Oh, What A Month

So much has happened since I last posted, and I was incredibly busy because of it.  I just didn't have the time to post, and then no motivation to, as you'll see shortly.

Sheri

1. Sheri and her 5 kittens have ringworm.  I have been treating them all but this means they have been isolated from everyone else and have been unable to attend adoption events, and that is bad news during this crucial time when they are very adoptable.  The kittens are now 3 months old and getting sooo big.  I really hope they will still have an easy time finding homes, but the ringworm isn't gone yet so I don't know when that will be.  Sheri was indeed adopted by the lady who was interested in her, and this woman is a SAINT.  She has been so patient waiting for Sheri to be ready to come home, even though it's been 4 weeks already.  She just wants her to be healthy!

2. Prize, Chandra, Tibalt, and Hermie all went to their new homes.  Hoodie is my only remaining kitten from this bunch that were together, and he couldn't go with Sheri's kittens for obvious reasons, so he has been staying with Lily in our bedroom.  Hoodie is incredibly sweet now, I'm so happy with how he's turned out, he used to be the most shy of his brothers.  He is also 3.5 months old now and I really hope he'll be adopted soon.  The older they get, the harder it is...

3. We caught 2 females for TNR completely by luck.  We named them Laverne and Shirley.  We found out they were both already spayed, but they got their vaccines and ears tipped anyway.  Laverne was semi-friendly but just not enough to be adopted, so we released her back to her neighborhood, where it looks like people were taking care of them anyway.  Shirley is still with us for now, she is VERY friendly and we didn't have the heart to release her.  We are trying to find her a home and may need to take her to adoption events with the group that I do TNR with.

Shirley

Laverne

4. I wanted to take a few more foster kittens for Hoodie since he would have been alone otherwise.  I originally agreed to 2, then got talked into agreeing to 7, then 8.  Eight kittens = 5 4-week-olds (no names at the time), 2 8-week-olds (Boo and Bobo), and 1 ~10 week old (Sachet).  When the kittens were first brought to me at an adoption event, I noticed they had diarrhea, but figured I'd give it a few days since it could be due to anything, even just the food they were eating.  However, by the end of the week, the diarrhea had not cleared up and several of the kittens were dehydrated.  Sachet ended up at the vet for 3 days, and we lost 2 of the youngest kittens.  It is the first time I've ever lost a kitten, and I know I am very lucky it hasn't happened until now.  We are doing our best for the others.  The remaining 3 are now named: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup (yes, the Powerpuff Girls!).  Sachet may have an adopter, and Boo and Bobo will start attending events this weekend.

5. Rondo, who was living at Petco now, passed away unexpectedly.  He got very ill very quickly and passed away at the vet before they could drain some fluid from his chest.  They think it was either heart problems or cancer.  I was devastated.  He had just been adopted and was going to be delivered to his new home the next day.  Absolutely horrible news.  The group is thinking of starting a Rondo Memorial Fund to assist with vet costs for cats who get ill so quickly, which is a great idea and I'm happy he'll be remembered that way.  Here is a video from after he first went to Petco:

6. Current count = 25.  We are taking a break - no more fosters for awhile.  Of course we will continue to go to adoption events until the kittens are all adopted, but especially this latest batch of kittens and the ringworm have taken a toll on us and we need a breather.  The adults aren't as time-sensitive to take to events, so having a few adult fosters isn't as bad.  Of course I say "no more" right now, but there are always cats in desperate need of a home.  I'm trying to be serious this time, at least!

Updates

It's been pretty busy around here lately, so here are a bunch of updates:

1. Several kittens went home in the last two weeks: Hudson went to a home that had an adult cat, and Ajani and Tibalt went to a home together with an amazing couple.

2. Speaking of Ajani and Tibalt, Lily's kittens had their retesting done last week...and all four came back negative!  My beautiful, brave, strong Liliana managed to give birth to six perfect babies with NO FIV!  Just Chandra and Jace are looking for their forever homes now.

3. Jezebel, the skinny little stray, went to the vet yesterday and tested negative.  She's been vaccinated and ready for a new home.  She isn't quite ready to be spayed yet though, the vet wants her to gain some more weight for about a month before spaying.

4. RIP Cody.  He also went to the vet yesterday for evaluation and testing.  It was ultimately decided by the vet that he was too old to be socialized, and was taken away from his mother too young to have the survival skills to be put back outside.  They decided it was most humane to euthanize him.  I feel very responsible for this little life having been lost, since I should have started socializing him sooner but just didn't have the proper environment to do so.  I had just gotten him a nice cage and was ready to start, but the timing just ended up not working in my favor.  I don't think I could agree to this decision again if it comes up, but what's done is done in this case.  I'm so sorry, little guy.

5. When I went to an adoption last week with 6 kittens, I came home with 7.  The AC&C van had dropped off a bunch of kittens that the group pulled from the kill list and the director asked who wanted kittens.  We agreed to take a solo kitten who had been thrown out of a car window and onlookers brought him to the shelter.  His name is Prize, though we call him Sir Prize.  He is about 8 weeks old now.  Both he and Hermie have people interested in them!

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 1/6 - PUMBA!

My goal is to introduce our own 6 cats one at a time, and hopefully one each day this week so I don't just keep putting it off.

This is Pumba!  Pumba is currently 8 years old.  He is the first cat I ever owned.  When I was growing up, we always rented, so I was never allowed to have a cat.  When I decided to move into an apartment for my senior year of college in 2005, I only considered those that allowed cats, and as soon as I moved in, we went to the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  My lease stipulated that cats have to be declawed, and at the time, there were only 2 declawed cats at the shelter.  While Pumba, named Benton at the shelter, was a little scared and cautious, he was a beautiful cat and I adopted him.

Within a few days, it was clear that Pumba was very sick.  He had a very bad URI, an incredibly high fever, and wasn't eating.  About $600, an overnight stay at the vet, and an emergency vet visit later, he recovered.  It was a crash course in cat ownership.

It just so happened that during the time when it was just me and Pumba, I went through an episode of depression.  Things had been off for awhile, and my then-boyfriend-now-husband knew that something was seriously wrong with me when I said I regretted getting a cat and I didn't want it anymore, when I wanted a cat my entire life.  After months of struggling and Pumba at my side, I made it out of the hole I was in, just in time to adopt a second cat from DCHS - Pookie.

While this post is about Pumba, they went hand-in-hand for a long time, though never bonded.  I adopted Pookie when she was 15 years old and she was an "office cat" at the shelter - meaning she stayed in someone's office instead of in a cage.  She was sweet, but also a vicious food hound and liked to pick on Pumba.  A lot of his neuroses today are because of her.  Pumba loved to play fetch with a certain kind of jingle ball, even brought it back to me after I threw it, and used to sleep on my pillow every night.  When Pookie joined our household, she stole everything from him - food, toys, etc.  He now walks away when other cats come near him while playing or eating, even if I'm trying to give him a treat or some chicken.  He would follow her around to keep an eye on her.  He would still come in bed with me when I first laid down, but after a few minutes he would leave to go watch her.  He has just never gotten over it and he's a coward now.

I left Pookie and Pumba with my mom in Iowa when I moved to New York, because I was under the impression that cats weren't allowed in my husband's apartment (which turned out to be false, his roommate was quite a character).  A few years later, when Pookie was 17, she developed diabetes and her health spiraled very quickly.  She lost all interest in eating and withered away, and was peeing everywhere but her litter box.  After a very long discussion with my trusted vet, we decided not to treat her diabetes, since she was so old that daily (or more) injections of insulin would be unkind to her.  A week or two after that discussion, Pookie had given up completely and my mother had her euthanized with my permission.  I will always regret not being with her when we let her go, and now that I know more about feline diabetes, I sometimes wonder if we gave up too easily.  She had a great life with us though in the few years we had her, and that is the best we can hope for when an older senior ends up at a shelter.

A few months later, my fiance and I went back to Iowa to get married.  We packed up Pumba and took him on the 20-hour car ride back to New York with us (with breaks, of course!).  It was unpleasant for all of us, since Pumba has bad carrier anxiety, but we all made it in one piece and he was so happy to be back with me that he forgave us as soon as we let him out of the carrier in his new home.

While Pumba never really bonded with any other cats, despite so many to choose from that came through our doors, he will occasionally play with Dusty and Bobby, and that makes me happy enough.  He is my boy and won't let me forget it!  He knows 4 words - Pumba, Pookie, ball, and down.  Pumba is the only cat I ever managed to train "Down!" when he was up on a desk or counter that he shouldn't be.  Anyone who comes to our house either falls into Team Dusty or Team Pumba.  And I have to say, recently Team Pumba has the most members!

 

Final Eliza Update

I have been avoiding posting for awhile because we found out some bad news. Eliza ended up developing more auto-immune problems and the rescue group decided to put her to sleep. It breaks my heart because we truly would have kept her if we could, she was such a sweetheart. If they would have told me sooner, I probably would have taken her back and figured something out. I still think about her every day and probably will for a long time. I hope she will remember us and wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge.