Foster Cat Journal: “Meh” Little Princess

I get lots of emails and calls about cats and kittens who need help. I wish I could help everyone. I wish I could post stories about every one, too, but I'm getting overwhelmed with requests. I have a backlog of cats I need to write about and it kills me to have to make anyone wait, but I need to make a living-meager as it is, and with trying to get Kitten Associates off the ground and care for my foster cats...I feel the crush of responsibility.

So when I got a call asking me to take one kitten from Litchfield, I said I could not. I have nowhere to put the kitten other than with my other fosters. For some reason, no one understood why this was a problem for me, but I've had so many sick kittens that the last thing I want to do is open ANY of them up to a new illness or vice versa.

Guilt-ridden, I decided to, at least put the word out to see if someone local could take the kitten. Sure enough our friend, Jan jumped up and offered to help. I figured out who would meet where and when, packed up things the kitten might need and went off to Waterbury to meet up with a very nice couple-Evan and his wife. They found a little kitten-they called a tabby? the day before under their car in the garage. It walked over to Evan, making a weird squeaking noise-not at all like a regular kitten meow. She was all alone and very thin. She had ticks and fleas all over her.

They took her to the Vet who gave her sub-q fluids, tested her for feline leukemia (neg) and de-wormed her. She had no fever and was too young to be treated for fleas, but she has FLEAS!...I'm just not an expert on treating tiny kittens, so something should have been done for this cat...but it was not. Now what do I do?

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Princess and her Rescuer say goodbye.

Evan and his wife were clearly sad to let the kitten go. I told them I didn't have to take it. I didn't want them to feel pressured, but they said it was for the best. Their cat was freaking out about the kitten and they realized it wouldn't be a good fit for them and I certainly understood. They did a good thing finding help for this kitten. I asked if there were others and they hadn't seen any, but would keep a look out. I didn't want to rip the kitten out of their hands, but she seemed very lethargic and I wanted to get her fed right away. As bad as she looked to me, apparently she was looking better than she had at the Vet. I'm not sure I would have wanted to see that.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Princess gets some rest.

I asked them if she had a name and they said no, so I asked Evan to name the cat. He chose, Princess. I got Princess settled in the cat carrier and she laid down in the sun and went to sleep. She barely moved as I drove to Jan's. I could see her ribs. There was nothing to her. I started to think it was a bad idea to have this cat fostered so far from where we can get her help if she needed it. The more I drove, the more I realized I couldn't leave this kitten with Jan. She needed to be near the two rescue groups responsible for her-not further away.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Nom-noms!

I got to Jan's and she came out to greet us. She is just as sunny in person as she is online. She welcomed us to her home and we went into the basement where she was going to foster Princess. All I could think about was trying to get this kitten fed NOW, then maybe get her to Dr. Larry. We gave her some food. She got up and picked at it a tiny bit, then laid down again. I felt like a total ass, going back on the arrangement, but Jan was very understanding. Even though it was going to possibly open a big can of worms at my house, I had to bring Princess home.

We met Jan's husband, Peter and their cat, Cake. They were very sad to see Princess go, but I knew she was too fragile. She needed a Vet visit and some very careful monitoring and if she needed to be taken to the Vet, I could get it done much easier than asking Jan to run an hour down here to do that.

I called Dr. Larry's office. Got an appointment for Thurs 11:20. I asked about flea treatments, they said nothing other than a gentle BATH. Oh great. I'm going to kill this cat by bathing her. Meanwhile my head is about to spin off because I'm thinking about how I have to set up her dog crate, I don't have a litter pan or much litter, how am I going to bath her, feed her, what should I do and when?? ACK!

I got her home, got her fed again with different food. She ate more, then rested in her cat carrier while I got things set up. Then...I had to give her a bath. That was not fun for anyone. I tried to be a gentle as I could, but she got feisty, then she got limp. That scared the you-know-what out of me.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. The bath of death...okay not death, but I certainly pushed Princess to the edge doing this. I don't want a house full of fleas, either!

I just went as fast as I could. We used towel after towel to get her dry. Seeing her wet was even worse than seeing her dry. She's a living skeleton.

Sam and I took her into the bathroom. I set up the space heater and Sam held her in a towel on his lap while the space heater blasted him in the face, it also kept Princess warm. She was shaking, while we broiled in our fleece pullovers. As Princess dried off, she perked up. She began to “make muffins”-which was a good sign. She also began to make this weird meow which is more like a “meh.” If you talk to her, she talks back. I asked her if she was feeling better and she replied; “Meh.”

I got her settled into her crate. Cinnie, Sugie, Yodel and Honey B. were not thrilled. They hissed and got VERY cranky when they saw Princess. She just sat in her crate and ate. I gave her almost a full jar of chicken baby food. She ate it ALL. I was very glad to see that, but she has a long way to go. (and no, she is not just getting chicken baby food. I know it doesn't have all the nutrition she needs, but I wanted to get her to EAT and this is a good, easy food to digest)

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Third meal in two hours. Still eating!

I let her rest in the crate while the other kittens frantically tried to touch her through the bars. She ignored them, but every time I spoke to her, she would look at me and “meh.” It reminded me of my dear cat, Squeegee, who died many years ago. Squeegee was named for her weird meow. I realized that calling this kitten Princess, didn't do the trick. She needed a tweak to her name and I had just the idea. I'm going to call her, Princess Fifi, in honor of Squeegee whose nickname was, the Baroness von Fifi. I asked her if she liked the new name. She said; “meh.”

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Cinnamon and Sugar Pie unenthusiastically unwelcome Princess to THEIR room.

It's after midnight. I'm wiped out. Princess had to be washed off 3 more times. She kept getting into her food, then walking into the litter pan. I got so irritated, Sam had to take her the last time. I think I'm at the “it's too much” point and I need to find a way to make some time for what I need to get done. I feel like I've lost the month...where is time going? I get up...it's all stress all day...then I pass out at night. I know it won't always be like this, but sheesh. I need a night out or just some sort of break with this craziness. I can see how people get burned out doing rescue. It's truly exhausting, but of course, it's equally as exhilarating to look down into the eyes of a fragile kitten you just rescued and know that she has a chance because of you.

I got into bed while Sam was tucking Princess Fifi into her crate for the night. Every muscle in my neck was rigid. My head was throbbing. I began to wonder if I'd be able to sleep. Sam asked me if I was okay. I replied; “Meh.”