What Do you do with a (Lost) Hungry Kitten?

My girls love kittens, especially Andrea!  She would love to own a kitten.  She knows that Daddy and Mommy do not want one so she collects stuffed animal cats and has a very nice sized collection of them.

So, what do you do when you hear a small kitten meowing pitifully outside your window for a long time?  Do you ignore it?  Or do you let your children feed it, hoping that it just needs a little more food to get home?

My children were so excited when I gave them permission to feed it some milk (two bowls full!) and then some water.  They watched the kitten all afternoon. He was not mean to the children, but he was extremely shy of them at first.  He would run away whenever they came near.  After the third bowl they took out to him, he would start coming to them, but never let them near.

We then decided to make a sign saying that we found a kitten, hoping that someone would come and pick up their lost pet.  I had each child draw a picture of the kitten so that people driving by would know what he looked like. The kids prayed that the kitten would find his way home and we left for the evening.

Next morning, I thought I heard the kitten a few times, but we have not seen him since.  For one short day, Andrea was able to pretend that she had a kitten for a pet!