As I've written before, this will not go down in the annals as one of my favorite summers, but things are gradually turning around. The kittens are all done with the ringworm - hallelujah! Here's a short video (not a very good one, but it is what it is) of the crew that's still here after the mother and two kittens left a few weeks ago.
That was done last week, I think, and since then I adopted out Kai and Lucca this evening, to a young man - his first cats of his own - and he will have his hands full. Those two are party animals, and loads of fun, and I hope they all have a wonderful life together. Lucca is a very confident little guy who knows what he wants and doesn't hesitate to seek it out. He loves laps, and tries for your lap even when you're standing up. He's a handful, but a lovely little guy.
Two of the other kittens, Sky and Kira, are camped at one of our Petco habitats, hoping their forever family or families come and fall in love with them there. They were pretty scared there the first day, but I hear (from the volunteers who care for them daily) that they're doing much better. They're eating well, so they can't be tooooooo traumatized.
That leaves just Leo and Nikko with me. Nikko was the least socialized of everyone, since he came in to rescue not long before the ringworm hit, but he's making good progress. Leo is my little guy (black kitten) whose immune system has never been stellar, and he's had respiratory issues since he was 2 weeks old. (He's around 4 months now.) But we seem to have finally found an antibiotic which is working, and I hope to make him available for adoption next week.
The plan, still, is to adopt out this crew, and not foster in the future. I'm going to give myself a ban on fostering for six months to at least get over missing the kittens, and find other things I will enjoy focusing on. We shall see. I really and truly can't do ringworm and panleuk in my home again. It makes pet sitting so difficult and pet therapy impossible. Gracie finally gets to go back to visits next week, and we are both ready!
Our two personal cats are still undergoing ringworm treatment and have two more weeks of that. They are stuck in cages, which absolutely sucks, but it is the only way I can provide them with a clean environment daily so they don't keep reinfecting themselves, and also have access to them to give meds. They are getting the lovely and stinky lime-sulphur baths twice a week as well. Doing that with 10 lb cats is not as easy as it is with 2 lb kittens....just sayin'. But we're getting it done. I'm doing absolutely everything I can to make their captivity as short as possible.
And that's the story here. It's mostly been a ringworm story since the start of June, and with any luck, we'll be done with it in a couple more weeks....paws crossed. I'd really like to think about other things. Just to make things a little more crazy I got a tick bite and have been on Doxy, which makes me feel like hell all the time. I'll be glad to be done with that too. How many days until fall???
I hope all is well in all of your worlds. Thanks for reading.
Debra
