I truly enjoyed fostering Ellie Mae and all of her little kittens (despite the failed foster with Cole…turning into a permanent home with us that is!) I enjoyed it so much so that I determined that I had to become a foster mom with the Humane Society of Pinellas during this year’s kitten season. I took the foster course, and determined that we definitely didn’t want to foster a bottle baby, as their teeny tiny size and very very slight survival rate wouldn’t be a good idea with my very sensitive way with animals. So, within a week after going through the course I was delivered 4 kittens on May 22nd. (I only had to do the hour long foster course, as I was already a volunteer and went through the volunteer orientation and background investigation when I did that 3 years ago.)
I got a litter of 3, two orange and one black & a separate black male who was terrified of everything and the shelter wanted him socialized with the litter to help him build confidence and social skills. Within 24 hours we had these boys named based on their personalities. Smith C. Wigglesworth was the absolutely tiny black kitten, weighing in at only 9 ounces. He was precious with curled ear tips and the sweetest little face and eyes. He was a snuggler and he was instantly my favorite, as I always fall for the underdogs (or undercats in this case!) Bruce was the middle kitten, darker orange tabby than the bigger orange kitten, and so named Bruce after the shark in Finding Nemo. We named him that because he was a biter, and still is 2 months later! But a total sweetheart. <3 Then we named the larger orange tabby Marvin. We didn’t really have a reason for his name, other than we like old man names for animals, and I just started running through names and my husband really liked Marvin. So it was for that litter. The shy guy, we named Thomas because though he was tiny, at only 1 lb. 4 oz. he was a little tank…Thomas the Tank, so it stuck. Smith, Marvin and Bruce were born on 3.25.11 and Thomas was born on 4.5.11. So we had little bitty babies!
Initially it was oh so much work. Constant work. Litter everywhere, food in the water dishes, soiled linens, kitten claws, and the list goes on. Finally we got into a routine. On the 9th of June, Smith decided he wasn’t real interested in eating. I called the shelter on Friday and we decided to pick him up some baby formula Saturday when I went into volunteer, to get him to gain some weight and because he seemed to have a hard time with kibble and the wet food we had for him. Friday night Smith really didn’t want to eat and he buried into me to cuddle. I microwaved him a heat pack and wrapped him in some blankets and he looked like a little taco when I put him to bed that night. Saturday morning we woke up and found 3 kittens rushing to the front of the crate, and one no longer with us. Smith went Over the Rainbow Bridge on the morning of the 11th or sometime in the night. I have never lost a pet yet, barring hamsters and birds and fish as a small child, my cats are all still alive and in good health. Losing Smith was an overwhelming sense of grief. I grieved for almost a week and was absolutely heartbroken. We aren’t really sure what happened, but the guess is that it may have or could have been FIP. And unfortunately that is genetic, there is no test for it, or vaccination against it. It hits hard and fast, which makes sense because within 2 days he went really downhill. I was heartbroken but was priveledged to have loved him. When I finally made it through a day without being overwhelmed by grief, I realized that Smith was actually a little angel, on loan from heaven. He just went back home to God and I got to love him for 2 short weeks. Despite the pain, I am so happy to have loved him rather than to have never had him in my life.
The same day we lost Smith we were asked to take another kitty, Remy, who was a couple of months older than the boys, but more skittish than I had ever seen a kitty before. Remy really needed a foster home to be socialized with the hopes that she would overcome her fear of people and be able to go to a forever home. We took her home and again had a pack of 4 fosters. (At this point all of our fosters were kept in our office, and inside a crate at night and allowed to play out of the crate within the office during the day.) Remy went straight under our sofa, and when Marvin and Thomas approached her she hissed and growled. The kittens were a bit afraid so I decided we would let them out to be with our other cats (we have 4 of our own: Zoe, 16; Zeus, 10; Juno, 3 ½ and Cole 1 ½.) After a few hours my husband and I went in to watch a film and spend some time with Remy. I thought I heard her wheezing and like she was having trouble breathing. Then I heard a loud sneeze and we took a look at her and she had goopy eyes and a snotty nose. At about 10pm we took her to the emergency vet. She was not happy and it was not easy to get her in the carrier. When she was there we were lucky to get a great vet tech, who was very familiar with scared cats. They determined that Remy was very sick with an URI (upper respiratory infection,) and the Humane Society vet wanted us to bring her back to be in their care to be treated, since she was not going to take medications easily and it would be easier for a skilled vet tech.
That night, we put Remy in my bathroom and she didn’t eat or drink or use the litterbox. Thankfully the Vet ER injected subcutaneous fluids to hydrate her, so she did fine. But she didn’t move out of the carrier. So back to the Humane Society of Pinellas she went on Sunday. We did promise to take her back after she was healthy again though and help her to get socialized and no longer scared.
When we got back home we bleached the entire two rooms that she was in and cleaned to prevent a spread of the URI as it’s very contagious. Unfortunately we weren’t luck enough to have no further sickness. By that Tuesday (just 2 days later,) Thomas sneezed and had a yucky green snot. I thankfully had quit a job on the 25th, so had the ability to spend a lot of time with the kittens as well as make any runs to HSP that I needed to. So off we 3 went to the vet, and got URI medication, which had to be given orally, to 3 crazy squirmy kittens. Thankfully we were able to do it fairly easily, then smartened up and fed them some wet food twice a day in order to get the antibiotics to them in full. At least when they ate it they cleaned the plates rather than sneezing any of it out or spitting it! After the 2 weeks of antibiotics was nearly up, Marvin lost a substantial amount of weight and was starting to not really eat. After 2 days he started hiding a lot. I got super worried about him, and that night, which was a Sunday, the 26th of June, we took him to the ER around 11pm and I worried that he had some type of obstruction as he seemed to be coughing or choking and then his abdomen looked like he was having a spasm or something. The wonderful Dr. Kolb at the Vet ER, whom we saw for Remy as well, said he did not have URI anymore as his temp and everything else was normal. But she believed as well that he had an obstruction. We were told to take him to HSP ASAP Monday am. I dropped him off Monday morning and waited. By this point, they were literally a part of our family. I truly loved all these little guys.
Bruce and Thomas were thriving and really sweet, affectionate, ate like monsters who had never before eaten, and playful. I knew they were both okay. Monday evening HSP called to say they couldn’t find anything wrong with Marvin and that they were going to keep him overnight for observation. Unfortunately, he passed away, and we believe he did have FIP because he presented signs similar to URI at HSP despite the ER Vet having cleared him of that.
Fortunately for me, we still had two very healthy boys at home, but I was now super vigilant with Bruce as he was the only kitty left from the litter.
It’s now July 29th and we have a 4 pound Bruce, a 5 + pound Thomas and we got Remy back and she is too thriving. Seeing Thomas totally come out of his shell and become not just social, but sweet, affectionate and very confident has been so rewarding. We’ve had so many laughs watching them grow and their little personalities really start to shine. Thomas really really loves to eat. I mean the boy can EAT! He used to put all four legs up in protest with all four paws of claws out if you picked him up. Now he does what is almost like a hug to you and puts his front paws up around the sides of your neck when you pick him up. You cuddle him and he purrs like mad. He is very playful and extremely smart. He also is a very good listener, if you scold him or reprimand him for doing something he usually listens pretty well. Thomas obtained another nickname, which is ‘Cloth,’ because he is so lazy like a sloth when he eats and drinks he will lay in front of the bowl and do so. He doesn’t even stand!! LOL. It’s adorable and I’ve never seen a cat do that!
Bruce has become a little terror. He was my snuggle buddy, such a cuddler that he always wanted to sleep with me and be near me. Now he is into absolutely everything. He reminds me so much of Zeus when he was a kitten. Zeus literally broke everything breakable, was the biggest PITA, and was totally independent. BUT he has become THE best, sweetest, cuddliest, most amazing cat I have ever known. He is my sole mate kitty <3 I nicknamed Bruce “Rooster.” Because it sounds like ‘Brewster’ but because he talks and whines if he doesn’t have food or attention!
Remy has been with us for nearly a month now, and she has gone from hiding under the couch when we would come into the office, to sleeping in our bed at night and letting me and my husband pet and love on her when she allows it. She is very sweet and completely submissive to both humans and all of the other cats. I was not keen on her being around our cats only because I wasn’t sure of Juno as she is THE Alpha cat and demands that she stay that way. Remy doesn’t fuss at all for the top spot and allows Juno and all the other cats to be first and she has no issues. She hasn’t even once hissed swatted or growled at us or our cats since she came back to us. I think that was unfortunately due to how sick she was, and she felt so awful that it was a reaction to her health, not her real personality. She and Bruce are inseperable. They are like an adorable little couple. They play together, sleep together, and groom one another. I am really hoping that we can get them a home together as I think he will help her to continue to build confidence and become the social sweet kitty I know that she can be.
Fostering these guys has been in part the hardest thing I have ever done, with losing both Smith and Marvin, I have done an incredible amount of grieving. But I wouldn’t trade one moment of what we’ve been through for the amount of love we’ve received. It’s going to be so incredibly rewarding to see them go to forever homes, and know that we helped them get there. If it weren’t for us fostering them, the shelter wouldn’t have been able to take 4 other kitties in. It’s foster parents that allow the shelter to care for more cats and kittens while at the same time having those foster kittens still in a great place. If you have never considered fostering, I would tell any animal lover to do it. You get to help save lives, and get even more loved poured out by the unconditional love that the fosters will return to you.
