It has been a super busy summer, and by tomorrow I will have adopted out 26 cats and kittens this year. I adopted out 29 all of last year, so I'm feeling pretty beat. The good news is that the population of the kitten room is going to get much smaller for at least a little while.
Athens and Madrid went to a bookstore last week that shows our cats for potential adopters and in only a few days they had someone very interested, and they will go to their new home Tuesday evening. They are a rambunctious pair, and they are going to have two boys, grade school aged, to be rambunctious with and a dog, who is cat friendly. Should be a good match for them.
And my three littles are going to another foster today. I will miss seeing them grow up, but this other foster has been waiting for kittens for a bit, and I need a break, so it was a good deal for all. They will get tons of attention at their new foster home and not have to compete with others for that attention. Here are Jack, Jill, and Lila.
Lila, this last little one, is the kitten found in a dumpster and she gave me quite the ride for a bit. Stuck in the ferret cage until she could be dewormed and tested, she went on a hunger strike and wouldn't eat much. She was also scared, and is still in the process of getting truly comfortable with being handled, so we had some difficult days, and her weight started to drop. The deworming meds probably didn't help either, but she had roundworms and those had to go away. Once she was dewormed and tested negative, however, she got her freedom and she started packing on the ounces right away. She's having fun with Jack and Jill so she will stay with them and go to the new foster so she can continue her socialization and grow bigger.
I am left with two! Francine, my kitty with one eye now, is just continuing to recover from her upper respiratory crud, and she has an adopter waiting. Goose, my other orange guy, gets his neuter surgery Tuesday and is up for adoption. It will be a much quieter kitten room for the time being!
Being one of the co-coordinators of the cat program has been an absolutely huge task this year, more than I probably realized at first. Along with all the fosters, it really has been a bit too much this summer. One of our newer fosters, who signed on with us this past spring, is a retired vet and has been absolutely invaluable in answering questions and even going to give a kitty we're concerned about a thorough look. She isn't licensed anymore and can't prescribe, but she knows when a situation calls for a little more time and TLC, from one that needs a vet visit, from an emergency. I discussed delegating some of the medical stuff with all the powers that be, and Susan, our foster, is now our medical manager, the first stop for other fosters who have concerns about their cats or kittens. That takes a whole chunk off my plate and makes the load more manageable. It also helps us grow our leadership team, which needs to happen. One of my big goals right now is to look for and develop those who will succeed those of us who are leading the charge right now. We're all on the older side, and we really need some younger folks coming up into leadership positions if we are to continue.
And that's the news from the foster room. Happy Labor Day to those in the US.
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