It's not getting any better!

I still have sick cats in the house. Autumn and Penley went to the vets on Tuesday to be fixed but it turned out Autumn is congested so I went to pick her back up last night. The vet gave her a Convenia shot so hopefully she'll get better real soon and then we can put her into PetSmart for adoption. Penley's going into PetSmart this weekend so hopefully he'll find a new home.

Webster is still fully congested and his eyes are running like taps. The vet wants him to come in next week for blood tests so that we can try and find out what's wrong with him. Barb still has his mother so she's going to take her in too for blood tests to see if the problem is hereditary, although she's never been sick.

Maddison's eyes have just about cleared up but she's lost a bit of weight. Hopefully she'll be back on track soon too.

It looks like I'm going to miss out on kitten season this Spring. With sick cats in the house I can't bring any more in, especially tiny kittens.

Barb told me last night that they have twenty-six kittens and five more to catch for a total of thirty-one kittens. I'm itching to get my hands on some but it's more important to get my guys better. Oh well, there'll be other kittens down the line to take care of.

Webster and Penley

After the cats got over being sick with the runs I took in Webster and his brother Penley. Just my luck, within a few hours of arriving, Webster's eyes started running. Webster was the runt of the litter and was about a third of the size of his brother.

Penley and Webster at three months old

Webster has been really sick, on medication and spending every night in the bathroom with the vapourizer going, trying to clear up all of his congestion. I have just put him on his second round of medication and I think this time it's clearing up. I'm having trouble typing this because he insists on jumping on the keyboard to get to the cursor on the computer screen.

Sick Little Webster

I'm hoping to get some good pictures of Webster and Penley in the next day or two and post them on my blog.

House Full of Sick Cats!

I can't believe that almost three months have passed since I last posted an entry. I've been busy with sick kitties. They have all had runny eyes and varying degrees of upper resp. It hasn't been fun. It seemed that as soon as one of the cats was getting better, another one would get sick. It's just like daycare - they pass it around to each other.

During this time, before all of the cats got sick, Poppy was adopted by a young woman who lived at home with her parents and two brothers. I thought Poppy was going to a great home as she was very much wanted, but it didn't turn out. I explained that it would take a while for Poppy to settle in and that she would be shy at the beginning. Poppy spent most of the time under the bed and her new mother wasn't willing to wait for her to come around. I took Poppy back after only one week. I was told that she was hissing and scratching them by the end of the week so I went to pick her up. When I brought her in the house and let her out of the carrier, all of the other cats came running up to her to welcome her back. She greeted each one and rubbed up against them, settling right back in.

Even though I had told the young woman that there would be an adjustment period, she wasn't willing to wait and that being the case, Poppy is better off back with me. I feel that she would have always been critical of Poppy as she wasn't willing to accept her as she was.

Guess Who's back?

Autumn

Why is it that the kittens I foster end up coming back to me after a while?...lol

Autumn never showed well at PetSmart when she was there to be adopted. She would huddle in the cage, zone out and not respond to any human. She has been in another foster home in Barrie since October and when it was decided that that person would no longer foster for us, Barb found herself taking in eight additional cats. When I found out that one of them was Autumn, I offered to take her back until she is adopted.

Autumn is a sweet little girl. She is ready to be spayed but we're going to wait until she has put on some weight plus she has a runny eye at the moment. Barb and I have decided that she will be adopted from my place rather than PetSmart. That way the person who is interested in her can see her in a home environment where she comes running when called, purrs every time you pet her and gets along with Sophie and the other cats.

I'm going to start posting the cats on Kijiji and Craigslist so hopefully we'll get the cats adopted.

Timothy Has A New Home

My sister Debbie decided that she would like to foster a cat so she filled out an application to foster with Toronto Cat Rescue. She did this a month ago and is still waiting to hear back from them. She followed up with them and they assured her that someone would be calling her very shortly. I guess they don't need good foster homes.

Anyway, she decided instead that she would take Timothy and give him a wonderful home. I took Timothy to her two weeks ago and he has been adjusting to his new home. He decided that he liked it under her bed and various other pieces of furniture rather than being out in the open in her apartment. She has been very patient and this weekend he didn't hide. He's taken to sleeping on the back of the couch in the evenings and she is able to get closer to him now. I'm waiting for the day she calls me to say that she was able to pick him up or he's sleeping on her lap. It might take a while but I know that day will come.

Timothy in his new home

What a Mess!!!!

Just when you think things are running smoothly..........you wake up one morning to find that Maddison has the runs and has had "accidents" all through the dinningroom, kitchen and bathroom. It could have been worse - she stayed out of the livingroom where the carpet is...LOL Then Winston got it, followed by Timothy and the three kitens. What a smelly mess!!!! The good thing is the others didn't get it as bad as Maddison. She was on medication for two weeks but didn't get better so now I'm trying a different medication that I put in her food. The trouble is she knows it's in there and won't eat it. Another call to the vet is in order to try to clear this up.

There's Nothing Better........

.....than finding a warm patch of sun.......

.........on a cold winter afternoon

Why am I fostering?

When I first thought of fostering kittens I thought "How great to have kittens in the house all of the time. How better can it get?" I have had cats in my life for the last thirty-five years and any kitten I've ever gotten has maybe been a bit shy, but friendly, and within a day or two they would be seeking me out for a pet or a cuddle.

When I started fostering this past June I thought the same would hold true. What I didn't realize was that the kittens that I would get to foster, for the most part, had a bad start in life. Most were born in a colony of cats at a trailer park in a nearby city and have been very skittish and very wary of humans.

Two of the kittens have been a real challenge. Merlin, my first "hard nut to crack" took around four weeks before he would trust me to pick him up. But then he would turn into a purring machine and enjoy one-on-one time with me. He wouldn't let me pick him up if he was running around the house but after each meal he would turn into my buddy and we'd spend some time cuddling. He has been adopted and the two ladies love him to bits.

My second "hard nut" is Cooper. I feed him, Violet and Poppy together in the tent so that the other cats won't eat their food, but it also allows me to pick Cooper up after he's eaten as the tent is zipped up tight.

It has taken two full months to get to the point where I can pick him up and he doesn't fight me. This past week I was able to pick him up and he would be limp and I could take him into the living room and pet him for around fifteen minutes before he wanted down. Once he is on the floor, he's next to impossible to catch. That might not seem like much but it was our first breakthrough.

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch and I reached out my hand to Winston who was across the room and called him to come and see me. He came right over and Cooper came with him. Cooper came over and sniffed my fingers and then looked up at me for the first time without fear or wariness in his eyes. My heart melted and I saw the cat he would become....a cat who is trusting of humans.

It was a little thing and I know I have miles to go to fully socialize him but I realized that these baby steps are why I am fostering.

Cooper and Violet

Lazy Sunday

Nothing much has gone on this week. I'm hoping to get Timothy to the vets this coming week as he is under the weather and it's time for the three little kittens to have their next shots.

Violet and Poppy are ready to go to their forever homes and should be going to PetSmart this weekend to be adopted. Cooper is still not warming up to me and it's a worry. Barb is trying to find someone who will be able to work one-on-one with him, with no other cats in the house. He relies on the other cats in my home and is resistant to any contact from me.

I've added some new pictures of Sophie and the kitties.

Making ourselves comfortable in Sophie's crate.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Timothy sleeping the afternoon away.

Winston and Cooper hanging out together.

I went out and bought the cats a new bed this morning and every time I look over at it, there's a different combination of cats in it.....lol

I think we need a bigger bed !!!!!

Reflecting Back on 2009

I have now been fostering kittens and cats for six months. Is it what I thought it would be? Sort of...........lol I love having kittens in the house all of the time. What I didn't realize was how often they get sick. Whether it's runny eyes and noses, upper resp, ear infections or the runs, it's a worry. Because a lot of the kittens have a rough start in life I guess it's inevitable that they get sick more often. I have quite the little medicine cabinet for the cats and am learning something new all the time.

I fostered 12 kittens and 2 cats during 2009. I wonder how many I'll welcome into my home during 2010?

2009 was a sad year for me. I lost Simon and Willow way too soon. But, as they say, when a door closes, a window opens and I have taken in two fosters, Winston and Maddison, for my own. Winston is very mischievous and gets into trouble a lot of the time, like knocking over full glasses of water as soon as my back is turned, and he insists on teaching the kittens his bad habits....lol Maddison is still on the mend but is very happy to be back home.

I don't know what 2010 will bring but I wish only good things for the kitten and cat rescues, the shelter, and all of us.