Images on this website have been digitally watermarked with ownership and usage information. Digimarc and the Digimarc logo are registered trademarks of Digimarc Corporation. The "Digimarc-Enabled" Web Button is a trademark of Digimarc Corporation, used with permission.
Contact the Author
Comments? Questions? Fan Mail? Having Trouble Registering for a Free Account or Posting? Contact Robin Here
Dee reads my blog (Thank you, Dee!). She bugged her friend, Angi to give Chloe a foster home since Angi lives in Connecticut, has cats and LOVES cats enough to take on one more (and she's also an awesome artist). Dee already fosters cats and knows that Angi would do a great job so she used whatever secret powers she has to urge Angi to give Chloe a home until she's ready to go to her forever home.
I would call this “finding a foster home in a haystack,” because I thought there is NO WAY we're going to be able to find a LONG-TERM foster home for Chloe. Color me surprised.
Angi is awesome. She's vivacious and cute with a funky-cool haircut and an easy going attitude. I did a home visit to make sure she had a good space for Chloe to pass the next few months, recover from her abuse and to lose a bit of weight (she's already lost a pound). Angi had a perfect space-a guest room in the corner of her home that overlooks her yard. It's a far cry from the bathroom where Chloe has been staying with Katherine and it's almost as big as the entire living room where Chloe once lived with her former guardian.
Everything went well with the home visit and today Katherine and I delivered Chloe to Angi's home.
Chloe didn't protest too much in the car, but Katherine and I both worried what she'd do when she got out of her cat carrier. Would she completely revert to being aggressive with Angi? Would she try to bite her? Would she growl and lash out?
We covered her cat carrier and rushed her into Angi's house, before Angi's three cats knew what we were up to. We got the room set up with Chloe's things while Chloe watched us from the safety of her crate.
Then came the big moment-opening the door.
We all took a collective deep breath as Katherine opened the crate. Out walked Chloe, planting her face directly into a small container of cat grass. Content to munch on her favorite treat, we all relaxed. At least Chloe wasn't going to charge us, guns blazing.
Chloe, energized from her treat, surprised us by getting up and casually began to examine her new home. She rubbed her face onto Angi's outstretched hand, the table, the edge of the cat carrier. She rubbed up against ME, which at first scared, then delighted me, leaving me sitting there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot.
Chloe continued exploring the room. She didn't go very fast or very far. She had to take a break and sit down every so often, but she wasn't hiding. She was simply curious. So far, so good.
Katherine got Chloe's favorite brush out and that put a smile onto this kitty's face. Chloe loved being brushed and it helped her relax.
Hopefully she could trust that even in this new place, with the new smells, things would go on as they did before. She'd still get loved and cared for. It was going to be okay, right?
Chloe got a bit irritated from all the attention. Perhaps it was a bit too much, too soon. She gave Katherine and Angi a “love bite,” but nothing worse. Katherine stopped brushing Chloe and decided it was time to go over the instructions for taking care of her with Angi.
Everything went surprisingly well. Since Chloe was settled, we bid Angi goodbye and good luck. I joked that Angi should invest in a pair of rattlesnake boots to protect her legs when she entered Chloe's room. I hoped I was wrong, but in a situation like this-and with Chloe losing Katherine, who knows what would happen next?
Katherine and I left Angi's, feeling happy and hopeful that Chloe would finally have a chance to flower.
A few hours later, Angi wrote that she was have a bit of hard time getting BACK into the room with Chloe and that Chloe attacked her ankles. I guess I shouldn't have made a joke about the boots, but then I realized maybe someone had kicked Chloe and that's why she was upset? When we let her out of the cat carrier, we were all sitting on the floor, which made us less intimidating. Now what was Angi going to do?
Angi took it in stride. She knows this is going to be a long process and now Chloe will have to learn to trust her, too. She's prepared to give Chloe every chance, if Chloe will just allow her into the room once in awhile so she can water her plants.
I think it's almost a given, that when something bad happens, we try to make sense of it. Give it a reason for being, so we can learn to accept it. Then there are times when it's just so bad, there is no sense to be made.
Yesterday afternoon, I called my Vet to see if Doodlebug was ready to be picked up. I had dropped him off that morning and he just needed some tests, a shot and a wellness exam. If you're going to do cat rescue, you must NEVER bring a cat into your home without it going to the Vet, FIRST. Considering all the creeping crud out there, you can't be too careful.
Doodle looked great, perky, nice weight. I didn't worry that anything was wrong with him, but when it took 6 minutes of being on hold to just find out a pickup time, I knew something was up. Instead of one of the Vet techs picking up the phone, it was Dr. Larry. His voice had a serious tone. Normally we would joke around, but not this time.
He didn't mince words.
Doodlebug tested POSITIVE for Feline Leukemia.
WHAT??!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!
I felt lightheaded, like I was going to faint. I tried to muster up the courage to ask him what this means. When I was a kid, two of our family's cats died from it. Dr. Larry said what I had heard from other folks who do rescue, that although it is a “strong positive,” that there is a CHANCE that in time, Doodle's immune system may kick in and he will re-test, negative. This result means he was EXPOSED to the virus, not necessarily that he HAS it. It's called, Primary Viremia. You can read more about it on Cornell's excellent resource guide for Feline Leukemia If so, there are no more concerns for this cat's future. If he re-tests positive, you have to wait and re-test again. All in all, I may have to wait for up to SIX MONTHS to really be sure one way or the other.
But Feline Leukemia is very contagious and fatal and I have an FIV+ cat with cancer and eight other cats in my house. What am I supposed to do now?
Do I have to EUTHANIZE Doodlebug? I could barely ask the question. I had to sit down. My legs went wobbly. I was in shock. I didn't want to know the answer.
I can barely even type that word: euthanize. The thought of me KILLING a KITTEN, when my life is devoted to SAVING their lives,? It's absurd! I would NEVER do that! How could I do such a thing? But what about my own cats? Does bringing Doodle into my home, mean a DEATH SENTENCE FOR MY OWN CATS?
We talked about isolation. Re-testing. Doodle does NOT have to be euthanized today, but it may have to happen at some point. IF he was at a shelter, guess what, he would be dead. I get it. This is not something you want around a lot of other cats.
But I was VERY WORRIED about bringing him into my home. I wished I had a separate building to bring my fosters now, more than ever, but I was stuck. At least I HAD a room to put him in that was isolated from the rest of the house.
I had figured Doodle would be in the blue bathroom (as we call it), for a few weeks, then I'd let him meet my cats and he could run around and have a good time until he got adopted. Now I may have lost that space for fosters until 2012!
I could make SURE Doodle was locked up, change clothes after I handle him and wash my hands well after each visit, too. If I could keep my own cats away, the Feline Leukemia virus does not live for more than a few hours in the environment, so as long as there are no shared dishes, litterpans or contact, it increases the odds my cats will be all right.
He will be ALONE in that bathroom for a very long time.
I hung up the phone and called out to Sam. I told him the news and I could see his shoulders slump as he processed the information. He had a crush on this little kitten, too. I could see it broke his heart. We spoke about our options, about what this might mean for our own cats and for Doodlebug. I started to cry, but I was late for a meeting and I had to figure out how to not be sad, be businesslike and deal with this later. I asked Sam what we should do. We had few options. Sam said; "We don't give up on him. That's what we do. I will go get him and bring him home.”
So now what I thought was going to be an easy rescue, has become much more complex. What I thought I could afford has become a challenge. The bathroom where Doodle will live is small and has a small window. I would like to buy Doodle a cat tree so he can sit up high and look out the window, as well as have a place to climb and a way to de-stress because it will have nice, tall sisal legs to scratch.
Doodle will also need more tests, a second, and possibly third ELISA (snap-test/ enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and first and possibly second IFA (indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay). I'm going to start fundraiser for him for his medical needs and to purchase a small cat tree.
I contacted Doodle's former owner and told him he must contact the person he got the kitten from and let them know the news and to get that cat tested for Feline Leukemia. I also told him that if he had Doodle around other cats, that those cats needed to be tested, too. I would have LIKED to tell him that I also would have appreciated it if he warned me that Doodle was trained to use a human's hand as a TOY and that he will haul off and bite and grab your arm or leg-a behavior I will be working to correct.
I didn't hear back from him. I'm not surprised. Doodle was on the road to becoming a very unpleasant cat to live with. You wouldn't be able to pet him without him getting excited and biting. When he weighs four pounds, it's one thing, but when he grows up, it won't be a lot of fun to have him around. I would bet money that this was the real reason they got rid of him-not that their kid was allergic, but that the kitten was growing too aggressive from how they mis-handled him.
All in all, I'd have to say that my first CT cat rescue under the Kitten Associates moniker was about as bad as it could be. I have to think that in trying to make sense of this, I had to save Doodle, so I can help him be a good kitty-citizen, learn to be gentle and give him all the tools to have every chance at being healthy and living a good life.
For the record, if there is one someone's keeping out there, I will never put Doodle down.
If he IS Feline Leukemia positive, then I will search the Earth until I find someone who will adopt him.
Please help us purchase a cat tree for Doodle and be able to continue to re-test him for Feline Leukemia for the next few months! You can use the ChipIn widget below or you can also mail a check to: Kitten Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 354, Newtown, CT 06470-0354. Put “Doodle” on the check so we know where the funds should be spent. Your donation IS tax deductible. Thank you!
Candytuft will be leaving tomorrow. He's getting neutered in the morning, then will most likely be put up for adoption once he has some time to recover. Writing this makes it seem like a simple statement, but reaching this moment was not a sure bet.
Candy, 18 days ago.
I didn't know we'd make it. Candy was one of the nastiest kittens I've dealt with so far. He still has a knee-jerk reaction to hiss, but it doesn't mean anything now. It's like a person gasping when startled, instead of a person flipping out and punching you in the face when startled.
Candy, 8 days ago.
Candy, today.
Someone liked to watch the weather report with me. I'm not sayin' who.
Happy, at last and loving life.
I'm by no means a professional feral kitten socializer, but here are some thoughts/tips:
Most important-“tough love”...sequester the kitten away from all animals and people. You will be the only one he/she sees for the next few days, until he/she is socialized.
A little shy for a moment or two? Don't worry, Candy!
1. GO SLOW. Don't expect too much and don't talk a lot to the kitten at first, it's just another thing that can cause a fearful reaction. If you do talk, keep it to a whisper. Don't move too much or too fast until you feel the kitten is comfortable with you.
2. The toothbrush was the key (I attached it to a wooden stick to make it longer-keeping my hand safe and allowed the kitten to stay at a comfortable distance). It's small, not threatening and it really made a big difference. Candy loved the feeling of being brushed even if, at first, it scared him. Within a short period of time, I encouraged Candy to come closer to me to get brushed, then snuck my hand in to replace the brush. He got scared, but quickly loved being petted, as it reminding him of the touch of his mama.
Candy LOVED eating raw (today's meal included some dehydrated chicken treats crumbled on top).
3. I gave high value treats off a baby spoon (again, a tiny sized item that is not threatening) attached to a longer wooden spoon. A raw diet is a high value treat. I used ground raw rabbit (sorry!). You can use ground turkey, chicken, duck, quail, venison, not beef. Make sure the meat also has the proper nutrients added. There are many pre-mixed brands of raw food out there.
4. Chicken baby food with no rice is also a good treat. Encourage the kitten to come closer to you as you feed the treat. Also, KEEP THE KITTEN HUNGRY. Don't leave out tons of food. When you bring the treat, the kitten will start to come out to see you, knowing there will be food. Always have good food on you the first few days until the kitten is more confident.
Silly boy!
5. With Candy, I began to realize he was all bark and no bite. His hissing was a sign of fear, but after a few days, there was aggression. As much as I could, I didn't react when he hissed, I either distracted him with a toy, or petted him until he forgot to be hissy. Once he was getting petted, he was so happy, he would not hiss.
6. Have no expectation of outcome. Just let the kitten go at his/her own pace. You'll be surprised at how fast they move along-far faster than you expect!
I hope these informal pointers help you with your feral fosters. Cats CAN change if you give them the time and are patient, but also know when to give them a push to challenge them on to the next step.
I hereby award you, little Candytuft, the first ever, Good Kittizenship Award, given only to feral kitties who meet the following criteria listed below.
Concatulations Candy! You've become a very friendly little man. I hope you'll find yourself a happy home, full of love and you never have a sad or difficult day for the rest of your life.
You're supposed to use a “high value” food and only give it to the kitten when YOU are in the room and you provide the food. The problem is figuring out what is a high value food. Apparently, this flavor was not a big hit.
Candy plays hard to get. I play “eat your damn food!”
A hiss here or there, but not bad. Candy is willing to investigate the food, even if it means she needs to hiss at it as she does so. If I time it right, I will take the food away if she hisses and only bring it back if she is not hissing.
Candy is less fearful of the spoon, but it still takes effort to get her to come to me. She needs to be able to smell what's on the spoon and granted there's not much food on there to create much temptation. I end up bringing the spoon close, but moving it slowly away once she gets a good sniff or a tiny taste.
Chicken baby food is a winner!
Candy will definitely come towards me if I have baby food on the spoon. I worry that she's not getting enough nutrition so I do supplement the baby food with other canned or raw, yes raw food (she goes crazy for the raw!).
I was able to get Candy to put her paw on my (covered) leg today. She hissed when she touched me, but she did it. She didn't attack me. I just sat there quietly and sat still. I hope that being calm around her will keep her calm. Tough to do when I also feel tense that she might lunge at me, but so far, so good.
How can this kitten look at me like that, then hiss? She is so cute, though, right? She's only inches away from me, but no. I do not pet her.
I gave Candy more challenges. First, I added a small scratching post to her crate. She was VERY interested to smell it and walk around it. Since my original brush was just too big, I took a toothbrush and taped it to a wooden spoon. I rubbed the bristles against the newspaper lining the crate and she responded well to the sound. She wanted to investigate, so I slowly brought the brush closer. I scratched it against the sisal on the post and she stretched, then began to climb up the post to get the toy. She also began to forget to hiss quite as much.
The toothbrush doesn't bother her except for when I dared to brush HER with it. She let me brush her back, but she walked away from me as I did it. She hissed, but I did it a few different times with the same result. I didn't push her hard, but I did ask her to deal with a new stimulus and she did well. Sooner or later, she might come to like being brushed and it's a great way to get her to feel comfortable being touched...I hope.
I could go hard core on her and wrap her in a towel and force myself on her, but I want to see how she'll do if we take it a bit easy. I'm trying to balance getting this job done quickly, so I can take on more fosters, and getting it done well and having a better lasting result, which will take more time.
Candy's mood has shifted a bit. She's more relaxed and seems to be very interested in new toys and the scratching post. My goal is to get her to feel happy and safe, instead of frightened and depressed. It's important that I'm consistent, too. I've asked a lot from her the past two days, so I won't make any more changes for another day or so and see how she does.
I'm sitting in my hotel room at the Crown Plaza in Worcester, MA. after attending most of The New England Federation of Humane Societies Conference (say that five times fast). The hotel appears to be located in the center part of town, right next to some glorious old churches and WPA era buildings. My GPS didn't seem to know exactly where this hotel was so I had a not-too-thrilling-drive around town late Saturday night. Needless to say, there are some parts of town that don't appear to be places where one wants to drive a BMW. Our building is newish (less than 100 years old) and I'm sorry to say a bit creepy-okay, a lot creepy.
I was trying to figure out how to explain the decor. In the “common” areas, no pun intended, it appears that someone went to an auction of many hotels that were closing and bought up everything they could. The range of styles of furnishings is from 1970's dreck to 1990's faux antiquey. There are brown upholstered lobby chairs that look innocent enough, until you foolishly try to sit in one of them, at which point your buttocks is squeezed like a tube of cake decorating icing, then squirted into a vortex that drags you downward to the ground. They're VERY tough to “de-chair” without first having to roll to the floor, as though you're on fire and attempting to “stop, drop and roll” yourself to safety, after which you quickly stand up, brush yourself off and try to appear normal.
I know I should talk about what I learned at the conference, but the scent of lye? soap? was so strong in the hallways and guest rooms that it seared my sinuses a bit and caused me run to the window to crank it open to gasp a gulpful of freshish air.
The rooms have been updated and they are relatively nice. The caveat is the fabric wall paper behind the bed NEEDS TO BE VACUUMED! It's covered with dust. I can see where the wall was wiped down and where it was not. It would be a very bad choice for someone with cats. That is for sure.
I'm trying not to write a whiney beyatchy review, but I believe that the crunky location, the equally crunky, err, dreadful food, the overly lit lighting and the overly warm conference rooms, just left me feeling drained and gassy (no meat for us meat eatin' folks and all dem healthy veggies go straight to “fumes.”). I also couldn't help but compare it to BlogPaws, which was a lot of FUN, high energy, a great location and good food.
Maybe that was the problem? It was the energy of the folks at the Conference? Yes, I should blame myself first, so blame me, but then blame..what was going on? I did not feel the warm welcome or the general friendliness I've felt at other conferences.
I took classes on Infectious Diseases, Working with Adopters, Social Media for Shelters, and got to see this new way to quickly socialize feral kittens. It ONLY takes a few HOURS. I'm somewhat suspect of this procedure, but it sure seems to work. I'm going to plug it so you can check it out. Fearful to Friendly. While I feel the author is on to something, I do warn you that the web site is not too informational and it points to buying a DVD. We saw some of it, and with all due respect, it's rather long and needs some editing. If you can glean the info from it with the soundtrack turned off, you're golden. I think there is valuable info there, but I would love it if it could be presented more succinctly and professionally. That said, if you can turn a kitten or cat or dog around really fast, it's worth the money and the tedious sound track.
I also learned that I'm basically f-cked. Between having coccidia and ringworm in my house, the only way to get rid of it is really to BURN the house to the ground. The ringworm will live on in HAIR for YEARS and the coccidia is not killable, if that is a word. I'm not going to get my panties in a bundle about it. It's too late. What is done is done. My cats, knock wood, are fine, but the next litter of fosters I get will be the test subjects. They say to treat the kittens for Coccidia if we had it in the foster rooms, but I am reluctant to medicate kittens unless they really need it.
I also learned to listen more to potential adopters, to not judge them first (yeah, like I'm going to be able to do that!) and speak less AND that for a few bucks, I can drive a mile and get a really BIG grilled cheese with HAM sandwich.
The Boulevard Diner, Worcester, MA
I'm looking forward to going home and getting ready to FINALLY get my hands on some new fosters! (crossing fingers)
"I'll give you $100. Just take the cat to the Vet and have her euthanized."
This is what one woman recently said to her pet sitter. She was talking about her 13 year old cat, Chloe. Chloe, a beautiful Maine Coon mix with shocking green eyes and a plush coat, who had only known this woman's home her whole life, was now being treated like a worthless, meaningless, nothing.
Chloe's owner was tired of a very common behavior problem in cats-inappropriate urination. Not only had Chloe climbed under the sheets, then peed ON her owner, she defecated on the bed, too. We know it's been going on for years. Chloe pees on anything soft. Chloe lived with two other cats. Was she troubled by them? What about her health? Would her owner even get her to the Vet for a checkup? Certainly, NOT. That would require making an effort.
Fortunately for Chloe, her pet sitter was not about to do hew owner's bidding. Instead, he took Chloe home. Since he wasn't sure he could safely keep her in his home, he chose to place Chloe in a small storage space over his garage. It's dark with just one window and a single overhead lightbulb. It's cold and damp and a bit mildewy-a far cry from the comforts Chloe once knew, but she was safe and in loving hands. That's what really mattered most.
This big, pouffy baby just fits in her prized cat bed. With a new diet, she may slim down a bit and overall feel much better.
He got her a big dog crate and put her inside it with a litter pan. She used the pan properly, but when she was allowed out of the crate, she would pee on any bedding in the room-possibly because it smelled like other cats. Everything was removed, save for one new cat bed. I went to visit her to help set up a better space. We moved the litter pan out of the crate and into a corner. Sure enough she started to use the pan perfectly for a few days in a row.
She was seen by a Vet who said she might have some sediment in her urine that might cause her to feel uncomfortable. Chloe is quite overweight. Her diet needs to be addressed. I also thought she might be backed up with impacted feces. Many years on dry food...there is no telling what sort of shape this cat is really in. We put her on grain free food. She was slow to adapt to it, but this morning I found one (I call it Kitty Crack) that she liked. With a diet change may give her additional comfort and she's on antibiotics for awhile, too.
This morning she peed on a comforter. First I thought it was because it must have still smelled of other cats even though it was washed. I realized it might be WHERE it was placed (inside her crate). She may have thought "inside the crate means go to the bathroom"...so the comforter will be washed again, but this time placed OVER the crate to give her a place to snuggle at night. I brought her a new cat bed, too. Hopefully, she will use that for SLEEPING only.
Chloe looks stern, but it's just the tabby markings on her forehead that give her that expression. She's really a sweet cat.
The pet sitter feels a strong connection to this cat. It made me sad because she may need to be placed in an only cat home and not be able to stay with the pet sitter. At her age and with this behavioral issue, she may have a long road ahead of her in a cold room with little companionship. Is it enough for her, for now? She'll live to see old age, but at what cost? How many others, like Chloe are subjected to ostracization (or worse) by their families for doing the same thing?
Working with inappropriate urination problems is very tough. I've suffered with cats ruining my home for three years! I can really feel for anyone with this problem, but to kill the animal is not the answer. It will take work to get Chloe turned around and find the right home for her, but in the end it will always be worth it to me.
It's back to Kitty Boot Camp! This week's "camper" is Malibu, a buff short haired boy with a very sleek Oriental Shorthair/Siamese elegance to his form. Originally, he was the friendliest of his litter and the most outgoing. I believe he was overlooked, giving his littermates more attention, since they needed socializing. By the wayside for too long, Malibu became timid so it's off to visit me for some alone-time to help him shake off his bad habits.
Malibu was very shy his first day. He wouldn't let me get too close, but he did surprise me by being willing to let me pet him once I, er, sort of, um, cornered him. Last night he was willing to jump onto the bed and keep me company while I folded laundry. Yes, it's my secret power over unsocial kittens-I fold laundry and ignore them! Works every time!
Malibu kitty is SOOOO skinny! I'll have to get a better photo of him one day so you can see he's almost invisible if you look at him from certain angles. He's very quiet and has a bit of licking, drooling nervous behavior to work out. I hate drooling! Two of my own cats do it and it's gee-ROSS!
In a few more days, Malibu will be joined by more big kitties. This is the point at which my Blog posts will become shorter and more infrequent due to the fact that I can't type and pull my hair out at the same time. Kittens that are over two months old do not get TIRED. EVER! Yet, I will be tired running up the stairs to see what they've knocked off the shelf, NOW or if yes, that WAS the TV set that just got knocked over and exploded all over the floor. I feel tired just thinking about it. 'Nuff said.
Recent comments