Reptile & Amphibian Forums

a little over 3 weeks ago a very pregnant siamese came mewling at my door a few nights late she gave birth to 3 kittens sadly one was a stillborn. Well the other two Bright eyes and bushy tail have been doing well until tonight that is I fell asleep and to my horror I found my year old son with the dead kitten in a box he had broken her neck. I didn't even ever want cats now here I am crying stumped over how to explain it to my husband when he comes home from work in the morning and how if at all I should handle this with my toddler any help from more experienced cat owners would be great.

Hi,

This is heartbreaking. I am so sorry for what you are going through right now.

I am very experienced with cats, not nearly as much with small children, but I do know that toddlers are not able to understand life, death, or suffering. To your son, the kitten was just another plaything, and he didn't understand that it was a living, breathing animal. I'm not sure how much his young mind could understand if you tried to explain things to him......but what happened, as tragic as it is, cannot be blamed on him.

Now, I'm not saying that you are at fault either. You would never have done anything to hurt a kitten. Being a mom is the toughest job there is and I'm sure you were totally exhausted.
You fell asleep while your son was awake, something probably every mom has done at some point.

Please give yourself time to grieve, and feel free to post here anytime.

Might be a good idea to not add to your pets until your boy is a bit older.

Take care,
PHKitkat

Didn't even intend to have cats I'm a fish person. But this pregant cat shows up at my door cold and skinny. I couldn't leave her alone outside it was about 15 degrees outside at the time. Nobody claimed her now I wonder if she would have been better off at the humane society.

And as for how well he understood.... He tried to wake up the kitty and started crying when she wouldn't that is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with as a mother and is deffinately not something I want to repeat although I know I will have to one day.

Thanks for the support.

Oh your poor little guy. He is young, but there are books out there about children losing their pets.
How is the remaining kitten and momma cat doing?
-----
PHMoxie