AnnaBanana74's blog

Okay, friends, we deal with some pretty heavy stuff here on CiCH. As some of you know, I currently have three foster kittens that I'm trying to get adopted. My awesome, rocktastic vets and vet techs at Paris Hill Cat Hospital gave me the okay to put a poster about them up. So, on me lunch hour Monday, I whipped this up. Who could resist? Those faces! That marketing! (But I MAY be biased. Just a wee bit). Let's hope some great families agree with my assertions!
Have a good one, all.

So, my foster kitten Ollie has a condition I call "Leaky Butt." His vet visits showed that his testicles haven't yet dropped (for a moment I wondered if he was a hermaphrodite and made a mental note to look up local sociology professors, preferably ones with an academic interest in gender, but I digress). Because his little boy bits are still in his body, they're messing up the landscape for the organs that are supposed to be there. The result: anal gland issues and an irritated bum that doesn't always clue him in when he has to poop. The leaks aren't every day, and I help keep him clean and treat him with Animax, but there is the occasional surprise poo appearance.

Last night was one such occasion. Ollie got on my bed and smelled like he'd just used the litterbox. I was only half conscious and didn't think any more of it. And then my alarm went off. I opened by eyes and saw an Ollie-sized skid mark on the pillow next to mine. Ew. I sat up to find another skid mark on the blanket. Gag. I went into the bathroom to find a skid mark on my shoulder and a Rudolph-esque poo dot on my nose. Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!!!!! Apparently Ollie had to try out a couple of areas on my slumbering body before he decided to settle down.

After taking the kind of shower the government gives to people who are exposed to nuclear matter and doing a big ol' load of laundry, I can't help but laugh. The poor kid can't help it, and once he's neutered in 2 weeks, he shouldn't ever have the issue again.

I just can't get mad about it. Could you?

I took my big guy Trooper to my regular vet since I adopted him yesterday (I had been s**tcanned when I adopted him, which lasted for 6 months, which puts one about 2 years behind financially, but I digress). The reason I bring this up is because I told the (awesome) vet tech Miranda and then the (awesome) veterinarian Dr. Doucette at Paris Hill Cat Hospital his story for the first time in a long while.

I think that my blog entries thus far have been some form of protest about the state of animal welfare. I can be positive, and I am thankful for many things.

I am thankful for my pets. They love me, I love them. We take care of each other.

I am thankful that Robin started this site. It's good to know that others are out there working hard for our companions.

I think it might be getting better for domestic animals. There are so many of us educating others and animal welfare is often a headline. It may be the rotten folks getting the headlines, but I believe that can be educational.

It may make me sad to say goodbye, but I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to foster. A chance is better than the street.

I've been crying today. I took my 7 foster cats - Mom and her 6 babies, who were born on my watch - to the shelter to have their spay and neuter surgeries today. Val and Mack will go to their new home tonight and the other 5 are back home with me to recuperate.

I haven't been crying because Val and Mack don't live with me any longer. I really couldn't be happier about their new family; they are wonderful, loving people who took exceptional care of the cat they had before.

I haven't ben crying over the general idea of fostering cats to eventually go into other homes. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.

Like so many cat lovers, I have done (and continue to do) a fair share of fostering. Most of the time, it's a wonderful experience: watching your itty-bitties grow into full-fledged kittens, seeing their markings come out over the weeks, getting the first purr that isn't food-related...the list goes on and on.

Then, the day you've been thinking about without really thinking about comes. The day they go up for adoption. There have been times I've avoided this day by adopting the fosters myself. It's especially hard to give up your first bottle babies (Heidi and Alice) or the abandoned adult you rescued from a foreclosed home(Trooper). After fostering close to 30 cats and kittens over the past two years, even I realize it's not possible to make them all permanent members of the family.