It looks like I won't be getting new kittens after all. The intake team got to Animal Care and Control today and three of the kittens from the litter that I was supposed to get had already died. The mom cat looked awful and the other kittens looked like they weren't going to last. If we had the ok for me to foster a few days earlier we might have saved them, but at the same time maybe not. The vet did not test them so we don't know for sure, but it is possible that the kittens died of Panleukopenia. I don't want to bring Panleuk into my house and the vet was going to test the mom for that before they brought her to me, but at this point it looks like a losing battle.
The bad guys may have won this round but I will be back to try again. Zora and Navi are still not up to weight for surgery so I will enjoy a few weeks with just the two of them before I try for another foster. I told the vet to keep me in mind if they see any other moms with babies scheduled for euthanasia, because I want to stop them from being put down if I can, but this time it just wasn't worth intervening. It sucks to think about it that way, but its true. We have to be realistic, and with kittens that are only a week old it is really hard to fight off anything serious.
Days like these make me appreciate the cats that I have and all the wonderful fosters that have come through my house and been adopted.
Wowo thats no good, how do cats get so sick like that? I was tossing around the idea of being a dog foster. I really want a dog but Danny says no (for good reasons) and this way it would be like having a dog but w/o the long term attachments.
ReplyDeleteCats can get sick from stress or just environmental factors. Its way harder for pregnant moms and little tiny babies to handle being in a shelter, especially if they're sick!
ReplyDeleteI think you should totally foster though. Just make sure that its a dog that is good with cats (for your kitties' sake!). Fostering is really great, you are helping the animal AND you get the benefit of a new friend!