Welcome to Kitten Season 2016
Oh, so sorry to hear about the little red and white baby. I have such a weakness for orange cats. This is rough just to read about; I don't know how you can be so close to it and not lose it.
Funny you should post that today, PeggyC. I am losing it...one of the kittens I've had for over a month is fading. He's about 30% smaller than the others now and this one is particularly heartbreaking because I'm emotionally invested in him. When I have them for a few days and they die it's one thing, but when it's a kitten who's thrived under your care, makes it past the critical two-week mark and then starts to fail, it's too much.
I've decided to bring everyone back to the rescue and take a break for a while. I'm usually pretty strong but because I've been so concerned with him I'm up every three hours trying (with limited success) to get him to eat so I'm sleep-deprived and my emotional reserves are on empty.
My history with fostering and bottle-feeding had a pretty successful run but this kitten season has blown all that to smithereens. I know you'll all say I did my best and what a great job I did and I shouldn't feel bad but right now I just kind of want to lick my wounds and not think too much about the sorry state of affairs. It's very sad that private citizens like me and a handful of others have to cobble together some kind of feeble structure on our own to help animals.
Sorry the blog has been so depressing. I never suspected it would be such a downward spiral but maybe after I recharge my batteries I'll soon be back to fight another day.
I'm so sorry .. I've seen how much dedication and love you have given the to these kitties.
It's been a bad season for sure .. What a shame. Hang in there !!
Please take care of yourself. You are so wonderful to look after these vulnerable kittens, but it must be exhausting.
Take some time to sleep, exercise, eat, etc. and relax.
Wishing you peace and health.
ETA: Anyone who opposes TNR should be required to read this blog.
@bigben_again,
Kittens fade. It is a cruel mystery of life. The weather was so weird this winter, throwing some cats into an early estrus, and that climate did not cooperate to nourish the moms. So this is another thing I am blaming on climate change.
Compassion fatigue is very real. You do need to give yourself a break, maybe concentrate on the older kittens, or step back completely for a while. I am so sorry that this year has taken such a toll. And it is true that you did do your very best, but sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. And it sucks.
I brought the kittens to the home of the head of the rescue this afternoon. She looked at the three and said they looked as good or even fatter than the litter who have been nursing with the mom so that made me feel better. As for the little one, she felt the kitten had pain in her (yes, it's a girl kitten, oopsie!) stomach because she was walking around hunched over. She's going to deworm her and see what happens. It wasn't an "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" feeling. If anybody can pull this unfortunate creature to wellness, the rescuer can.
On the plus side, everyone took a little formula before I left to take them to the rescue. I still have serious reservations about the tiny one but maybe if I get a good night's sleep I can put my rose-tinted glasses back on. I asked the rescue person to hold on to them for a week or so and I would take them back. Just needed an expert set of eyes on them because I'm so gun-shy right now. She was heartened to hear I'm still willing to soldier through with fostering; another three week old litter of four is showing up today...
EBennett, I like the way you think but I'll do you one better. Anyone opposed to TNR should be required to foster a litter of motherless kittens. I'm happy to hook them up.
Calliope, I am KITTEN FREE at the moment!...although there is the matter of a one year old I'm fostering for a local rescue. Shy (wouldn't you be if you lived in a cage for 10 months?) but coming around. Very good with other cats and likes to cuddle with her roommate, our teenage exchange student. Probably not good for a household with little kids, but every other demographic is on the table.
Awwww. I'm not surprised you are experiencing a bit of foster burnout. It is a huge task you take on, and you do it in cycles that never quit during kitten season. Take care of yourself and breathe for a bit. Hope you have more luck in the next round!
After a solid night's sleep and a day free of fading kittens, I'm back. A shipment of formula, sent by the rescue, arrived at my home after I had returned my fosters. I promised to get it to her this weekend.
When I texted her I was on my way last night, she told me she'd been at an adoption event and when she came home, my littlest kitten had faded away. The remaining three were doing well and the rescue had just taken a litter of seven 3-1/2 week old kittens. When I got to the house, my little fosters were happy to see me and climbed right into my lap. The litter of seven, while very cute and LOUD gave me some perspective at how far my fosters had come. They look good; strong and mobile and ready to move to solid food.
So of course I took them back! My vacation is over but at least I don't have to get up every 2 or 3 hours to try to get something into their bellies. Once a night will suffice.
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As we say in Hebrew, kol ha'kavod - all the honor/respect. You're amazing, bigben. Again.
jasper said:
As we say in Hebrew, kol ha'kavod - all the honor/respect. You're amazing, bigben. Again.
Nice. I like that.
You've heard a lot about these critters and now it's time for their formal debut. Meet Juliet, so named because she looks a lot like a friend's cat so named. Juliet is a dilute tortoise shell with barely any tortoise shell markings...but they're there.
This is Alicia, so named when I asked my husband for a name. Alicia is a grey tux. Has had bit of a runny nose which I should have cleaned up before her close-up.
This is Ishi, Last of His Tribe so named because he is the sole survivor of his litter of four. The rest dropped off one by one over an excruciatingly painful month. He's been with me the longest.
bigben_again said:
You've heard a lot about these critters and now it's time for their formal debut. Meet Juliet, so named because she looks a lot like a friend's cat so named. Juliet is a dilute tortoise shell with barely any tortoise shell markings...but they're there.
Her tail is adorable !! 
They are all a cutie !!
Update: the grey kittens are getting bigger and stronger every day, although Ishi is fighting chronic eye goop. Everybody's eating. And using the litter!
I picked up a litter of three last night to foster while their current foster is celebrating her son's graduation from college in PA. They are about three weeks old and were eating solid food for her but they're not eating for me. I'm concerned. I contacted a super-rescuer, someone who takes critically ill kittens, kittens who have like, zero, chance of survival and she usually miraculously pulls them through. She got a litter of three last night, fat and healthy but rejecting the bottle for now. We might swap tonight if I can't get mine to eat. Either way this really sucks. As we were commiserating, she said this season has been horrible for her as well. She usually has a very low mortality. This season she's had a 33% mortality, 5 out of 15. Way better than my percentages. Of the 32 who've come through my door, 16 have died. That's right, 50%. For me, it's usually one out of 100.
Heard from another rescue person last night who got a call from woman looking for a future foster home for a litter of unknown size. A feral she was feeding gave birth somewhere a few weeks ago and the woman is looking for someone to take them once the mom brings them to her. She is certain the mom will bring them in a week or two. I'll probably take them, tame them and if I can't find them a home, I'll give them to my contact at People for Animals who will bring them to a no kill shelter in New England. Anybody want a kitten or two of unknown age, gender, or color?
I struggled all day and evening yesterday trying to get two of the new kittens to eat. I sat with each of them and with Ishi last night making sure each ate enough to my satisfaction. Wasn't sure what I'd find this morning but I woke up to the sound of kittens screaming. Went downstairs and found the new ones pawing to get out of the crate. I opened a can of food and they started at it. Voracious. I had to open a second can.
All my fosters are eating! Happy day.
bigben_again said:
I struggled all day and evening yesterday trying to get two of the new kittens to eat. I sat with each of them and with Ishi last night making sure each ate enough to my satisfaction. Wasn't sure what I'd find this morning but I woke up to the sound of kittens screaming. Went downstairs and found the new ones pawing to get out of the crate. I opened a can of food and they started at it. Voracious. I had to open a second can.
All my fosters are eating! Happy day.
Awe, I'm so happy to hear that !!!
I can see there little body with a big fat belly
My friend, Sharon, baby sat all the kittens pretty much all day yesterday. She seemed to take a shine to two of the new kittens so I'm sharing some pictures she took. These kittens are SCREAMERS and they have two modes: hyper busy or passed out.
Here's a picture of them with her dog. Not sure what either thinks of the visitor(s).
And this is what feeding time looks like with this particular batch of kittens. The two reds scramble on top of the plate and push everything around until they're covered in food. They have an adorable super fluffy all-black litter mate who is ridiculously cute and much better behaved.
The grey litter is coming along but all of them have some kind of upper respiratory infection manifesting as a goopy eye or snotty nose or both. Ishi seemed a bit under the weather today, moving slow, somewhat lethargic, not particularly hungry. I worry about him because, after all, he IS the last of his tribe but I gave him the bottle about a half hour ago and he drank enough to my satisfaction.
This morning I took an elderly woman's cat to PfA . The woman is poor and her cat had four kittens on March 1. I took the cat to be tested because if she's negative, I've agreed to take her four kittens from her. I've gotten commitment from PfA to take them on the next transport to New England but the kittens need to be spayed/neutered and vetted before that can happen. Fortunately, I believe we have a foster home for them (not me, YAY!!!!) while they recover and await transport. To clarify, these are not the kittens I mentioned the other day; those kittens are still at large. When those kittens show up, if anyone is interested in dipping his/her toe in the fostering pool for two or three weeks, just let me know.
I'm waiting to hear the results of the test. I tried my best to get the cat spayed today (she'd hadn't eaten) but they were booked solid. PfA agree to spay her tomorrow but when they were testing her they saw she's nursing so it put the kibosh on that idea. After seeing the woman's situation this morning at pick up, I put up the money for the procedure; sure do hope she can get her act together to get the cat spayed once the milk dries up... It's smarter for me to put out the seventy-something bucks now than to get a phone call from her in two months asking for help with more kittens.
Update: the mother is negative, so the kittens are a go. PfA is also going to be spaying her tomorrow. They don't typically spay a lactating cat but when they heard her kittens are 10 weeks old they said they should have been weaned at six weeks. Little do they know I try solid food at three weeks for my fosters....
Who's tired of looking at kittens? Here are four new ones that were brought to me last night, the kittens whose mother is being spayed today at PFA. I dropped them off at PFA this morning as well and they'll have their surgeries too.
Cute, huh?
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