I had a little bit of fun with the camera tonight! Here's Sasha and her new babies. There are 5 total, 3 grey and 2 black. I know one of the black ones is a girl, but as I was checking the gender, Sasha jumped out, grabbed the kitten and took her back to the nest box. What a good mama! At least she didn't have a problem with a quick photo session. Since mom has russian-blue coloring and a russian sounding name, we're thinking of keeping that theme name for the kittens. Anastasia and Natalia come to mind right away - any suggestions?
Here are the babies within a couple of hours of birth in their nest box. I'll put a clean towel in there tomorrow when mom is feeling better. It's actually amazing to me how clean the process is. Mama does a lot of work in having these babies!!
She just laid down to nurse and was so content to purr and feed the babies. It was so sweet when the little black one came up by her face. Then it looked like she gave mama a kiss. I know it wasn't a kiss, but it still looks sweet!
Here are some pictures of Venice's babies:
They are really starting to get into everything. They're going on 4-weeks-old and starting to wear mama out!
Here poor Venice tries to get a drink, but the kittens decide to swarm her since she's standing still! The little tabby got wet paws trying to find a better spot!
What a great day of adoptions! Both cats and dogs were about even for once. I had a lucky day of finding good homes for my cats and came home to new kittens!
Dogs: Linus, Daphne, Lucy, Buddy, Kelly, Koda
Cats: Mouse & Chinchilla, Gabby, Emmy, Seymour, Mr. Fudge
Linus, Lucy & Kelly: black lab/boxer mix puppies, all got adopted their first trip to PetSmart
Daphne: blue tick hound that has been returned twice, hopefully the 3rd time is the charm for this cutie!
Koda: adorable boxer/pit mix puppy (check out our dog foster blog for more pictures, her husband really enjoyed this guy)
Mouse & Chinchilla: my dear, sweet bottle babies that are now 7 months old and they got to go home together!
Gabby: sweet little tortie who got returned and adopted out. The new mom called already and Gabby made herself right at home and is doing great!
Emmy: beautiful & petite russian blue, came from a house that was raided by the police! When the animal control officer saw how nice some of the pets were, she made sure that they got into rescue. Emmy found a home her first day at PetSmart and we're not surprised.
Seymour: one of my brown tabbies from a local shelter, went to go live with a chocolate lab. We're hoping that the two can learn to live together! The cat has been around dogs before, but this is new for the dog. Hopefully the new owners take things slowly like we talked about and it should be ok.
Mr. Fudge: a kitty as sweet as his name - he had really cool brown flecks in his black coat. My daughter loved cuddling him and he went home to a girl about the same age who was learning all the tricks of what he liked from my daughter. They even went shopping for new toys together and I can tell you that is going to be one spoiled kitty!
When we came home tonight, Sasha had given birth to 5 kittens, one was still born. She looked like she might not be done, so we went out to eat so the house would be quiet and she had another baby while we were gone. A total of 5 living kittens - 3 solid grey and 2 solid black - a full house!
I actually have more cats ready for adoption than I can bring tomorrow! Lately I've been scrambling to have a cat ready to fill in when an empty cage comes open at PetSmart! I think I'll be bringing Sinatra because there is someone interested in him. I'm torn between Uno and Remmie - I don't think that either would get adopted and neither could be left up there, but it would be good exposure for them. I may bring Uno for the sympathy donations since his hip is still shaved. The other cat that I'll be bringing is a new one that I've had my eye on at the shelter. They quarrantine them and after that time is done, they get to go in a common cat room. Well, Capone was a bit overwhelmed by that situation and I knew that he'd get adopted quickly, so I took him in. He's not really a manx, but has the stubby tail. I'd consider him more of a siamese mix. He's so sweet and gorgeous, I'm sure he'll find a home. He's got all different shades of chocolate mocha brown and very blue eyes. He's also declawed.
In other cat news, Sasha is settling in nicely and I think she'll have her kittens soon. She was super friendly tonight and just wanted to be held and kept rubbing all over me. Her belly feels really tight. I'll keep checking on her through the night, I'd be surprised if she holds out another 48 hours.
Newman was pulled from PetSmart a couple of weeks ago for having a urinary tract infection. One of the foster moms noticed that he was standing funny while peeing in the litter box, so we had him tested and it was positive. He went on antibiotics and was retested yesterday. He still has a UTI and this time there was crystals. They actually had me look at the crystal under the microscope and I was so surprised that it really looked like a little crystal! I don't know what I expected - but it looked like a little jewel - the shape was a rectangle and very sharp looking. No wonder it causes so much pain when they urinate them out. The amazing thing is that looking at him you'd never know that he was sick and luckily he hadn't avoided the litter box at all. So now he's on a special diet and stronger antibiotics and hopefully we can get it under control. My own cat has had crystals, so I'm not overly worried, it's just a shame that such a friendly, adoptable guy has to stay here longer.
Uno is feeling much better. He is still favoring his bad hip quite a bit, but as usual it hasn't slowed him down. I decided to let him have free run of the basement so that he can use his leg more and he's just having a blast running, chasing and as my son would say, "owning" all the other cats. He loves to wrestle and take them down. Not all of them appreciate this. We'll have to find him a home with a good wrestling buddy.
Venice and her babies are doing very well. The kittens are over 3 weeks old now and starting to explore. They are very curious about people, which is a little odd for such young babies. They just bobble their way around and eventually get where they want to go. Poor mom can't get a break from them anymore, they just follow her and try to feed wherever she goes. About 5 more weeks until they are ready for adoption!
I helped take in a pregnant cat tonight for a different foster mom - the one she was supposed to get earlier this week, but found somewhere to hide out in the rain and wasn't around to be caught. She is a very sweet mama - a pretty little grey kitty that looks just like my Sasha, but this one has a white spot on her chest. That foster mom has a soft spot for russian-blue looking cats and I was surprised to see that she had 3 other cats that look very much like her! But not for long. She's bringing 2 of them to PetSmart tomorrow. One of them only has 3 legs and a winning personality. He'll pull people in for sympathy and personality.
But back to the pregnant cat - I just love the woman who brought her in. What a heart of gold! The world needs more people like her. She has brought us a few cats from her neighbor's farm in Lincoln County over the last couple of years; she just can't stand to see an animal that isn't taken care of. She helped collect all of the kittens from her neighbor's property and either gave them to us or found homes for them and then she worked on trapping and sterilizing all the adults (with his permission). I know that she's coming down with more cats for the next sterile feral clinic from other friends that she knows. She has adopted a couple of Heartland animals and still gave us a very nice donation today for helping out with the mama kitty. If I get some cats adopted tomorrow, I told her I'd take another cat that she's trying to find a home for. So wish us luck so the poor kitty can come inside and find a real home!
Anyone got a favorite pet stain cleaner they'd like to suggest? You can see where this post is going, so if this is too much information, just skip to the next one. As foster moms, we talk about bodily functions a lot!
We had a Heartland meeting last night and I think I'm trying to get a sinus infection. As soon as I walked in the door, I could smell that we had a problem even through the stuffed up nose. How the husband and two children didn't notice is beyond me! But he is sick too, so he probably couldn't smell it. The boy just said, oh, so that's what that smell was. Nice.... The old man dog has a touchy tummy, so even though I wanted to just become one with the couch, I had a mess to clean up. It took me over an hour to pick it all up, spot treat, scrub the spots, vaccuum the floor and then get the steam cleaner out. It looked pretty good last night, but this morning you can still see all the spots. They are much lighter, but still visible. Then while I was out today he did it again!
The whole house needs new carpet - we're thinking something in a shade of brown that would match dog poop and cat puke, or at least the shade that the stains become when you've cleaned them and they dry out. Actually, the big spot under the table looks like a nice champagne color - I could live with that throughout the house!
We're thinking of putting ceramic tile in the dining room. For some reason, when the dogs have an accident, it's always in that room. But of course, if we do that, they'll pick a different area with carpet. We've considered getting a cheap throw rug for under the table that could be replaced when they get sick. It's amazing what we put up with from the pets! Why do they always have to go for the carpeted areas when there's perfectly good tile a few feet away?
At our meeting last night, one of the foster moms said that she read a great poem and that we should use it for recruiting new fosters. I've read lots of these things and usually I find them to be cheesy and trite. This one actually brought tears to my eyes! So read it and consider opening your heart to a poor sole that has no where else to go.
Dear Foster Mom
There I sat, alone and afraid,
You got a call and came right to my aid.
You bundled me up with blankets and love.
And, when I needed it most, you gave me a hug.
I learned that the world was not all that scary and cold.
That sometimes there is someone to have and to hold.
You taught me what love is, you helped me to mend.
You loved me and healed me and became my first friend.
And just when I thought you'd done all you do,
There came along not one new lesson, but two.
First you said, "Sweetheart, you're ready to go.
I've done all I can, and you've learned all I know."
Then you bundled me up with a blanket and kiss.
Along came a new family, they even have kids!
They took me to their home, forever to stay.
At first I thought you sent me away.
Then that second lesson became perfectly clear.
No matter how far, you will always be near.
And so, Foster Mom, you know I've moved on.
I have a new home, with toys and a lawn.
But I'll never forget what I learned that first day.
You never really give your fosters away.
You gave me these thoughts to remember you by.
We may never meet again, and now I know why.
You'll remember I lived with you for a time.
I may not be yours, but you'll always be mine.
by Barb Lieberman
This is especially true to me at the moment dealing with Sasha, the pregnant cat. She was so afraid coming here, but last night she started showing signs of wanting to get to know me and so I held out canned food and she came and ate it while I petted her. She'd go "munch, munch, growl..... munch, munch, growl....hiss, munch" This morning she's meowing and asking for attention. Hopefully she'll fully trust me before the babies come. It'll make life much easier for both of us. Right now I can't even scoop her box, but that should be changing very soon here. The good news is that she loves her new bed for having the kittens in and spends all of her time in it. It has a very soft blanket folded over a few times to make a pillow. It's probably been a long time since she's known any comfort or security. All cats come to see my house as a good place to be.
I'm working on getting the next batch of bios ready for the website, so I took pictures today. Seymour and Mr. Fudge are spending their first night at PetSmart. Hopefully they'll get adopted quickly, both are such sweethearts and get along with both cats and dogs. The new batch are going to be a little bit tougher!
The first one is Sinatra. He goes in for a dental cleaning tomorrow and he's an absolute doll of a cat. Just loves to be cuddled and purrs loudly with a bit of drool thrown in for good measure! Hopefully his dental cleaning will help with that. Cross your fingers, I may have a home lined up for him. He was at the City of St. Charles animal control for over a month and his time was almost up. The staff begged me to take him because they couldn't think of putting him down. I have to decide between the darker picture where I like the look on his face or the lighter picture that really shows off how white he is.
Our next model is Gracie, who is getting spayed tomorrow. Two of my friends found her along side the road and stopped to see if she was friendly. She was and they surprised me with a new foster. Don't you wish you had friends like that? Once again, I'm trying to decide between the two poses. She's gorgeous and friendly, but doesn't like other animals.
The last one is of Peter, who got returned over the winter when his owner died and the husband didn't want to deal with his loose stool issues. Peter has a diagnosis of inflamatory bowel disease, which can be managed through diet and steroids, we just haven't found a diet that works for him yet. He is much better than when he got here, but still isn't anywhere near having "tootsie rolls" as we call them. I know, too much information. He's so sweet. I sure wish that someone would take him on as their special challenge!
I also took in a new cat tonight - she was supposed to go to another foster mom. She was supposed to get dropped off at our vet and I wasn't ever going to see her. Her name is Sasha and she was found at an apartment complex and a nice lady was feeding her. All the kids knew her and carried her around, but today her belly was so big that she barely fit through the door of the carrier! She looked at me with those sad eyes and I was hooked! I called the other foster mom and told her she was off the hook, I'd keep her! We laughed at what a sucker I was and that I stole the mama cat, but not 20 minutes later, one of our repeat adoptors and cat finders called to see if we could take a pregnant female that showed up at their house. So now we don't feel sorry for the other foster mom anymore, she got a mama cat of her own!
I don't know what posessed me to take in a pregnant cat, but hopefully it'll all go well and I'll have cute kittens in a day or two. I don't think she'll hold out much longer!
The kittens are here! I thought I'd share our first babies of the year with you!
This is Venice. I named her something Italian after her beautiful marbling. She's a gorgeous classic tabby with tortie-red swirls. Her four babies are Rome (the tabby boy), Pisa, Naples and Florence. I went to animal control to pick up the next cat, who was very pregnant and they wanted to get into foster care before she delivered and I found Venice and her babies and couldn't leave them there. The babies are about 2 weeks old now and mama is very petite, sweet and friendly! All five should be easy to adopt out! She has 3 girls and a boy, 2 calicos, a tabby and a tabby with white. (don't forget that you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)
This is the calico that I went to get for one of our other foster moms. She's really pretty, her back is almost all orange and she is super friendly! We teased her foster mom that that gorgeous cat would have black babies (the hardest color to adopt) and she did! At least some have white feet which makes them easier. This mama had six babies, but one was extremely small and another one also didn't make it, so she's the proud and devoted mama to 4 of her own and she has accepted 3 orphans!
Things don't always go well with pregnancy and we've learned that this year in a big way. We were due to get 2 pregnant moms and the day before one went into labor and lost her whole litter. Yesterday her sister delivered kittens and cleaned them off, but refused to care for them. Those are the three that the calico mom is raising. There are 2 greys and a black in that bunch. We also took another pregnant cat that was in distress and she ended up needing an emergeny C-section, but the babies were too premature to survive. Mom also had an infection in her uterus and would have died without help. Further testing showed that she had toxoplasmosis and that's why things ended badly for her pregnancy.
But never fear, the crazy cat ladies are taking in another pregnant mother today and hoping for the best!
I was out of town this weekend, so I don't have full details on all the adoptions, but we got some good animals into new homes even though it was a holiday! The theme seemed to be hard-to-adopt and returns! I like those kinds of weeks!!
Dogs: Jet, Jesse, Sugar & Hunter
Cats: Marmalade, Loverboy & Revolver
Jet: Gorgeous black girl with blue eyes, was returned and in a new home in just a couple of weeks, very sweet girl who was dumped in the country
Jesse: our bossy little puppy who was returned after totally dominating the other dog in the family. Cute little jack russel mix, sweet as can be with people!
Sugar: a returned golden retriever mix
Hunter: a big, black hound dog
Marmalade: in foster care for almost a year, gorgeous and sweet orange and white boy - I did the adoption Thursday night to a very nice couple
Loverboy: we thought that it might be a challenge to adopt out this older guy (8 I think), but his extremely sweet personality got him a home in less than a week at PetSmart! And he came with the name, but it fit him very well!
Revolver: she had her kittens a year ago! She finally found a home. She was a little harder because she's not a lap cat. She's sweet and friendly, but a bit independent. Finally someone came in looking for those traits. They didn't want a shy cat that would hide, but they didn't want someone who wouldn't leave them alone. Perfect! She had been at PetSmart for far too long and I'm hoping that being in a real home and getting to run and play will help her lose some weight.
WOW, UNO HAD HIS HIP SURGERY! I know it's not polite to shout, but we've been whispering for days so that he didn't know that it was coming! He's been on the surgery schedule so many times but kept having little problems that wouldn't make him a good surgical candidate. So we kept it a secret from him, even at the vet's office when we scheduled it, we called him "the cat who must not be named" lest he get wind of it and make his eyes watery again. He tried claiming that he had a sore on his neck, but that wasn't enough to get him out of it. So today he is back home and resting comfortably. He's on pain meds and between the pain meds and having that broken piece of bone out of there, he probably feels better than he used to. The surgery confirmed that it had been broken for a long time and that he'll end up with a bit of arthritis in the joint. Knowing Uno, that won't slow him down any! This morning he was climbing the cat tree already! What a crazy boy. He wasn't sure how to get comfortable and I didn't know if he'd want to be picked up, but then his bad hip was facing away from me, so I just pulled him on my lap and just felt him totally relax. Poor guy, but in a couple of weeks he could finally be ready for a new home!
My daughter had said that Uno looked like a new cat because all of his shaved spots were growing back in and his eyes weren't full of yellow goobies anymore. I told her not to worry, he'd have brand-new shaved spots! Poor guy has his entire leg and hip shaved - good thing it's not winter anymore or he'd be a little chilly.
I've been figuring out how and when I wanted to blog about Harry and his diagnosis, but it's been so hard. Telling people made it real and I didn't want it to be real. Tonight he made that decision for me. Sometime between 9:30 & 11:30 Harry passed away.
Harry was an extremely silly kitty - here he is in his cat bed on top of a cat tree and hanging out the side - he did this for about 15 minutes. He kept edging closer to the side and eventually tipped out. My daughter promptly put him back in and gave him a good belly rub. I always loved his little white-tipped back paws. He got his name because of Harry Houdini - Harry was in quarrantine in my bathroom with his littermates. That wasn't good enough for him - he wanted to be with the people, so he took the cover off the vent and crawled through the ducts, showed up at the family room vent and meowed until we noticed him and let him out. Thinking this was a fluke, we put him back in the bathroom and he promptly showed up at the vent again! He got to move to the basement with the other fosters. There he would climb me whenever he got the chance and loved to jump on my back while I scooped litter boxes because I'd have to hold him to be able to stand up again. Smart cat! It would be another year before we decided that we had to keep the obnoxious boy.
We adopted Harry because my daughter fell in love with him and begged Daddy until he said yes. I agreed because deep down, I knew that something wasn't right with him and I didn't feel comfortable letting him go. It amazed me how strongly I got attached once he went from being my foster to my kitty. I loved him for a long time and kept not bringing him to PetSmart, but once we brought him into the real household, he just had me wrapped around his paw. Everyone who met him just loved him and thought that he was a neat guy. My daughter loved to dress him up - I regret not taking any pictures of him wearing clothes. One of my favorites was a Christmas t-shirt that said "Give me a present or I'll pee on your tree". He looked really cute in his Halloween costume - a red, silk cape that said Super Cat. People talking on the phone with me would stop and ask me what that loud noise was and I'd have to explain that Harry was purring! The boy had character, that was no doubt!
Three weeks ago, I took Harry and Max in because I noticed that Harry was sounding raspy in his breathing and Max seemed to be losing his voice (not a bad thing in a whiny siamese) and so they both got nebulizer treatments and powerful antibiotics. Two weeks ago I noticed that Harry was having trouble breathing. I thought about taking him to the emergency clinic but my cat-lady experience told me that it was either the dreaded FIP or a cardiac problem. I nursed him along through the weekend and got him in first thing on Monday. I was pretty certain that the news was going to be bad. The vet agreed that those were the two possiblities. There were some indications of FIP, but not conclusive. He had tons of fluid on his chest and abdomen, so we started him on lasix to help remove some of that and scheduled an ultrasound for his heart. If it was FIP, he'd be getting worse by the time of the ultrasound and I was cautiously optimistic because in a few days he was feeling much better and becoming more active. He had a few days of being spoiled - we let him purr at 5:00 AM even though he was too loud to sleep through, I let him eat my waffle, I let him drink out of my glass, I stopped everything any time he wanted affection. I carried him everywhere and acted like I had a newborn - he was always in my arms and I even cooked while carrying the cat! We had to figure out if he was going to live or not because if he was going to live, he was going to be too spoiled to live with! I couldn't begin to count how many tears I shed that week. My daughter took the news pretty hard as well - while she was crying out of control, I tried a little humor as I always do. I told her to go act all pathetic, crawl in Daddy's lap, cry on his shoulder a bit, then look up and say "I want a pony". She thought it was the funniest thing she ever heard! And no, she didn't do it, instead she went to Daddy and told on me!
Ultrasound day came and we were a bit nervous as to how he would do. He did not like having his blood drawn just a few days before ( he fought us so much that he had to have some extra oxygen to help calm him down.) But he was a good boy and let them do a thorough exam. Right away they could tell that his heart was too big. And not in the good way that we already knew and loved. The specialist talked about possible medications and that he wouldn't grow to be an old kitty. She took measurements and I felt a bit reassured that we had a diagnosis and a treatment plan and some time.
Then she found the blood clot and everything changed.
Harry went from being a cat with a manageable condition to a ticking time bomb. That was 9 days ago. We started the drugs anyway and he felt better. In the last couple of days he was getting back to his old self and had more of that sense of mischief about him. He'd try to jump up on me and started attacking my hand while getting petted. He just seemed happy. He'd sleep curled up on me and it was hard to fathom that it could all end. The kids couldn't understand that he was terminally ill when he didn't look sick.
It was unusual for Harry to not be by my side for the evening of TV watching, but I was working on a project at a card-table and not sitting on the couch knitting, so I didn't notice that he wasn't around. I was getting tired and still had to do kitty chores. So I went downstairs and did the food/water/meds rounds, then went upstairs to do the same for my own cats. I noticed right away that Tad & Max came into the bathroom for their treat, but Harry was no where to be found. I searched the whole house for him, opened canned food, checked the garage, but had a sinking feeling that he was no longer with us. I worried that he had gone somewhere impossible to find and passed away. My husband was already sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb him by searching our room, yet I knew that's where I'd find Harry. Sure enough, he was under the bed with his mouth hanging open. I guess I was numb, I felt remarkably calm as I woke my husband up and told him. I went and got an old towel to wrap him in and we decided to let the kids sleep and tell them in the morning. A few tears came as I wrapped him up and we decided to lay him in the garage for the evening so that the other pets wouldn't be by him and it would be cool. I went out there carrying my buddy, stroking his head and found that I couldn't put him down. I just cradled him in my arms and bawled like a baby and shook from the stress and the cold and just didn't want to leave him, didn't want to make it real, didn't want to make it be over. I wanted to go back in the house and have him sitting by the door waiting for me to scoop him up and make him purr.
Tonight is hard, but tomorrow is going to suck. I have to tell my little girl that her cat is dead. She won't be going to school. I have to take Harry to the vet for the last time and leave him there and never see him again. I have to tell people that he's gone and feel my heart get ripped out everytime that someone asks about him. I have to go through a whole day where he doesn't purr, or sit in my spot so I have to scoop him up and move him or sit and watch me make dinner or help me type emails. Then I have to do it the next day and the next day. I have no desire to sleep or do anything. Writing about him is like a band-aid on my heart and everytime I stop I feel like it's being ripped off and I'm so alone that it hurts.
It's not that I don't have other wonderful pets that love me and need me and I love and need them. Harry was just special, like a summer romance that teaches you something about yourself and makes an impact on the rest of your life. Magic like that is fleeting. Our lives are better for having shared it with that crazy little cat.
