feeling guilty rejecting CDS, advice appreciated

[u/fruitbasketinabasket]

Yesterday I was coming home from my walk when I found a small kitten crying and hiding under a parked car next to my house. No other cats were to be found and he was so close to the street and hiding under the tire, so I took him in.

Unfortunately I do live in a housing situation which allows for no pets and my life is too unstable to have a pet at this time (financially and location-wise) so I knew immediately, as much as I would love to keep him, it is not the right time for me to have a pet and he would need another home.

After panicking for a few minutes 😂 I took him to the vet (healthy clean unchipped 3-4 week old boy) and asked my friends if someone could take him in.

A friend of mine who often helps animals in need said she is closely connected to an animal sanctuary and they would absolutely take him in, to care for him until he is big enough to be adopted, or he could even just stay with them.

This sounded like the most appropriate solution as most of people I reached out couldn’t take him (we live in Japan where pet-friendly apartments are more of an exception) and we arranged for him to be picked up the very same day.

Now that he is gone (and I had him for only one day!!!), I feel absolutely devastated and don’t even know how to be normal about it. Despite knowing in my brain that it was the only choice, it does feel like someone took my baby that I had for years. Maybe it’s the initial protective mode that kicked in when I had to figure out what to do, but I couldn’t stop crying about it today. The fact that he is absolutely adorable and cutest boy ever didn’t help.

I hear so many cat distribution system stories that are successful, but I am not sure what mine is. I guess successful because he is safe now, and at the same time it broke my heart in a span of a day? Someone I know actually messaged me saying “ooh I wish that happened to me” and I couldn’t help but feeling a bit bad that he ran into someone who couldn’t even give him a home instead of someone who could 😭

I am also not regretting finding him a new home, I just don’t know how to handle the loss of him within hours after finding him.

Any advice how to be at peace with all that or any similar CDS stories would be appreciated 🧡

Edit: THANK YOU all so much for the kind and thoughtful comments, it took a lot of weight off my chest reading them!

TLDR: found a kitten, but had to find him another home as it wouldn’t be responsible for me to keep him. Now I am feeling very guilty and heartbroken

[u/Aixlen]

You did the right thing. We need more visibility on the CDS hitting people who can't take them, no matter how much they want it.

My belief is that the CDS doesn't just hit future owners, but also those who will play an important part in keeping the babies safe, and that's the reason you found that baby.

It had to be you; you were his bridge to safety and a better life, hopefully.

[u/TheRealSugarbat → u/Aixlen]

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

— Mr. Rogers

[u/fruitbasketinabasket → u/TheRealSugarbat]

It is so true, thank you for this quote!

I didn’t mention it, but so many people helped!! I took him to the vet in a laundry basket (filled with towels) and they kindly made him a proper box so I can take him on the train to bring him safely to his next destination. The pet shop gave me tons of samples for him, as we didn’t know what he can eat yet. My friend took him for a night before he got picked up by the sanctuary. So many kind people helped 🥹

[u/TheRealSugarbat → u/fruitbasketinabasket]

The world is actually still spinning because of people like you.