Lesson #1257: No Pets

Yet more tragedy in Veragua. Pokey, my cat, was attacked by dogs two nights ago, and hasn't appeared since. She's feared to be dead (by me alone, it seems) and that leaves me with a serious problem. Her three three-week old kittens (see kitties) have been left without a mother... in my house.

Neighbors have made some "encouraging" comments to me, but none have offered to help me take care of them or raise them. I didn't expect them to. I'm just not entirely sure what to do. I've been using a small eye-drop bottle to feed them milk and the three of them seem to be catching on. Still, there's no way I can be the mommy cat for 2 weeks (or longer). They drive me crazy besides! And I'm not at home all the time. They're already escaping from wherever I've come up with to put them and I have to go searching in every nook and cranny of the house whenever I get home.

They're sleeping now, but they tend to whine loudly often. They're three weeks old. How long until they grow up? When will they eat on their own? I don't want them to die, but I can't take care of them like they should be taken care of.

I'm not as stressed now as I was yesterday. The three are sleeping on my chair and have been for a couple hours. Maybe they're getting used to not having a mom. If they make it a little longer, I can pawn them off on others who could manage an independent cat. The question is, do I keep one of them? Do I ignore the lesson that is being presented to me forcefully? Do I make one of them mine when everything and everybody says "don't keep a pet in the Dominican Republic"?