I like to joke and say I went from fostering The Halloween Queen to fostering The Christmas Kittens. It was hard to tell who was who. They were both male and white with dark tips. They earned their names a few days later. As strong fighters, we named them Ronan and Sparta and they were the most chill little guys ever. A little fighting over food but nothing that concerned me. I watched them grow drastically over their first week.
I was cruising Youtube one afternoon when I came across Hanna Shaw, also known as The Kitten Lady. She had been rescuing cats for years and fostering them until they found their forever homes. By watching her educational videos and gaining knowledge of how to care for kittens, I was convinced that I could care for some foster cats too. I'd reached a point in my life where I was well settled and was ready for something new and exciting.
I filled out the fostering papers at the Monadnock Humane Society and met Milliette about one week later. She was a petite black cat who'd been found as a stray and was expecting kittens. The staff had no way of telling me how many kittens there would be but it was clear that she had hair loss on the bridge of her tail and flank. She also was quite skinny.
On august 18th, I was able to bring Milliette home with me. She'd seen me only twice at that time but I felt there was already a loyal and special connection. She was obsessed with lap time, rubbing on me, and she was always excited to see me. She had this way of showing appreciation and love unlike any cat I'd met before.
Things were very easy going up until October 1st 2018. I had the day off and had left the house to run errands. Before I left I noticed she had been shredding the "pig in a blanket" bed that I'd placed in the room for her. She'd done this before but something about they way she did it this particular day made me thing that something was slightly amiss. In my conscience I knew her restlessness meant it was a sign she was about to go into labor but I didn’t fully process these signs until I returned some hours later. Laying there, in the bed that I thought was so perfect for a queen and some kittens, laid two of the most beautiful WHITE kittens I never thought I'd see.Soon after the first week there was a call from the shelter. They'd received four orphaned kittens who were about five days old. Two gray, one male one female, a tiger stripped female, and a male with dark fur and white shoulders that I felt an instant connection with. They all were about half the size of the bears. The shelter wanted Milliette and the kittens to come in to see if she'd adopt them. The transferring process went miraculously well. Soon after transferring the scents of her kittens to the new group, Milliette was grooming and nursing all of them. Little did I know this would be one of the craziest and somewhat saddest experiences I'll ever have.
The first night was the hardest. Milliette was so overwhelmed. I was used to her greeting me with a purr or an uplifting chirp, but the first day was so much on her, I remember her just nursing in her bed and giving me the most exhausted look I'd ever seen. She had more energy after having the polar bears than she did this first night. All day she spent grooming and nursing, and when she needed a break she'd eat and sleep. But sleep wouldn't last very long. The newcomers would cry hysterically when food wasn’t available. I remember sitting at the edge of the bed and gently petting her just to hear the quietest purr and take it as a sign that she'd eventually get the hang of the sudden change. Over the next day or so Milliette adapted to the major changes and gained her spirit back.
Tragically, the kitten with the white on his shoulders hadn't been doing well. Milliette was caring for him just fine, however with six kittens there was a constant battle for whoever could get the food first. The kittens (especially the gray male) were notorious for brutal scratching either while nursing or to get someone off so they could take its place. Because of this scratching, the little white shoulders was constantly pushed away and was unable to properly nurse. I tried helping by keeping the others separate, and even removing some kittens to ease the work of nursing, but not even bottle feeding would work. I called the animal emergency contact who says at that point there really wasn’t much that could be done to save him. It shattered me to see him suffer. Because I was seeing the worst in his future I wanted him to have his name immediately, that night he was named Whitley. I felt a very strong connection to him. I'm not sure what it was but I thought his fur pattern was beautiful and he had this particular spirit about him that drew me in. I went in again to check on him some time later to find his condition was worsening. He'd been pushed aside by the others yet again and his body was absolutely freezing cold. I put him on a heat source and prayed something would change overnight.
The next morning I found he was still holding on. I renewed his heat source and brought him to the shelter first thing in the morning. They took him into their care. A part of me regrets not saying goodbye to him, but I told him that I loved him and that everything would be okay no matter the outcome. I left the shelter with hope that he would come through, and I think I liked that better than saying "goodbye".
Later that morning around nine, Whitley passed away.
I was of course devastated but I was happy and sad because I knew he was no longer suffering. I'm ok with animals passing. I feel I handle that in my own way that makes me content with the passing of animals. What kills me is watching them suffer and not being able to do anything about it. I miss him dearly and I wish there was more I could've done for him but I was glad I could take his picture before he passed. Because I want to remember that he was a part of this world, even for a few days. He impacted my life and he has a special place in my heart, even if I'm not quite sure why he appealed to me so strongly.
A few days later I started to feel myself again. It'd been a hard week and the remaining kittens seemed to be doing well, or at least I thought so until I started noticing new symptoms one after another with each newcomer. The bears were doing well and I think the two reasons why was because there were only two of them in the womb and because they had milk available from the start without the need to force each other away. The newcomers didn’t have milk readily available the first few days of life and I think because they didn’t receive the mothers immunity through her milk they were at a higher risk for illness than the bears.
One after another I started seeing more and more sickly symptoms. The gray male (whose yet to be named) had an irritated scalp with thinning hair due to Milliette overgrooming. He also developed flaky skin on his abdomen due to urination skin irritation. Tanta (the tiger stripe) was plump but had a small cut at the edge of her eye from the food-fighting, and lastly my little Kya. She started to lose weight drastically and all the kittens were sneezing. At one point I thought she wouldn’t make it. It was the same thing I saw with Whitley, trouble nursing or latching, weight loss and she was very cold at one point. We went to see the vet many times over the course of noticing these symptoms but only after seeing Kya lose weight did they decide to keep the family overnight at the shelter.
I took this time to really mentally and emotionally detoxify my heart and mind. While I loved the litter and Milliette with all my heart, it was a very stressful time between caring for them and my personal life, not to mention my still (to this day) ached for the loss of Whitley. The shelter kept them for a few days and I learned that the kittens were doing much better and Kya had gained a few ounces! My heart jumped when I heard her health make a comeback. Though I needed some 'me time' to refresh my heart and mind, I missed them dearly while they were away.
I got yet another call on Oct. 29th saying they could come home the next day with a clean bill of health. I'd hopped it'd be a little simpler when they came home.
The first day was a little crazy. Mills had been at the shelter for a couple weeks and needed some time to readjust to her foster room. With all four kittens, she eventually settled down and began nursing them. Tanta was a little skinny but nothing that concerned me. Boe was the closest to a fat log, he was so pudgy! Lastly, the bears were perfectly healthy. It was wonderful having them in my home once again.
I was cruising Youtube one afternoon when I came across Hanna Shaw, also known as The Kitten Lady. She had been rescuing cats for years and fostering them until they found their forever homes. By watching her educational videos and gaining knowledge of how to care for kittens, I was convinced that I could care for some foster cats too. I'd reached a point in my life where I was well settled and was ready for something new and exciting.
I filled out the fostering papers at the Monadnock Humane Society and met Milliette about one week later. She was a petite black cat who'd been found as a stray and was expecting kittens. The staff had no way of telling me how many kittens there would be but it was clear that she had hair loss on the bridge of her tail and flank. She also was quite skinny.
On august 18th, I was able to bring Milliette home with me. She'd seen me only twice at that time but I felt there was already a loyal and special connection. She was obsessed with lap time, rubbing on me, and she was always excited to see me. She had this way of showing appreciation and love unlike any cat I'd met before.
Things were very easy going up until October 1st 2018. I had the day off and had left the house to run errands. Before I left I noticed she had been shredding the "pig in a blanket" bed that I'd placed in the room for her. She'd done this before but something about they way she did it this particular day made me thing that something was slightly amiss. In my conscience I knew her restlessness meant it was a sign she was about to go into labor but I didn’t fully process these signs until I returned some hours later. Laying there, in the bed that I thought was so perfect for a queen and some kittens, laid two of the most beautiful WHITE kittens I never thought I'd see.Soon after the first week there was a call from the shelter. They'd received four orphaned kittens who were about five days old. Two gray, one male one female, a tiger stripped female, and a male with dark fur and white shoulders that I felt an instant connection with. They all were about half the size of the bears. The shelter wanted Milliette and the kittens to come in to see if she'd adopt them. The transferring process went miraculously well. Soon after transferring the scents of her kittens to the new group, Milliette was grooming and nursing all of them. Little did I know this would be one of the craziest and somewhat saddest experiences I'll ever have.
The first night was the hardest. Milliette was so overwhelmed. I was used to her greeting me with a purr or an uplifting chirp, but the first day was so much on her, I remember her just nursing in her bed and giving me the most exhausted look I'd ever seen. She had more energy after having the polar bears than she did this first night. All day she spent grooming and nursing, and when she needed a break she'd eat and sleep. But sleep wouldn't last very long. The newcomers would cry hysterically when food wasn’t available. I remember sitting at the edge of the bed and gently petting her just to hear the quietest purr and take it as a sign that she'd eventually get the hang of the sudden change. Over the next day or so Milliette adapted to the major changes and gained her spirit back.
Tragically, the kitten with the white on his shoulders hadn't been doing well. Milliette was caring for him just fine, however with six kittens there was a constant battle for whoever could get the food first. The kittens (especially the gray male) were notorious for brutal scratching either while nursing or to get someone off so they could take its place. Because of this scratching, the little white shoulders was constantly pushed away and was unable to properly nurse. I tried helping by keeping the others separate, and even removing some kittens to ease the work of nursing, but not even bottle feeding would work. I called the animal emergency contact who says at that point there really wasn’t much that could be done to save him. It shattered me to see him suffer. Because I was seeing the worst in his future I wanted him to have his name immediately, that night he was named Whitley. I felt a very strong connection to him. I'm not sure what it was but I thought his fur pattern was beautiful and he had this particular spirit about him that drew me in. I went in again to check on him some time later to find his condition was worsening. He'd been pushed aside by the others yet again and his body was absolutely freezing cold. I put him on a heat source and prayed something would change overnight.
The next morning I found he was still holding on. I renewed his heat source and brought him to the shelter first thing in the morning. They took him into their care. A part of me regrets not saying goodbye to him, but I told him that I loved him and that everything would be okay no matter the outcome. I left the shelter with hope that he would come through, and I think I liked that better than saying "goodbye".
Later that morning around nine, Whitley passed away.
I was of course devastated but I was happy and sad because I knew he was no longer suffering. I'm ok with animals passing. I feel I handle that in my own way that makes me content with the passing of animals. What kills me is watching them suffer and not being able to do anything about it. I miss him dearly and I wish there was more I could've done for him but I was glad I could take his picture before he passed. Because I want to remember that he was a part of this world, even for a few days. He impacted my life and he has a special place in my heart, even if I'm not quite sure why he appealed to me so strongly.
A few days later I started to feel myself again. It'd been a hard week and the remaining kittens seemed to be doing well, or at least I thought so until I started noticing new symptoms one after another with each newcomer. The bears were doing well and I think the two reasons why was because there were only two of them in the womb and because they had milk available from the start without the need to force each other away. The newcomers didn’t have milk readily available the first few days of life and I think because they didn’t receive the mothers immunity through her milk they were at a higher risk for illness than the bears.
One after another I started seeing more and more sickly symptoms. The gray male (whose yet to be named) had an irritated scalp with thinning hair due to Milliette overgrooming. He also developed flaky skin on his abdomen due to urination skin irritation. Tanta (the tiger stripe) was plump but had a small cut at the edge of her eye from the food-fighting, and lastly my little Kya. She started to lose weight drastically and all the kittens were sneezing. At one point I thought she wouldn’t make it. It was the same thing I saw with Whitley, trouble nursing or latching, weight loss and she was very cold at one point. We went to see the vet many times over the course of noticing these symptoms but only after seeing Kya lose weight did they decide to keep the family overnight at the shelter.
I took this time to really mentally and emotionally detoxify my heart and mind. While I loved the litter and Milliette with all my heart, it was a very stressful time between caring for them and my personal life, not to mention my still (to this day) ached for the loss of Whitley. The shelter kept them for a few days and I learned that the kittens were doing much better and Kya had gained a few ounces! My heart jumped when I heard her health make a comeback. Though I needed some 'me time' to refresh my heart and mind, I missed them dearly while they were away.
I got yet another call on Oct. 29th saying they could come home the next day with a clean bill of health. I'd hopped it'd be a little simpler when they came home.
The first day was a little crazy. Mills had been at the shelter for a couple weeks and needed some time to readjust to her foster room. With all four kittens, she eventually settled down and began nursing them. Tanta was a little skinny but nothing that concerned me. Boe was the closest to a fat log, he was so pudgy! Lastly, the bears were perfectly healthy. It was wonderful having them in my home once again.