circle of friends/family who is responsible and would take the kitten. It addresses both not sending the cat back into that environment and it won't cause issues with your neighbours.