Discarded lethargic calico kitten abandoned in box given furever home with rescuer and regains spark after tense week of refusing to eat, cat dad says: ‘She loves shoes and feet and sometimes sit on my or my mother's foot since she is so small.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 18, 2026 7:00 PM EDT

Finding a discarded kitten is emotionally overwhelming enough for most of us cat loving hoomans. But to then discover, like this rescuer did, that your saved kitten will not eat nor go to the toilet. Well, that is one heck of a harrowing experience and we hope you will join us to find out how this pawrent and their kitten overcame their first furious hurdle together.

Reddit's r/cats subreddit is full of stories about kittens being found and abandoned in boxes. For some reason it seems to be cruel hoomans' favorite choice of dumping receptacle. Nonetheless, our story is of that ilk but it has a slightly scary twist added to it, one that if pawrent and kitten could not overcome would end in a trip over the rainbow bridge. And there is no more heartbreaking outcome than seeing the feline you have worked tirelessly to save slip away.

But this pawrent was not about to let anything happen to his new feline love. And he set about trying all the different options he had to hand to help this cute critter let go. However, this pawrent was no expert, and when his homemade attempts did not quite pan out he turned to the pawfessionals. Who also did not initially figure out how to help this sweet kitten. But with his pawrent's perseverance he made it to a super clever vet who straight away saw the problem and put things right as they should have been from the start. 
 

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    "Anyway I am glad the Cat Distribution System put this little fur ball in my life."
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    Please help! We found it today in a box near trash and bought it home but she won't eat
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    I put her in a little pull after giving her a warm bath since she was dirty. She is so tiny and i'am concerned because she is shaking with her tail tucked and wont lick my
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    fingers even when it is with Milk. I put a little bowl but she didn't even try and turned her head ( i'am not sure if it is a female or male but i
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    heard that tricolore cats are usually female). I also tried some meat but she also refuses it and i assumed it was because she is too young. She is
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  • Wowza, that is one heck of a tense situation. It is hard enough to deal with the drama of finding a kitten in a box as it is. But to then have to handle a kitten who will not eat, well that is quite the heartbreaker right there. All you want to do is dote on the poor kitten, to see them rise from the ashes of their abandonment and shine brighter than they have ever shone. But then you are faced with a problem like this, a potentially life ending story, racked with the feeling that this cat might not even want you to save them. It truly takes a heck of a lot of will power to keep on caring for a creature that rejects your help at every turn.
     

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    so cute and it breaks my heart, i don't want her to de. I don't know how long she was outside without eating but she seems very weak.
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    She also keeps meowing and only stops when i touch her . Also it's been an hour since we got her, so maybe she needs a little time?
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    Hello everybody! First of all i want to thank all of you for your kind messages and advices you gave me. They were very helpful.
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    I'am sorry for not answering to all the messages i recieved some days later, i saw them but didn't want to say anything because i wanted to focus on her and be sure she is healing correctly. I guess in a way
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    600
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    i didn't want to have false hope and also to give you guys false hope either. She is better now, thankfully, and i named her Anbar (meaning Amber in arabic)
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    So as you know she refused to eat, drink and couldn't pop. So first ( by the first vet advices) i gave her clamoxyl then the next day we gave her a bit of unsented and
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  • Well, thank goodness for that. At least there is some pawsitive progress to this story. It must have been so terrifying to be trying to care for this kitten who refused to do the two most basic things an animal needs to do in order to survive other than breathe. Of course in a situation like this the vet is your first port of call. Heck it probably should have been their first port of call the moment they picked up the kitten, but we can split hairs later, once this kitten is back on all four paws and pouncing at everything that moves. 
     

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    tastless oil with some Milk and i always massaged her belly and wiped her behind with a wet cloth. I became worried because by the 5th day she still didn't pop and only
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    p. And what hurt me everytime was that i saw how she tried but it hurt her which resulted in sounds of pain. We decided to go to another vet for a real consultation
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    this time and he told us after touching her belly etc that she was indeed very constipated to the point that everything in her stomach hadn't even reached her lower belly yet.
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    699 PRESS
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    He gave her an injection to help her and a little pill ( that i will give her tomorow) because she also has worms. He told me to continue what i was doing, like the massages
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    and told me to put some oil or green soap on her a's with a Cotton bud. And today she finally p ped! 2 times!
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    She also started eating a bit of meat 2 days ago and she seems so happy when she sees it ! She also drinks water by herself.
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    She is energetic and likes to play. I also discovered that she doesn't like when any door is closed and wants every door of every room to stay open even if she isn't going inside said room She loves shoes
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    and feet and sometimes sit on my or my mother's foot since she is so small She is genuinely so cute and runs after me when i go somewhere. She is
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    also intrigued by any shadow even hers to the point where she will shase it ☺ The only "issues' that i have a hard time teaching her is where to p and
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    to stop biting and scratching me when she plays with me. I made some researches and it said to replace my hands by a toy or something and i did (and she loves
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    to play with this thing i found) but she doesn't stop even when i firmly say "No". And right now it doesn't hurt at all, but i don't want her to keep this habit because when she will grow it will really hurt since she will have more strengh and speed with her paws.
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    Anyway i'am glad god (or like some people like to say, the cat distribution ) put this little fur ball in my life.
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refuse box abandoned calico eat kitten reddit story sparks cat story cat dad furever home week gains rescue
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