Fostering Kittens isn’t all Purring and Snuggling, After All…

We took our first foster kitten, Mary Poppins, back to the Humane Society last week to be spayed and adopted out.

I cried a little.

Okay, fine. I cried a lot.

Throughout the month that we had her, I kept telling myself that we couldn’t keep her…we already have three cats and three dogs. My daughter wanted to keep her, I kind of wanted to keep her – but hubs said no way jose.

Even though I was struggling with returning her, I knew that it was all about me. She was a friendly, sweet kitten and the Humane Society is a no-kill shelter, so it’s not like her life was in danger. I am certain that she will get adopted out in no time at all.

But saying goodbye was so hard. 

Angeline held her the entire way to the Humane Society, which is about a 45 minute drive.

I was perfectly fine until we arrived and I had to hand her over.

I didn’t want to.

I started crying.

And then Angeline made fun of me for crying.

I guess I looked pretty pathetic because the volunteer coordinator let me spend some extra time with Mary Poppins before she took her back into the shelter part of the center.

Now, originally, I was supposed to be picking up a mama cat and her three tiny kittens to take home to foster…but the night before, the mama cat tested positive for feline leukemia. Unfortunately, because I already have other animals at home, I could not take her.

Instead, they asked me to take two kittens – one that was having issues in the shelter and not thriving, and her little friend who was still being bottle fed.

For some crazy reason, I said yes.

They were filthy…and infested with fleas. The little one, Violet, is actually the healthier one, despite being covered in fleas and scabs. She eats like a champ and is so friendly and snuggly, it’s insane! The bigger one, Linda, is completely terrified of humans and doesn’t eat much. We’ve been feeding them both wet food, and giving a little bit of Whiskas cat milk in addition to Violet’s bottle feedings.

For the first day and a half, Linda hid under Angeline’s bed. When she wasn’t hiding under the bed, she was snuggling up to Violet. Apparently, Linda was struggling so much in the shelter that they put Violet in her cage to give her a little friend. They actually told me that if I were to take Linda, I had to take Violet too, because they were afraid she would die if they separated them.

After a few days together, I can totally see why.

Our experience with Mary Poppins was so pleasant…she was such a joy to be around, so friendly and vivacious! She didn’t have fleas, she was completely litter box trained…she was really the perfect kitten.

This is a whole difference experience. I had to give them both baths and remove all of their fleas. Linda is terrified of humans and is only starting to warm up after being here for 4 days – and you have to lay on the floor to pet her, she runs and hides if you are standing up. While Violet sometimes uses the litter box, she also poops and pees on the floor and in her cat bed. She climbs into her food bowl and we have to clean her off several times a day…

And because Linda is so terrified, we have to leave them in Angeline’s room all day, instead of letting them have the run of the house like Mary Poppins did. Mary Poppins was completely unafraid of the dogs and even played with Toby and Bailey, my shelties. These poor kittens hiss and run hiding whenever they see the dogs through the door. So I am in and out of the room all day giving them attention in between things I am doing around the house.

It’s kind of a pain.

But…I didn’t start volunteering just for fun, so I am sucking it up and just giving them both lots of love and attention.

And Angeline is already begging to keep Violet.

This time it’s my turn to say no way, jose!