Old Recruits And New Recruits

Shortly after Tess and Shadow returned Zeus began sneezing and had some clear discharge from his left eye. I put him in the big cage all by himself and kept him separate from all the other kittens.

About a week later on the weekend Aura was witnessed sneezing and showing some discharge from the left eye as well so she joined Zeus in my form of isolation.

Since two had contracted something I was certain that before long I'd have all seven sneezing and on medications.

Aura's eye got very red and swollen but by the time I managed to get them in to be checked over a vet the swelling had gone down. They had little to no discharge present but what they did have was clear and they weren't sneezing. So no medication until a secondary infection develops. Until then they're in isolation to see if what they have develops into something or resolves on its own.

They are already sneezing less but still seem to look like they're crying from one eye. I'm not worried at the moment  they're behaving like normal kittens.

Athena, Apollo and Ace were getting too big for the room. None of them showed any signs at all and were to the point of climbing my mothers curtains and getting up on the curtain rail. On top of the cage is fine, up on the curtain rail is a sign they're due to return.

Ace cuddling her little yellow ball

Apollo turned into such a love bug

Athena always on the move.

Ace had also managed to scale the half door and was cornered by Terra on one occasion. Terra just crouched and stared at the kitten, she was too scared of Ace to hurt her.

Needless to say those three black kittens didn't need me anymore but they did need a home. The only way for that to happen was to get them out to the shelter while they were still relatively small.

Tash and Cleo also went out but they only had a sales check. I'll be hanging onto Tash until after her spay surgery and stitches are out. If all things go well she'll be heading straight into a home and wont ever have to wander the sale rooms. Cleo will eventually have to sell herself.

Tash has grown so much but is still so adorable

I have no doubt Cleo will do very well in selling herself. She's such an intelligent kitten. Minutes after giving them a free run on the floor unsupervised she managed to use the blanket covering a cage to get up by the half door and attempt to escape.

She will also climb the back of your arm and get up between your shoulders so you can't reach her the little devil.

You can see the plans running through Cleo's mind

Since the black kittens didn't need me and I'd be down to four, since kittens season hasn't yet decided to stop I offered the now empty cages to some kitties that did need me.

Clyde and Zula are two kittens that appear to be well over the 800 gram mark but due to an upbringing without human contact they are very unsure and hissy around people. Thankfully they aren't entirely feral and are more hiss than attack. Given some time to find that I bring food and that I'm no threat I'm pretty sure I can turn them around.

Pretty boy Clyde seems to have some silver in with his black fur

Zula is such a pretty girl

I also have two kittens that are around the mid to high 600 gram mark. Ones a torbie (that I've since called Kisses as she looks like she's been kissed on the head), the other is a tabby (now named Cheeky since she was the more confident of the two) and they are also full of hiss and spit. They are more defense than attack and oh so tiny. I'm thinking a course of wormer wouldn't go astray either as they have quite tight little pot bellies.

Little Kisses not sure of the camera

Cheeky giving me a look for luck.

So I'm full again and the shelter is still running with kittens. I'm not sure if there will even be an off period this year or it'll continue straight into next season...

To The End

I try to keep track of my fosters and I feel sort of responsible for them the minute they are picked to be under my care.

Since Panda, that has meant being there with them when its only to say good bye.

Regrettably an outbreak of ringworm has claimed a few of my fosters. They were covered in lesions and due to it being a highly contagious fungus (not a worm despite its name), that can easily spread to other cats and even humans, the decision was made to put them down.

Despite looking like a healthy cat apart from those patches of fur missing I really don't know many people in the world that would adopt a cat that had a fungal infection that could make them or any one else in their family contract the same thing.

As with many of the problems ringworm can be treated. There is a absolutely massive BUT to that though.

Being in a shelter there isn't a full on quarantine area to house one cat and when at least ten get it how does one try to contain a highly contagious infection when you're in a facility that has hundreds of animals and quite a few people handling them.

A cat doesn't necessarily have to touch another cat, something in its bedding may touch something that is put in a different cats pen and then before you know it then that cat has lesions appearing on its body too. In a shelter environment its so much harder to contain and treat.

Bieber did have it but was put on medication because there was only possibly two kittens at the time displaying symptoms. He seems to be over the worst of it and managed to sneak a reprieve today.

Unfortunately Onyx, Jinx and Pixie three of my Black six had many big patches of fur missing. They have been out at the shelter for quite a few months now and although Harlem found her forever home the rest have struggled to be picked.

Baby Onyx

Grown Up Onyx

Baby Jinx

Grown Up Jinx

Tiny Baby Pixie

Pixie all Grown Up

They went quickly. I held them, stroked them (with gloves) and said my farewells.

It wasn't the ending I had wished for them. In the perfect world when they were on the adoption floors I wished someone could have fallen in love with them, taken them home and loved them well into their teen years.

That wasn't to be and it's heartbreaking.

I comfort myself that even though they are no longer roaming this earth while they were here they knew love, they knew warmth and I'm sure they had an absolute ball.

From the moment I brought them home they never knew an empty belly, they never had to shiver with cold and they had so many things to play with.

They went from tiny weeny critically small kittens (that probably wouldn't have made it if they hadn't been put on foster care) to big lanky kitties that would climb all over people for attention. In fact the only one that has so far made it into a home was on deaths door.

So in the end they had many more months than they would have if they had not been brought into the shelter in the first place.

Run free my little Blacks, show those in the second life that you were just too good for us down here.

The Events Of The Last Few Weeks

So far no more of my previous 6 black kittens have found a home and the other four S's - Sherlock, Suess, Sierra and Salem are all still wandering the rooms as well. Yoda is also still running around the corner kitten room.

Bieber did have a home but it so far seems to have fallen through.

Getting so big but no better at keeping his fur clean

Mac reached her weight and would be bouncing around in her new home by now.

Night before she left she began licking me. I think it was her thank yous and goodbyes

The five blacks named by my friend Connie (that now have a title name of 'Connies') have all passed sales check and could return whenever there is more room available.

Would have been an epic group picture but we're missing one

Too crowded over there ~ (I think it's Athena)

Since kitten season seems to be ending I'm in no hurry to send them all back.

Tash and Cleo are moving ahead in leaps and bounds but still comically look much smaller than their actual age. I think its all fur. They no longer feel skinny when you pick them up. All ribs and spine now have at least a bit of fat covering them. Both girls put on their big girl pants and had their first vaccination this week.

Just looking cute and chilling

Tash's home is still firmly in place with her new mother patiently waiting for the moment she reaches just over 800 grams. It will be so nice to keep in touch with this furry little bundle.

Getting so pretty, pity that the stains on her face wont come out.

Sadly I also had two other foster kittens this week that I had for a much shorter period of time than I would have preferred.

I never managed to get a picture of them which will forever haunt me.

Tess a fluffy tabby a bit like Bieber and Shadow another black girl kitten were seriously underweight. While Tess was just breaking the 600 she was bony and her siblings had all been more towards the 800 grams.
Shadow was a pitiful 400 something grams and was very light.

The two kittens were very fearful of human interaction and I feel that the stress they were putting themselves through and their low weight dropped their immune system enough to contract a flu type illness.

Neither kitten was suffering to the point of not eating, in fact they had actually done a bit of gaining but the odds were against them.

If they hadn't been so underweight then maybe they would have been put on medication but the vet did decide to let them go.

I wish I'd had more time with them, taught them that people aren't so bad. I wish I could have fattened them up and brought them out of their shells.

At the same time the shelter has done incredibly well about not getting a flu epidemic with the amount of cats we've had through this season. The risk of Tess's sneezing being some highly contagious flu virus and putting all the healthy cats at risk meant the only way to stop it moving on was to stop it in its tracks.

If the vet hadn't taken the choice out of my hands I would be in a tough spot. On one hand  I would want to medicate and give them the best chance at recovery. On the other hand I had seven kittens, one of those with a home waiting that were fully healthy and affectionate and taking home sick kittens would mean dire consequences and potentially all getting sick.

So I'm left with the comfort that for at least two days the kittens knew love. They had full bellies. They had room to stretch their legs, toys to play with and a hot water bottle to curl up on if they pleased.

This world was not meant for them and I hope they're enjoying a carefree and happy second life upstairs.