The vet check for Jaz, Tink, Simon and Sophie went well. They are improving. In fact, they look so much better (and larger) that the vet and staff at the shelter were joking that they did not even recognize them as my kittens.
I have been able to stop giving them fluids by IV each day and just monitor their hydration instead. So far, they have been hydrated and active and eating. The vet said to continue their antibiotics for another week just as a precaution against a relapse, but that they were much better. She actually seemed surprised that they had all made it to this point and that they were the sickest kittens that she had seen in a while that pulled through the illness rather than needing to be euthanized. It has been a lot of hard work, worry and stress, but definitely worth it to see four mostly healthy kittens playing together in the foster room. The vet actually told me that I saved their lives. It was a great feeling and went a long way toward curing my burn out.
They are still not totally out of the woods yet because they could relapse now that they are only on one medication rather than 3-4 and fluids and they still need more socialization before they can be adopted out. But, as the title of this post says, I am now cautiously optimistic that they will all get their chance at a forever home.
10/24/09
10/19/09
Burnt Out
Well, things have been crazy here at the animal house lately. I have had quite a few fosters in the past month or so and all of them have been very sick. I am currently down to four kittens that are struggling to recover from pneumonia for the second time in as many months. I love fostering very much, but after this last bunch, I am in need of a break so these will be my last fosters for at least a short while. I will update here as I learn of adoptions of the most recent fosters, but otherwise I will be on hiatus until I start fostering again. Don't get me wrong, I will still be doing fostering in the very near future because I know I will miss it as soon as my house is empty, but I think I need at least a week or so off. So here are the updates as of today:
Silvermist - is healthy and happy. She was spayed and went to her forever home on Saturday
Jewel - went to another foster home to finish recovering from her cold so that she could not catch pneumonia from my other guys. She has also recovered and was adopted on Sunday.
Marley, Nugget, Cali and Sophie - initially came to my home to be sure they were eating enough. They were old enough to be adopted, but the shelter manager suspected that they did not like the shelter food and needed something different. She was right. They were also transferred to another foster home to avoid pneumonia. They did have a slight cold so they will stay with their new foster mom while they are on meds.
Christopher - was a small black kitten that came home with me with some mild cold symptoms and then stopped eating and continued to get sick. Despite medications, force feeding and fluids he just continued to get worse. Last week I had to make the hard decision to bring him back to the shelter to be euthanized. He was in pain and too weak to stand up anymore. I was devastated by this because he was not one of the sickest ones that I was prepared to lose. He is also the first of my fosters that did not make it. I wish him the best as he plays with all the other pets at the rainbow bridge.
Pumpkin and Patch - are two orphaned baby kittens brought in my animal control. They were about 2 weeks old. One was orange and one was calico. I took them home to bottle feed them for the first 48 hours that they were with the shelter. I am an emergency bottle fed foster person. Kittens that young have to be fed every 2 hours around the clock. I can not do this long term, but since I do not currently work, I have the ability to go in on short notice to pick up a bottle fed kitten and take care of it until one of the regular bottle fed homes and come and get it. This was the case with pumpkin and patch. They are both doing well and growing in the new foster home.
Parker and Dana - These were two kittens born to a very very sick mother cat in the shelter. Her foster mother brought her in because she has gone into labor and already lost two kittens. We thought she was done delivery and set her up in a crate in an office to watch her. I left my drink in the office because I was distracted. When I went back a few hours later to get it, I could hear a kitten crying. I immediately searched for the kitten and found that the mother had managed to clean it and was keeping it warm, but it was not nursing. I grabbed a staff member who realized that the mother was so sick, she had no milk. We took the kitten, who I later named Parker, and I started bottle feeding it. I took it home that night and brought it back to the shelter the next day to continue bottle feeding while I was volunteering. Just as we were all getting ready to go home that night, I decided to check on the mom and tell her how her baby was doing. When I went it and went to pet mom, I saw a little tail sticking out from underneath her. It was another kitten. It was still wet and very cold. We managed to get it warm in the incubator and feed it a little. We all knew it was a long shot, but we had to try. That kitten I named Dana. Dana did survive the night with me since I took the incubator home, but I am sad to say that Dana did not make it once he/she was transferred to another foster home. Dana was just too sick and too little to survive outside an incubator. Parker however, is not only doing well, we were able to place him with a mother that just had a litter. The mother accepted him and treats him as one of her own which is the best thing for him. He and his new family is not with me, but I will update when I hear more. Parker and Dana's mom is also recovering slowly in one of the offices at the shelter.
Jaz, Simon, Sophie and Tink - these are the babies (who are over 8 weeks now) that have pneumonia for the second time in as many months. They are also the reason all of my other fosters were sent to other homes. We did not want the other to get pneumonia and could not take the chance that the babies would get exposed to even one more virus. They are slowly, very slowly, improving. It is still touch and go as to whether or not they will all pull through. They are on tons of medications and I am giving them IV fluids every day. Three of them are also still mostly feral and as you can imagine, all this medical care is not helping them learn to like humans. Sophie who was the runt of the litter is actually the healthiest and most social. I have high hopes that she will soon be well enough to go up for adoption. I think that Tink and Simon will pull through the illness, but am concerned about them being socialized the older they get. Jaz has lost a lot of weight and is very tiny. She is in the most danger of not making it through the pneumonia. They see the vet again this coming Friday. Depending on how they are doing, we will have to decide if we continue such intensive treatment, or if it is time to let them go. They have had intensive medical treatment for over a month now. Of course I want them to pull through and go to good homes, but at some point you have to think if we are treating them just to keep them alive because we do not want to lose them or if it is kinder to let them go. hey were actually looking a little better yesterday, so I am cautiously hopeful that we will have a positive outcome for them.
As I said - it has been crazy here in the animal house. I am sure you can see why I need a break. Although I have to say, even with everything that is going on lately, fostering is still one of the best, most rewarding things I have ever done. And I will be back with updates on these guys and information on new fosters once I start fostering again. I doubt I will be gone long. :)
Silvermist - is healthy and happy. She was spayed and went to her forever home on Saturday
Jewel - went to another foster home to finish recovering from her cold so that she could not catch pneumonia from my other guys. She has also recovered and was adopted on Sunday.
Marley, Nugget, Cali and Sophie - initially came to my home to be sure they were eating enough. They were old enough to be adopted, but the shelter manager suspected that they did not like the shelter food and needed something different. She was right. They were also transferred to another foster home to avoid pneumonia. They did have a slight cold so they will stay with their new foster mom while they are on meds.
Christopher - was a small black kitten that came home with me with some mild cold symptoms and then stopped eating and continued to get sick. Despite medications, force feeding and fluids he just continued to get worse. Last week I had to make the hard decision to bring him back to the shelter to be euthanized. He was in pain and too weak to stand up anymore. I was devastated by this because he was not one of the sickest ones that I was prepared to lose. He is also the first of my fosters that did not make it. I wish him the best as he plays with all the other pets at the rainbow bridge.
Pumpkin and Patch - are two orphaned baby kittens brought in my animal control. They were about 2 weeks old. One was orange and one was calico. I took them home to bottle feed them for the first 48 hours that they were with the shelter. I am an emergency bottle fed foster person. Kittens that young have to be fed every 2 hours around the clock. I can not do this long term, but since I do not currently work, I have the ability to go in on short notice to pick up a bottle fed kitten and take care of it until one of the regular bottle fed homes and come and get it. This was the case with pumpkin and patch. They are both doing well and growing in the new foster home.
Parker and Dana - These were two kittens born to a very very sick mother cat in the shelter. Her foster mother brought her in because she has gone into labor and already lost two kittens. We thought she was done delivery and set her up in a crate in an office to watch her. I left my drink in the office because I was distracted. When I went back a few hours later to get it, I could hear a kitten crying. I immediately searched for the kitten and found that the mother had managed to clean it and was keeping it warm, but it was not nursing. I grabbed a staff member who realized that the mother was so sick, she had no milk. We took the kitten, who I later named Parker, and I started bottle feeding it. I took it home that night and brought it back to the shelter the next day to continue bottle feeding while I was volunteering. Just as we were all getting ready to go home that night, I decided to check on the mom and tell her how her baby was doing. When I went it and went to pet mom, I saw a little tail sticking out from underneath her. It was another kitten. It was still wet and very cold. We managed to get it warm in the incubator and feed it a little. We all knew it was a long shot, but we had to try. That kitten I named Dana. Dana did survive the night with me since I took the incubator home, but I am sad to say that Dana did not make it once he/she was transferred to another foster home. Dana was just too sick and too little to survive outside an incubator. Parker however, is not only doing well, we were able to place him with a mother that just had a litter. The mother accepted him and treats him as one of her own which is the best thing for him. He and his new family is not with me, but I will update when I hear more. Parker and Dana's mom is also recovering slowly in one of the offices at the shelter.
Jaz, Simon, Sophie and Tink - these are the babies (who are over 8 weeks now) that have pneumonia for the second time in as many months. They are also the reason all of my other fosters were sent to other homes. We did not want the other to get pneumonia and could not take the chance that the babies would get exposed to even one more virus. They are slowly, very slowly, improving. It is still touch and go as to whether or not they will all pull through. They are on tons of medications and I am giving them IV fluids every day. Three of them are also still mostly feral and as you can imagine, all this medical care is not helping them learn to like humans. Sophie who was the runt of the litter is actually the healthiest and most social. I have high hopes that she will soon be well enough to go up for adoption. I think that Tink and Simon will pull through the illness, but am concerned about them being socialized the older they get. Jaz has lost a lot of weight and is very tiny. She is in the most danger of not making it through the pneumonia. They see the vet again this coming Friday. Depending on how they are doing, we will have to decide if we continue such intensive treatment, or if it is time to let them go. They have had intensive medical treatment for over a month now. Of course I want them to pull through and go to good homes, but at some point you have to think if we are treating them just to keep them alive because we do not want to lose them or if it is kinder to let them go. hey were actually looking a little better yesterday, so I am cautiously hopeful that we will have a positive outcome for them.
As I said - it has been crazy here in the animal house. I am sure you can see why I need a break. Although I have to say, even with everything that is going on lately, fostering is still one of the best, most rewarding things I have ever done. And I will be back with updates on these guys and information on new fosters once I start fostering again. I doubt I will be gone long. :)
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