I’ve just dropped off Molly and her kittens at AAC. They’re scheduled to get their surgery tomorrow (neutering and chipping), and then they’ll be ready for adoption! AAC is a bit low on adoptable kittens right now so I’ve decided to leave them there where lots of people will see them. So if you’ve had your eye on one (or more!), now’s the time to go put in your application! They’ll probably be up on AAC’s web site later today.
Being on their new URI medication seems to be helping the little guys; their weight is growing perfectly, at almost exactly an ounce a day. They’re well into their “adoptable” threshold: over 2 pounds and over 2 months old. The shelter will be ready to take them back on Friday the 26th, when they’re done with their antibiotics. Then they’ll need to get their surgeries for neutering and chipping, and then off to their forever homes, wherever those may be! (Will it be yours?*)
They’re going to make great pets, too. When I come to their room, they now rush up to me, and in the last few days even when I put down their food, they’re more interested in saying hello with some ankle rubs first. For about 3 seconds, anyway. As I speak they’re busily chasing each other around the room again.
In the meantime, I got a terrific email from the adoptive parents of Emilie Bravo, one of my very first foster kittens. I was so thrilled to hear from them and see how Bravo is doing. She’s a little over three years old now, and here’s what mom has to say:
She is 13.5 pounds of Bengal cat. Our vet said her wedge shaped jaw and body style are classic Bengal characteristics. This makes her athletic, very attached to us, vocal, and up for play 24/7. She fetches paper balls, and is enthralled with all the wildlife (deer, squirrels, foxes, birds, skunks) outside our windows. Your once little Bravo is now majestic, affectionate and fearless. She treats me like Alpha (mom) and John like Charlie (they play hard).
That about wraps it up for this Christmas Eve edition of Ben Fosters, but one last thing: *Please remember, don’t give animals as gifts. A pet is a 15 to 20-year commitment of time, energy, money, and most importantly, love. That relationship needs to begin from a place of understanding and acceptance of the trade-offs in freedom and independence. Please act with the animal’s own welfare and future in mind, and you’ll be able to look forward to a lifetime’s worth of companionship.
As we start on week 3 here at Ben’s Foster Home for Criminally Insane Kittens, we got some new advice from the veterinarian at AAC. Although Hannah and Shanti have continued to grow, I was concerned about Hannah’s respiration. It sounded a little strained to me, like she had something caught in her throat. So yesterday when I brought them in for their booster shots, I also asked the vet to check them out. The not unexpected diagnosis is that they haven’
t yet gotten over their kitty colds. So, I went home with two new meds for them: eyedrops and some orally-administered antibiotics. It’s a five-day course of treatment, and I think that for the kittens those 5 days can’t pass quickly enough! They are not fond of getting the treatment. They don’t mind the medication itself so much, I think; in fact, after getting the oral solution squirted in the general direction of their tossing heads, they lick their chops. It has a sort of sweet strawberry odor to it. However, they really don’t like me trying to hold them still. Right now I’m supporting their body in my lap and scruffing them with my left hand, then using my other hand to try to squirt the solution into their mouths. It works okay, but not great. Do you have any suggestions? If so, let me know in the comments!
And finally, here are some pictures of recent playtime they got with some of my good friends!
Everything has been going really well here at the foster farm. The kittens — who I’m now calling Hannah and Shanti, after childhood friends — have grown into little fireballs of energy. They romp around the foster room together, occasionally crashing into things. Where by “occasionally” I mean “constantly.” Their weight has come up nicely, now that they’re pretty much over their upper respiratory infection. There’s still an odd sneeze here and there, but it doesn’t seem to bother them.
Over the last week I’ve collected a few videos of the little twerps. Perhaps you’d like to take a look?
After a three-year hiatus, I’ve gotten back to fostering. Today I brought home three lovely cats: a mother and her two kittens. Mom is about a year old, and the kittens, litter mates, are about six weeks old. The shelter hadn’t assigned them names yet, so I’ve come up with some temporary names until I get to know them a little better.
Here’s bright-eyed Molly, the mom.
And Moose Shanti, her look-alike:
And finally Blackbird Hannah, dark sheep of the family, who is very camera-shy:
(I know her eye looks funny, but it’s just a patch of light-colored fur.)
These three are all recovering from an upper respiratory infection (the dreaded kitty-cold), but seem to be doing well. Hannah is still sneezing and wheezing a bit, and her weight is a wee bit low, so I’ll be watching that carefully.
They all settled in here pretty quickly and within an hour or two had found the litter box, the food and water, and were romping around tackling each other. They probably won’t need much time with me, since they’re almost to adoptable age and weight (2 months and 2 pounds, unless something has changed since the last time I did this). But I don’t expect letting go to be any easier for all that.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll already know what Green Star means: adoption! Yesterday morning, Sunflower was adopted into her new forever home, and as I write this at 7 PM on Saturday, all four of the remaining members of the Orange Invasion have been adopted as well! That’s the power of The Condo—the special kennel that Sarah, TLAC Foster Coordinator, put the little kittens into. The Condo sits right in the main adoption room, and so everybody gets to see it. My sincere thanks to Sarah and the rest of the TLAC staff and volunteer crew, as always, for the wonderful things they do to support us foster care providers.
Next for me is a little break, I think. I’ve been feeling under the weather and am a little worried that it might be a developing cat allergy. Or it might just be the ragweed. Anyway, I need some time to recharge my batteries before I get my next foster animals. Maybe an adult cat next time, or someone who needs some healing? Who can say? I’m sure it will continue to be wonderful and satisfying and just a little bit bittersweet.
And if you feel that you could use a little more joy in your life, trust me: try fostering.
All clear! I’m very relieved and happy to report that all four kittens tested negative for FeLV. I got lots of extra time with them due to the uncertainty — folks were understandably reluctant to add a new pet to their life without knowing if it would be healthy. But now that’s behind us, and so with fresh heartbreak I have given the Orange Invasion back to Town Lake Animal Center for adoption. I think they’ll go really fast; Sarah set them up in “the Condo,” which is the multi-level cat cage in the adoption building itself. They started making friends immediately!
And here they are when the room had calmed down a bit:
I know that there is definite interest in Posey, and if all goes well she should be adopted tomorrow soon after Town Lake opens at 11:30 AM. Royal also has a suitor, who will hopefully be able to get up to the Center to adopt him soon. If you’ve had your eye on one of these guys, the time to act is NOW. They’re up for grabs and it’s first-come, first-served! (Well, actually, if you’re already an approved adopter, you can call and express interest in one or more of them, which puts you first in line, as I understand it.) Beautiful, social, cuddly orange furballs won’t stay alone for long!
And just so you can see how far they’ve come, here’s their intake video from when they first arrived at Town Lake:
I dropped off my four foster kittens at Town Lake today for their health checkup. Here’s the deal: there is a chance that one or more of them has Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). They came in as part of a mixed group of 20 cats and kittens all surrendered by the same person. Of those 20 cats, none were fixed or vaccinated, but more concerning, one of the adults tested positive for FeLV. All the other cats and kittens tested negative. However, at that age the test was not conclusive; it needs to be re-administered at around 3 months of age. So that’s why they all went in to the Center today, to be re-tested.
Since they all came in from the same property, we are concerned. Feline leukemia is highly contagious between cats. If they shared food bowls, water bowls, litter boxes or groomed each other, they theoretically could have passed the virus around. We will not know for sure until they get re-tested. We have no way of knowing how close these cats were living to one another as the previous owner is not being very forthcoming with information. Luckily, the virus is not very stable, it can only be transmitted through direct contact like grooming, sharing food bowls or water bowls or using the same litter boxes. You couldn’t transmit it to your cats by petting the kittens and then petting your cats, they would have to have direct contact. And the vaccine for Feline Leukemia is very effective. And these kittens might never have been exposed, we just don’t know.
Just a quick early-morning update: Sunflower topped 3 pounds today! That puts them all off the charts, so I won’t be weighing them daily anymore, probably just weekly or so.
All four kittens are still adoptable, though there is one person with interest pending on Posey or Sunflower. On Wednesday the 21st they’re going to go back to Town Lake Animal Center for a health check, and after that they’ll be ready to go! It’s been great watching them grow, but they are so ready for a bigger space to explore and call their own. If you’re lucky, they’ll let you keep living there too!
The following is my contribution to The Last 100 Days of Town Lake Animal Shelter, a blog by TLAC Foster Coordinator Sarah Hammond commemorating the last 100 days before TLAC becomes Austin Animal Services and moves a couple miles east into some swanky new digs.
On June 6th, I embarked on a new adventure, and brought home my first foster cats: a mom and her two tiny 3-week old kittens. Today is the 100th day of my adventure.
I am finding this work richly rewarding. It’s not a huge, overwhelming kind of emotion, but it goes deep, deep into my heart. To see the kittens eat their first solid meal, and learn to clean themselves; to see mama cat finally regain her appetite and eat; to see Charlie’s first tentative playful jumps and Bravo’s bravery at climbing anything and everything: it all makes me feel like I’m really making a difference, and doing some incontrovertible good in this world. It’s worth all the trouble, all the messes to clean up, all the worry and inconvenience, the schedule disruptions… all that melts away in the pure joy of helping a little creature who needs your love. Please consider fostering pets. You won’t regret it, and it’s food for your soul.
It was difficult coming to terms with the reality that these guys really go to their forever homes. It’s a heartwarming and heartbreaking moment for sure. I just have to keep reminding myself: I’m not ready for pet ownership myself right now, and when I let these guys go, that will make room for me to help my next set of fosters—and that, along with doing the Hokey Pokey, is what it’s all about.
Wherever my fosters end up, my love will follow them for all of their days. May they be long, prosperous, and full of joy.
Ben's Fosters 