{"id":115446,"date":"2025-08-03T11:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T11:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115446\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T11:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T11:20:12","slug":"bobcat-kitten-ailing-from-suspected-rat-poisoning-saved-by-new-england-teamwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115446\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobcat kitten ailing from suspected rat poisoning saved by New England teamwork"},"content":{"rendered":"

A baby bobcat was picked up recently by a wildlife<\/a> rescue in Massachusetts with symptoms of a very common problem among wildlife: rat poison.<\/p>\n

The bobcat kitten was taken back to Newhouse Wildlife Rescue and cared for overnight. The bobcat\u2019s blood wasn\u2019t clotting, a common sign of anti-coagulant rodenticide poisoning.<\/p>\n

The next day, the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island reached out to Newhouse Wildlife Rescue and asked if they could take the kitten. They had a single, orphaned bobcat kitten of their own that they had been looking for a companion.<\/p>\n

Blaine Hymel, lead wildlife veterinarian at the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island, said the bobcat kitten they already had was found thin and dehydrated by the Department of Environmental Management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never want to raise something alone,\u201d Hymel said of the solo kitten. \u201cWe always want to raise it, at least in pairs, so it doesn\u2019t imprint on us, become too socialized and can\u2019t be released.\u201d<\/p>\n

They arranged the transport and the rat-poisoned kitten was brought into their clinic at the end of July, where it\u2019s doing well, Hymel said.<\/p>\n

Hymel said the bobcat kitten they already had was found thin and dehydrated by the Department of Environmental Management. Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do see a lot of rodenticide poisoning in many of our mammals,\u201d Hymel said.<\/p>\n

She said raptors, foxes, squirrels and apex predators, like bobcats, are frequently impacted.<\/p>\n

Hymel said in situations with anti-coagulant rodenticide, the animal will hemorrhage because its blood can\u2019t clot, then will die.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the bobcat kitten was found before anything serious could happen, and was given vitamin K, the antidote used in this case.<\/p>\n

The wildlife clinic did a full health work-up on the kitten and found that it also had signs of being hit by a car.<\/p>\n

Hymel also said raptors, foxes, squirrels and apex predators, like bobcats, are frequently impacted. Newhouse Wildlife Rescue<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had an older fracture of its femur,\u201d she said. Additionally, the bobcat had a broken tooth and some road rash as well.<\/p>\n

Hymel said the clinic was surprised to see the animal was injured because of its agility.<\/p>\n

The kitten\u2019s injuries<\/a> are starting to heal, but until it completes its vitamin K treatments and the injuries have healed a little more, it will get to know its companion through a cage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is feisty,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is sure a spunky little kitten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We love their sass \u2013 from a safe distance\u2019<\/p>\n

The kitten is eating well, too. Hymel suspects the kitten is between 8-10 weeks old.<\/p>\n

The kitten\u2019s injuries are starting to heal Hymel said. Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s important that the cats don\u2019t rely on humans and approach them when released, so that spunkiness is important.<\/p>\n

Video from Thursday showed the two kittens growling during the cleaning of their cages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough they\u2019re still young, their wild instincts are strong, and that\u2019s exactly what we want to see in rehab,\u201d the Wildlife Clinic said in a post with the video. \u201cWe love their sass\u2026 from a safe distance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both kittens will be kept at the clinic until they\u2019re old enough to prove they can be successful animals in the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use a series of graduated caging,\u201d Hymel said. \u201cMaking sure they are hitting certain markers, making sure they are not friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hymel said the clinic was surprised to see the animal was injured because of its agility. Newhouse Wildlife Rescue<\/p>\n

Once they check all the boxes, the Wildlife Clinic will work closely with state and local agencies like the DEM to figure out where they can release the bobcats.<\/p>\n

While the injured bobcat kitten is expected to make a full recovery, rodenticide poisoning is a very real issue wildlife rescuers face.<\/p>\n

To learn more about rodenticide poisoning and safe alternatives to rodenticide, Hymel recommends checking out the National Audubon Society\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A baby bobcat was picked up recently by a wildlife rescue in Massachusetts with symptoms of a very…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":115447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4653,10375,57234,2737,159,67,132,68,1154,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-115446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-cats","9":"tag-kittens","10":"tag-rescues","11":"tag-rhode-island","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-news","17":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114964569992459063","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}