Not on My Watch: The Final Hurdle

A few weeks ago, I put into motion the rescue of my first group of cats under the Kitten Associates banner. They're comfortably housed with Maria, who lives in McDonough, the same town where Henry County Care & Control can be found which is where the kitties were rescued from. On Saturday, the cats are scheduled to be transported to CT by our dear CiCH friend, Izzy and her husband, Mark-who are going to GA to pick up their newest kitty and who offered to chauffeur a few kitties for me while they're at it! I think they will now have a zillion cats or 18, something like that! These guys have super HUGE hearts!

Maria has been one of the most important parts of this rescue. She stepped up, out of the blue, to take on these cats as fosters. It's been a lot of work for her, but she was always ready to take on one more foster if she could figure out how to fit them into her home. She's also been terrifically responsive to all my annoying questions. Monitoring the health of little kittens from over 1000 miles away is no picnic and I depend on Maria to provide me with a lot of information and be willing to go with the flow, as we have to figure out ways to react to this ever-chaning situation.

Pattycake and Moonpie are BIG. They're at 4 months old. Since getting them S/N in CT is going to be a long way off-it's very tough to find a Vet to do the job without a long wait list-so I opted to have them taken care of while in Georgia. As you may recall, Patty had a difficult spay. Her ovaries did not connect to her uterus. The Vet who did the surgery, also was concerned that Patty may have only ONE KIDNEY. She was not able to see both, but to be sure, she felt that Patty should get an ultrasound.

©2010 Maria S.-Pattycake.

I talked to Dr. Larry about doing the ultrasound here, but he warned me that it costs about $350 and he wanted to be sure the test was necessary before we set up an appointment. Maria, called one of the local vets. They have the equipment on site and can do the ultrasound for about $65!! Needless to say, Patty is having the ultrasound done today. Whew. I didn't want to do another fundraiser!

The next question mark is Bobbi. She got her Health Certificate on Tuesday, which surprised me. The Vet who checked her did not feel she had ringworm, but a dermatitis caused by the flea infestation she had. I've been on pins and needles, not knowing if Bobbi could be transported. She'd have to stay behind for a MONTH if her ringworm culture was positive. I talked with the Vet today. The culture is NEGATIVE so far. I have to check it again today. It looks good that Bobbi is safe to travel. Now, someone MUST have a broken scale because they also said that Bobbi has GAINED TWO POUNDS in barely a week!! NO WAY!

©2010 Maria S. Bobbi relaxing.

Then there's Cinnamon. The smallest of her litter. She doesn't even weigh one pound, while her siblings are a quarter of a pound, or more, bigger than she. At her dainty size, the Vet felt she was too small to safely be transported. That was on Tuesday. Today, Cinnamon goes to the Vet for a re-check. I'm not sure they understand that this transport is being done by cat lovers who know their cats and that they will have Nutrical with them, as well as food and water and that they will know to watch her carefully. Hopefully, she will be a pound tomorrow, so she can travel with her family. If she can't go, I'm not sure what I will do. Maria can continue to foster her (it helps that Cinnamon is Maria's favorite!), for awhile longer, but I have no idea how to get her up to CT if not this weekend. I'm trying not to pull my hair out, but sleep has been tough to come by, that's for sure.

©2010 Maria S. Cinnamon (left). Sugar Pie (right).

And with all this going on, I got an email from Izzy. Out of respect for her privacy, let's just say the trip was possibly going to be delayed for a VERY good reason. She and Mark were able to work things out, but it was all touch and go for a few days. In fact, they've already left for Georgia! They just don't know which cats they'll be taking from my group!

©2010 Maria S. Nap time with Sugar Pie and Honey B.

As Izzy and Mark drive south, I dream of the kitties coming north. Connie, who is going to foster Bobbi after she arrives, may drive to New Jersey with me on Sunday to pick up the kitties. She was just going to foster for a night, then bring Bobbi to Animals in Distress, but now has decided (with my suggestion) that a week in a quiet home would be better for her before she is moved again (or longer because Connie is so excited to have Bobbi live with her!).

I hope they can ALL make it. I have fears that we will leave one behind. I'll do what has to be done for the safety of the cats, but it will be with a heavy heart.

After all this work, it would really stink to have them miss the transport.

Mark your calendars. Sunday afternoon or early evening I'll be on my way to pick up the kitties. Then the fun really begins! If you pray, then please pray NONE of the cats break with URIs!!! I have PTSD flashbacks of “Santa's Team” ringing through my head. Please...not another 4 months of sick cats...and no dying cats, either! I ask a lot, but I'm only asking for their sake (75%) and mine (25%).

Stay tuned...