Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Ramblings of a FOSTER MEOWMIE

FOSTER MEOWMIE:
You read that right, foster mom to a cat with 5 kittens that are less than one week old. I am a hopeless. My mom scolded me when I was young for bringing home every furry four legged thing that would come when I said, "Here, little one". Dave has reminded me that we cannot , no CAN NOT adopt every stray four legged animal that presents itself on our front porch and no we cannot put food there claiming that I don't know why it hangs around. :(

I'm not, I didn't, I'm innocent and I plea the fifth! It's all my neighbor's fault. She brought her troubled self to my back door and knocked yesterday. I should have known she was trouble, after all my Bible tells me somewhere that "Though shalt not answer the door when those pesky neighbors of yours come knocking"... okay maybe I paraphrased that some (read: I made it up). She said, "I need your help." I should have slammed the door in her face immediately, but no - I take the bait and say, "What's up." Long story short, a couple moved out of her rental house and left several cats. One of which had kittens less than a week old SOMEWHERE in the basement. She's allergic to cats and has a baby to take care of. Well, I did what every other sensitive animal caring person would do and found the kittens, mother cat, a pure white older cat, along with it's pal a yellow striped one. When I finished and had them all snug in the back of my 4x4 raider, I claimed defeat and told her that my husband was going to send her hate mail. She happily agreed to accept it and said, "Thank you."

When Dave got home I had to fess up. It was kind of hard to keep it hidden when I had a sign on the bathroom door boldly proclaiming OCCUPIED, USE OTHER BATHROOM ... I stood hopelessly guilty and was caught cat handed. My sis has the other two older cats and I have a momma cat and five less than a week old baby kittens.

I never told you all this but the last kitten we had (the no named one), ended up becoming the kitten of another person who was looking for a good house cat. No name was good for that, so we let him go.


Now I have six animal friends in my bathroom with no name. Since I knew we could not keep them, I called a local stray animal organization (PALS) and let them know of the situation. Our county does not have a shelter so they recruit volunteers. I agreed to FOSTER the cats and they agreed to do whatever they could to find adoptive homes. Yeah! Melissa is happily accepting the assignment. Dave is agreeable and PALS are my pals, such a redeeming organization... now, cleansed from my wrong doing I can happily go about fostering these babies too.

Send good vibes this way that momma cat will feel comfortable and take care of the babies since we had to pull them out of her nest. I have been trying to keep the bathroom environment quiet so she will feel comfortable in these new surroundings. Today she seems very friendly but I could tell yesterday that she was a bit freaked out, more interested in eating and wanted to be left alone more than anything else. The vet said call for food supplement if I hear the babies crying non stop, if they do that it means that momma is not adjusting well and not caring for them.

UPDATE:





Dave took this video last night. This little one was cold to the touch and very lethargic for the last six hours, but yet alive. We drove 10 miles to the vet clinic office (after hours emergency service) to get special kitty formula to try to make this one eat. It wouldn't respond to it's mama's licking when we left and it wouldn't compete for food. This video clip was taken when we returned home.

Dave managed to get a whole 1 Tbsp down it, but it wouldn't suck. We then took it back to it's mom and discovered a little yellow tiger stripe one had suffocated by the mama lying on it. Dave was heartbroken and held it for more than 15 minutes trying to get it to "wake up". We were both shocked that the one we were sure was going to die was still alive and one that was lively and active died.

24 comments:

Eat Peace Please said...

Your kitty story is so nice. I would be like you and want to keep them all. I'm glad that kitty-no-name has a good home as well.

That book you found sounds funny! I'd like to thumb through it for kicks.

Ok, now the greens, WTF to you too!?! I may have a new phobia of the special-pre-washed-when-I'm-lazy-bags-of-greens. Oh no! This is freaky.

Dori said...

Oh no Leslie. I put the book and salad pix up and then decided to update the post to include a movie of a kitten.

I deleted the book pix and the green salad one to so I couldn't bring it back if I wanted. drats.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

dave doesn't seem like the kind to send hate mail -- no, not at all! lol! and, i'm sorry about the saddness at the end, dori, loosing one of the kittens. but this part "caught cat handed" really made me smile. you tell a great story.

Candi said...

What a cute that little "Cream Puff" is! So tiny and sweet. You have done a gerat thing for this kitty family and I sure hope they all find homes! Sorry about the loss of the one kitten. :( Think of how many you are giving life to though. :)

Harmonia said...

Adorable. Simply Adorable! :) I bet you are the best of the best when it comes to fostering! :) Oh! I PMed you in Veggin' Out last night when you have a chance to log on.

Great pics!

Anonymous said...

Sending very good cat vibes your way....what a feel good post!!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear one of the kittens passed away. I'm sending good wishes that you can find permanent homes for them :)

Nikk said...

Okay, so I cried a little when I read your post. I grew up the same way, and would totally do the same thing in your situation.

Losing the kitten is really sad, but these things do happen. I hope they will all find homes and in the meantime, I hope they will enjoy being under your care! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry that you lost one of the kitties! :( It's so great of you to take them in and foster them. I hope you find homes soon. Cherie

laura k said...

What a great story. I love foster programs and hope to be a foster "meowmie" myself once I stop renting...

I'm sorry about the one that passed away but I do hope the rest are found good homes. Blessings upon you!

urban vegan said...

What adorable kitties--and what a nice foster family they found. I'm very sorry about the little tiger one. What a sad accident.

Please keep us posted on these cuties.

Dreena said...

Dori, you are such a kind and generous soul to look after these kittens and their mama. Very sad about the one little kitty that didn't survive, but thanks to you the others now have a very good chance of surviving and thriving because of the tlc of you and your family.

Unknown said...

Dori - they are adorable. So sad that the one didn't make it. My dog had puppies when I was a kid and one of them died too...it was so sad to see. Hopefully you find good homes for them!

Eat Peace Please said...

Oh my goodness! I just came back and saw the update, and I'm sorry for having that first comment, because I said the story sounded so nice. Not anymore. I am so sorry to hear about the kitties, and especially the one who died. It's heartbreaking to me all the way over here too. How's the one in the video doing today?

Anonymous said...

Meowmie is such a cute term! I'm glad you were able to foster them until they all get homes. It's sad that one of them didn't make it but at least all of the others will have a fighting chance.

I have watched the movie quite a few times now. I can't get over how cute and tiny cream puff is. The little nose and those itsy bitsy paws. Oh...

Anonymous said...

I love the term, "caught cat handed" too. What a good foster Meowmie you are!

I'm sorry for the little yellow tiger kitty.

Mikaela said...

Much, much, much love to you and your family and foster kitties. You have a beautiful spirit, Dori :)

Mikaela

funwithyourfood said...

AW youre going to be a great foster mommy

I'm sorry to hear that they haven't all made it :(

You're still a hero to take them in

Teddy

Mindy T. said...

My cat, Jasmine, says to tell you you're wonderful and that she hopes your day today is just purr-fect!

thanks for visiting me...

http://mindycooks.blogspot.com

Nicki Baker said...

Awww I'm so sorry a little kitty died. I hope you guys end up being able to keep all the rest :)

Jackie said...

Sad to hear you lost one kitten but at least the others are all fine and were lucky to get such a loving home as yours.

I cannot see you giving them up Dori. Once you hand feed kittens you tend to bond with them :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, Dori, what a story.

We got our littlest cat sorta a similar way. She was found by a co-worker of Steve's who brought her to work, and Steve just couldn't say no. She was just a few weeks old, too young to be away from mama, so we fed her form a tiny bottle. She had difficulties, too (and injuries) but now she's quite a big and rambunctious cat.

KleoPatra said...

Wow, what a story/video/cat situation/future plans for fostering. I'm a mishmash of feelings right now. Sad about the update with the kitty, happy for pretty much everything else. Wow.

Bless you for being so loving and compassionate!!

bazu said...

I'm so touched by your story- people like you and your family, with big hearts, renew my faith in humanity. My cats and I send you and your foster family best wishes, hope the kittens survive and thrive and find good homes. I love the video, too.