Cats Galore

This morning, I had the honor of having a girl come with me on my rounds.  She drove from the other side of the city, and arrived at my house at 4:30 this morning (she didn’t want to be late!).  We sat inside sipping coffee while I gave her the run down on what she could expect when we went out to leave at the usual time of 5 am.  She is also the girl that took most of the photos at the fundraiser, and of course brought her camera along to snap the kitties on the route.  She snapped away, and I can’t wait to see what she took.  Hopefully none of me.  J  It was pretty uneventful, so she didn’t get to see people, but she sure did see a lot of cats, and at one point, she became quite sad.  In retrospect, I have become a little more hardened to what I see, but when I see other’s reaction, it opens up what I try to stifle, the heartache knowing these animals are out there, trying to fend for themselves.   I reminded her of the positive, that I have rescued at least 30-35 cats so far since January – that’s a pretty good number.  And there will be more in the future, if we can just spread the word.

The kittens that my friend Kristin rescued from the man who lives near the college – the man that still has over 30 cats I believe, even after her rescuing a total of 11 baby kittens – are all still sick.  Three were turned over to Kitten Korner Rescue after Kristin bottle fed them for well over a week, two are at my one friend’s house – they were brought to the clinic on Saturday, but were so sick they could not give them their wellness shots, which is what we still wound up paying for, and we also paid for their meds, plus leukemia tests.  All in all, those two kittens cost $150.  And they still need to go back to get their shots, and be spayed/neutered at some stage.  The other six that I had in my bathroom for a week, they wound up costing $266 for their meds and check up, and still need all their shots, and eventual spay/neuter.  The cost of rescue is enormous.  Those six kittens, who are being kept in a horse stall on my friends property, are also still very sick.    A friend in rescue suggested that there might be room at Lollipop for adoptables – Lollipop is the kill shelter we have here in Rochester – because they had a big adoption event recently.  I had an acquaintance a year or two ago who works there, and who successfully helped me adopt out many adult cats that I brought there, and knew the ins and outs of the place, and I reached out to her to see if there might be a chance to get the kittens in – not even mentioning their illnesses.  I mentioned this to the girl that is fostering the six, and here is what she said:  

“I am not opposed to surrendering them to Lollypop, because it's really hard to find adopters, even for kittens...but I know that Lollypop will NOT take them while they are sick. This is highly contagious and I'm sure they would be pts. That said, I'm willing to keep them until they're better, and although I'm religiously washing faces and administering meds, it is slow going. And they are all in various stages of the upper respiratory gunk, so maybe that's why?? I've been spending as much time as I can handling them and petting them; Two of them are very scared. They run away from me and the bigger white guy won't move from his spot when I'm in with them. It breaks my heart because I love them so much, and putting them up for adoption to the general public really scares me. But I'm sure it's the best thing to do.

The Salt and Pepper female with the striped tail is swirling around me right now. And when I picked her up she was purring! So far I've gotten 3 of them to purr, but again, SLOW GOING! 

I was concerned that the 2 smallest ones weren't eating, so I got some turkey baby food and also chicken broth. And of course those two weren't at all interested but the good eaters gobbled it up!!! Then I saw the little guys eating the dry food and drinking water. The mosquitos are bad here, so I am rubbing dryer sheets on the blankets & bedding. It seems to repel them. “

I just received word back from the girl at Lollipop, and here is what she said:

“Ironically, you actually caught me in my last week of Lollypop Farm. I got a great job opportunity randomly arise, so Friday is going to be my last day there.

In addition, I have not worked in cats since May 2013. I started the low-cost spay/neuter program last fall, and then through a turn of events became the Humane Education Coordinator. That all being said, I am not as in-the-know as I once was about cats and space.

I do know that we had an adoption special this past week, and we have a lot of space in the front. That being said, I think that this is because we have many, many cats who are not yet available for adoption. The last I knew, we were still pretty full in the back.

At 5-6 weeks old, these kittens would have to go into foster care anyway for 2-3 weeks before they are old enough to be fixed. They'll only go into foster care if we have the space to hold them when they come in.

I really wish I could give you more information, but all I can say right now is that there is no guarantee! You may want to wait a few weeks until they are a little older and then try again.”

  

So no, the kittens won’t be going to Lollipop.  But in my opinion, this is a grave situation, and I need more help.  They are just too much for one to handle, especially with them being outdoors and sick.  Please, spread the word.  If anyone can take two kittens, and help nurse them back to health, I would really appreciate it.  I am quite worried about the kittens right now.  Please, spread the word.  

"Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine. You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don’t do or say anything, it’s not real compassion."