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Loss, Recovery, and the Patience to Wait For What’s Good
Posted on June 13, 2009 by jcnadmin in 2009, Susan's Blog
June 13, 2009 : 12:46 PM
Hard week…we lost one of the newbies. We named them Penny and Jenny, and thought things were looking up for both, but the smallest, Jenny suddenly became very weak. I rushed her to the vet outside of clinic hours, and he tried some emergency measures, keeping her overnight. In the end, he felt she must have suffered some trauma before we rescued her or possibly a congenital problem. She had fluid in her lungs, and x-rays showed possible organ compression. We always hope that we can learn from these things, and better help the next one coming in. Kittens abandoned or living on the streets are in constant danger and they often come in having suffered terrible trauma. Of course we do our best, and we can’t possibly save them all. Penny is doing well. Her panic has decreased tremendously, she’s put on weight, and has even started playing a little! We’re now caring for 16 kittens at the shelter, and the day in day out work is done almost entirely by David, while he’s teaching English 4 days a week, and I’m working overtime to pay for the extra cost. We got a call yesterday, about 6 kittens born to a stray in a garage, in an area where the people have spayed and neutered 10 other strays. We want to help, but we need to find more foster families, as kitten care is so time consuming. We don’t want to take on more than we can handle, but we also want to keep kittens from being sent to be destroyed. A few more volunteers are now coming out to clean the enclosures, which is helpful overall, and we just got a $400 donation (from one of our kind friends in the UK), which we can use for special needs food. I’m hoping that we can find two families to keep 3 of the kittens each, for this week, until David can take kittens to Tokyo next weekend. We have a visitor coming out to the shelter tomorrow, along with the kittens with the stray mother cat in the garage to deal with. Luckily, my day off, so I won’t have to rush out to classes in the middle of things.I took some new pictures of Fantasia out in the enclosure enjoying the warm weather! She doesn’t tolerate any kitten play, but seems to prefer the kitten enclosure. Most of the time she sits on one of the higher levels looking out at the gardens, and waiting for her tasty snack! http://www.japancatnet.com/rescuestory/0611fantasia.html
I’m so sorry you lost one of the babies….its sad because they can’t tell you what happened to them so you can check for certain things.
But she knew warmth, food and safety from you and will give God a good report
I have been wrestling with the idea myself of taking on some foster kittens….but it will have to wait until my cats get updated shots next month. I have a very small house with 4 cats already, so I’m not sure how it will go over, but my cats have adjusted to new babies before….just usually one at a time!
Oh and also, Fantasia seems to be really blooming these days….I can’t get over how small she is and how large and luminous her eyes are….she’s a provocative beauty!
Fantasia is so different from when she came in! She can be a bit cranky, but her spark is back. Where once she simply laid in one place with very little movement other than to go to her food dish, now she climbs around the enclosure, finding the best sunny spot. She loves her comforts and is not shy about asking for snacks. She used to be one of those cats who, having had such a terrible time before coming to the shelter, have given up on expecting anything good to happen to them. That’s completely changed, and though we are still not sure what health problems remain, she has certainly gotten her groove back.
Poor Jenny. But I know that she could have just as easily died out on the street without food or any comfort at all, and I am very glad that we could do what we were able to do for her.
On fostering kittens…If you have the time, I just have to say how much help it is to a shelter! If you are limited on space, one idea is to put up a cage and keep them there for much of the time, letting them out for periodic romps. You can create a loft bed using a garden tray and plastic lock bands–we even make a little ladder using a plastic garden lattice! http://www.japancatnet.com/rescue/kittencare.html A cage in a home is a step up from what might be available at the shelter, since the personal attention that the kittens get, not to mention the healthier environment, makes a huge difference in their rehoming potential. Working with a good no-kill shelter makes the experience almost risk-free, as the kittens can be returned anytime if things don’t work out, or they will be moving on to new permanent homes after only a short amount of time. I imagine if you are considering fostering kittens, you probably already know all of that, but I can’t waste the opportunity to make a pitch, in general!