Alex's Fate
I should address this before we go away for the weekend (Nick and I are going waterfall hunting for our anniversary. We have snares.) and come back with oodles of pictures: what happened with Alex.
An engaged couple contacted me through Craigslist and agreed to come meet her last Wednesday night. This was JUST before my self-imposed drop-off date of Thursday, so I was anxious that it go well! They came and played with her for a bit, expressed some surprise at how much bigger she was than their other kitten of approximately the same age, and we swapped sick-kitten stories. Their little boy was severely ill and refused to eat during recovery, to the point that they'd given him subcutaneous fluids. That told me they were willing to go in on health care for a pet, so I was happy. They decided she'd be a good playmate and said they'd place a deposit on her the following afternoon.
Of course, the second they left, she got sneezy again.
So I had kind of a moral dilemma. I could pump her full of leftover antibiotics, suppress her symptoms and sneak her through surgery, or I could let it play out and see what the vets had to say. I took option one, because she'd already been on THREE (technically two and a half) courses of medication, and the shelter just won't give her any more than that. They write an animal off as "chronically ill" at that point, and there is no adopting a perpetually sick kitten. It just doesn't happen, and Alex was already through the cutest of her kitten stage. Her sneezes might not even be due to a URI. For all I knew, Alex could have allergies, or a mild case of chronic conjunctivitis (ala Rick) that would be suppressed as she grew into an adult's immune system. I feel like I deceived the adopters a little bit, but in the interest of the kitten. There's my internal monologue o' justification.
That's why I held off on posting; she was spayed Friday morning, and I hovered over my phone all day and through the weekend, waiting to be told that they couldn't spay her, or the adopters backed out on their Saturday pickup because she was sniffly. But it's been almost a week, and I haven't heard a peep from either party. They have my cell number, so...I can only assume the best!
Godspeed, tiny. Know that RIck spent days wandering the apartment, wailing as though to alert me to your absence. I don't think he adjusts to change well, and I suspect that he thinks the fosters escape, or are stuck under something, every time they leave for a new home.
An engaged couple contacted me through Craigslist and agreed to come meet her last Wednesday night. This was JUST before my self-imposed drop-off date of Thursday, so I was anxious that it go well! They came and played with her for a bit, expressed some surprise at how much bigger she was than their other kitten of approximately the same age, and we swapped sick-kitten stories. Their little boy was severely ill and refused to eat during recovery, to the point that they'd given him subcutaneous fluids. That told me they were willing to go in on health care for a pet, so I was happy. They decided she'd be a good playmate and said they'd place a deposit on her the following afternoon.
Of course, the second they left, she got sneezy again.
So I had kind of a moral dilemma. I could pump her full of leftover antibiotics, suppress her symptoms and sneak her through surgery, or I could let it play out and see what the vets had to say. I took option one, because she'd already been on THREE (technically two and a half) courses of medication, and the shelter just won't give her any more than that. They write an animal off as "chronically ill" at that point, and there is no adopting a perpetually sick kitten. It just doesn't happen, and Alex was already through the cutest of her kitten stage. Her sneezes might not even be due to a URI. For all I knew, Alex could have allergies, or a mild case of chronic conjunctivitis (ala Rick) that would be suppressed as she grew into an adult's immune system. I feel like I deceived the adopters a little bit, but in the interest of the kitten. There's my internal monologue o' justification.
That's why I held off on posting; she was spayed Friday morning, and I hovered over my phone all day and through the weekend, waiting to be told that they couldn't spay her, or the adopters backed out on their Saturday pickup because she was sniffly. But it's been almost a week, and I haven't heard a peep from either party. They have my cell number, so...I can only assume the best!
Godspeed, tiny. Know that RIck spent days wandering the apartment, wailing as though to alert me to your absence. I don't think he adjusts to change well, and I suspect that he thinks the fosters escape, or are stuck under something, every time they leave for a new home.