Do you think I did something cruel to my cat?

Question

This is seriously disturbing to some people and I just want to start off by saying I DID NOT ACTUALLY BREAST FEED A CAT! -now that's out of the way...

I found a kitten it was very tiny eyes still closed it looked almost dead it was bearly breathing there were 3 other kittens all were dead. I took this kitten home but did have any kitten formula so I gave it some of my breast milk that I had in the refrigerator until I could go to petco an get something healthier for the kitten. The kitten seemed to like my breast-milk and I believe he was starving to death because he drank it right up and immediately seemed healthier. When I saw how much the cat formula cost (6.99 a can at petco and 3.99 a can at my local feed store) I decided to only buy a few cans after all I had about 2 gallons of breast-milk in the freezer (and if it's good for human babies than i'm sure it's good for most mammals, right?) anyway to make a long story short that was 3 months ago and today the cat is healthy, playful and eating cat food! I told my mom about the breast-milk and she flipped out she said that that's animal abuse and creepy and she called Animal control and the local police on me. Now i'm afraid i'm going to lose my cats and my human children. Do you think they will come out? Do you think what I did was cruel?

Answer 1

I'm no dietitian, but I believe that there are no _health_ reasons for not giving a cat your breast milk. Yes, formula meant specifically for cats might have been better, but what you gave was a source of nourishment.



Unless you got some sexual gratification from giving breast milk to a cat, you've done nothing legally wrong. There's no way you're going to lose your human children unless you've got a history of behavior that would warrant it.





Legally, you're in the clear. Religiously, it depends on your backgrounds. My branch of Christianity has no objections with sharing breast milk with cats. I don't know about Hindis, Muslims, Jews, etc... or religious groups that treat all bodily substances as sacred. Ethically? I think you did well.

Answer 2

You did a good thing. You saved that baby's life. How could that possibly be wrong? He was starving, and you gave him nourishment.



Years ago, my Dad gave me a boxful of newborn kittens. Our neighbor figured Dad's cat was the father of her cat's new litter. As soon as they were born, she put them into a box and brought them to my Dad. He didn't know what to do for them, so he asked me to help. I didn't have money for kitten milk. I am not even sure they used to make kitten formula way back then, anyway. So, I bought a box of baby cereal, mixed it with water so it was runny, fed it to the kittens with a dropper. Kittens all thrived on that.

I got up every 3 hours through the night to feed, until they stopped crying in the middle of the night.



I didn't think what I did was cruel. It seemed to be the best I could do at the time. I don't think what you did was cruel or abusive, either. Breast milk is probably better than runny baby cereal. I highly doubt that animal control people will do anything to you. I mean, if they even come out, they will likely see that the kitten is healthy and eating a proper cat diet. What's wrong with that? Nothing.



Your Mom is the creepy one. I don't understand why she'd report you for something like that. Still, try to forgive her. Maybe she thought she was doing a good thing for the kitten by reporting this.

Answer 3

Umm weird, but I hear you on those prices of kitten milk. I had to buy a pack the other for a baby squirrel and I nearly fainted in the store when I saw the price.

While I don't think that human breastmilk is as good for kittens as kittenmilk it's still better than regular cow milk. It kept the kitten alive and healthy and that is all that matters. Your mom needs to chill, sit and shut up. You did the best you could in this situation and I truely doubt that anyone will be taking any kids or kittens away from you. They probably won't even come but if they do, explain it just like you did here. Make sure you tell them that you bottlefed!! the kitten.

If you want to make sure though you could always say that your mom misunderstood and that you used human baby formula from the store, since you had some left over or it was cheaper or whatever.

I would cut of all contact to your mom too if it was my mom. Calling social services on your own daughter for something this silly is not cool.

Answer 4

I don't know what effect human breast milk could have on a kitten, but I honestly don't see how feeding a kitten your breast milk was 'animal cruelty' because it is three months later and you've obviously saved that kittens life and it's happy and healthy with no apparent negative side effects from your breast milk. Humans and cats are both mammals and I really doubt our breast milk and a cats breast milk is all that different, maybe our breast milk doesn't have certain nutrients a kitten needs, but that obviously wasn't a big deal; the kitten is healthy and happy, that's all that matters. Congrats on saving a life. (:

Answer 5

I was curious, so I looked it up. While this website is NOT all inclusive it says it all. Abuse and cruelty involve the intentional harm or failure to provide adequate living conditions for an animal.



http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/animal-cruelty/



and again



http://sequoiahumane.org/abuse/abuse.htm



Seems pretty uniform. What you did for the kitten may be unusual, but is the Opposite of abuse and cruelty. You provided it with food.



Food for thought: How can it be any worse than your kids drinking Cows Milk? So, if it's ok for your human children to drink what comes out of a cows teats, then I can't see a real problem with a kitten drinking breast milk. Sorry if that sounds a little crude.



Best of luck.

Answer 6

lol y'know it's a bit odd, but doing odd things isn't illegal. I kinda LOL'd about it.



Next time, kitten milk is best. Cats have a hard time digesting other milk, even cows milk. But *shrug* the cats alive and well, that's all that really matters.



Your mom...I would be so ticked off about that.

Answer 7

How is that animal abuse? You SAVED the cat and in no way harmed him because he's all grown up and healthy now. Tell your mom so stfu, and it was in no way cruel. Ask her if she'd rather the cat died then drinking your breast milk.

Answer 8

well i think what you did for the cat was very nice you saved his life =) but it is abit creepy lol i just dont understand why would your mum call the police on you if the cat survived is happy and playful?????? well at least you saved the cats life!!!! i dont think its cruel just mabey next time you could buy cat milk or food.

Answer 9

its best to not say anything cause to be honest, people will just think stupid and over think and over drama the situation. as a mother i dont find it very odd. obviously it helped the kitty and got him/her better right? dont give out this info to people like i said. cause they will think of it as abuse or something stupid. hang in there and im sure you took wonderful care of it

Answer 10

well i don think your gonna lose ur kids or anything becasue you saved the cat you didnt kill it, and your mom called the police on you?!?!?!?! wow now thats messed up

Answer 11

I don't think what you did is cruel.



Animal Control may find your mom to be over-reacting.