Sadness
I lost my first kitten today. I haven't been fostering for very long, just started this summer. But I have to say, fostering kittens isn't easy. It's even worse when they come to you without a great start in life and you're playing catch-up until either you win and they thrive...or you lose and they die. I lost last night. It's 2 siblings are at the vet right now. Only one of them is thriving right now. The other is just skin and bones.
They came to me on Sunday when a lady, trying to do the right thing, caught them in her yard. 3 squalling little babies, covered in fleas and very underweight and anemic. They looked more like 3 weeks old than the 6 weeks old that their teeth said they were. Thankfully, kittens this old can eat solid food so it didn't mean bottle-feeding, although at this point I kinda wish I had. Maybe the poor kitten would have lasted. No help for it now.
In my spare room is a totally different set of kittens. And their mom. They got a much better start. They were dropped off at the store like the others, but all 5 kittens and their mom, despite being small and also covered in fleas, did not look anemic nor did they look underweight.
All of them thrived and mom has turned into a total lovebug. She's only a year old and despite the rocky start of our relationship (for the first week, all the bleeding I did was because of her), she starts purring as soon as I step into the room and it's always a battle for my lap between her and the kittens. Not that they seem to care all that much, they'll just as happily attack my shoelaces as sit in my lap. Such is the life of a healthy kitten.
They are about 9 weeks old (approx 5-6 weeks when I got them, same as the tiny siamese ones, size is so different!) and they've all got the pudgy round belly. Kitten fat. Between that and their orange cuteness they'll be sure to be adopted quickly. I'm not even worried about momcat, with her beautiful longhaired orange and white coat, and her little bob tail and her sweet personality, I'm betting she'll get a home quickly. I have an appointment with my favourite vet to weigh them and get their felv shots. I'm hoping they'll weigh enough to be fixed at the shelter proper next week sometime. Then I'll make the rounds of my stores to get them adopted. I've already got 2 tentatives.
But I'm still sad. This is my first dead kitten. Intellectually, I know that he had a small chance of surviving anyway, but you always hope, you know? Now I'm focused on his siblings. I still have to figure out names for them. They were going to be the three stooges, but I think that would be depressing now.
They came to me on Sunday when a lady, trying to do the right thing, caught them in her yard. 3 squalling little babies, covered in fleas and very underweight and anemic. They looked more like 3 weeks old than the 6 weeks old that their teeth said they were. Thankfully, kittens this old can eat solid food so it didn't mean bottle-feeding, although at this point I kinda wish I had. Maybe the poor kitten would have lasted. No help for it now.
In my spare room is a totally different set of kittens. And their mom. They got a much better start. They were dropped off at the store like the others, but all 5 kittens and their mom, despite being small and also covered in fleas, did not look anemic nor did they look underweight.
All of them thrived and mom has turned into a total lovebug. She's only a year old and despite the rocky start of our relationship (for the first week, all the bleeding I did was because of her), she starts purring as soon as I step into the room and it's always a battle for my lap between her and the kittens. Not that they seem to care all that much, they'll just as happily attack my shoelaces as sit in my lap. Such is the life of a healthy kitten.
They are about 9 weeks old (approx 5-6 weeks when I got them, same as the tiny siamese ones, size is so different!) and they've all got the pudgy round belly. Kitten fat. Between that and their orange cuteness they'll be sure to be adopted quickly. I'm not even worried about momcat, with her beautiful longhaired orange and white coat, and her little bob tail and her sweet personality, I'm betting she'll get a home quickly. I have an appointment with my favourite vet to weigh them and get their felv shots. I'm hoping they'll weigh enough to be fixed at the shelter proper next week sometime. Then I'll make the rounds of my stores to get them adopted. I've already got 2 tentatives.
But I'm still sad. This is my first dead kitten. Intellectually, I know that he had a small chance of surviving anyway, but you always hope, you know? Now I'm focused on his siblings. I still have to figure out names for them. They were going to be the three stooges, but I think that would be depressing now.