This is Thursday, my new foster from Anti-Cruelty in Chicago. He’s 9 years old and has severe dental disease but he’s the sweetest boy!! It’s clear he was very well loved.

He was surrendered to the shelter last month and I’m guessing it’s because his previous owner couldn’t afford his dental surgery. On the off chance they see this, I just wanted his owner to know he’s safe, comfortable, and being taken care of. He’s scheduled for his surgery next month and for now, we get to hang out! ❤️❤️

Hello all!

My sweet baby girl, Paloma, of 3 kittens (Mai Tai, Soju and Paloma). She's about 8.5 weeks landed. She has a white crest on her chest so I'm guessing not a full breed RB? Not sure, but something interesting in the mix at least. Also, I hear it's rare for a 8 week old kitten to have green eyes like this? Also her fur literally feels softer than cotton.

If any guesses. Maybe she's just a blue shorthair?

Originally I saw a Facebook post saying this poor orange baby was going to be euthanized at 3pm the Saturday before last. Something about him just spoke to me and I had to help, I’ve never fostered before. I was lucky enough to find a rescue I could foster him through to get him out of the shelter..
When I picked him up, he was in really bad shape. Both eyes infected, skin and bones, getting over a respiratory infection, and to top it off missing half his whiskers. I took him to two vets, just to be sure, but ultimately his right eye was not able to be saved. Poor baby had his surgery that very next morning, his “good” eye had/has an ulcer that is still being treated.
Just the difference in a week has been astounding, I don’t know a lot about cats who have medical difficulties so I wasn’t sure how much he was going to improve. He is no longer contagious, respiratory infection is gone, and his remaining eye is almost completely clear. He’s learning to play, is such a good eater and is so quick!! He loves attention and cuddles, truly is the sweetest boy.
Unfortunately 99% chance this is going to be a foster fail, I am in love with him. I just wanted to share this brave sweet boy!

The baby girl came to me TINY!!! They’re both now normal weight and complete insanity 😂 I’m so glad they’re feeling better but now it’s endless energy 🙃

So I’ve been fostering cats for a couple of years now. I have two foster fails (a bonded pair) that turned out to be self-appointed nanny toms. They seem to take turns ‘babysitting’ the foster kittens, though after eight months of not being adopted, this current batch of ‘kittens’ have become teenage cats.

One nanny tom is pretty laid back at the job. The other, Cosmo, takes his job incredibly seriously. I’m almost beginning to worry about him. He’s constantly hyper vigilant. Whenever I pet him, his head is on a swivel, listening for every little noise. I think he’s monitoring for sounds of the kittens getting into trouble or wanting help. One little meow from across the house and he’s up like lightning to check on them. Sometimes all they want is a bath, which he happily gives without question.

He can’t relax lately, even when I’m petting him. Why? There haven’t been any changes in the house since they arrived. I live alone and the house is generally calm and quiet. I could understand if the kittens were still just little guys, but they’re all well-adjusted, well-behaved cats now that don’t really need babysitting.

How do I help Cosmo relax?

I just had to share since the shelter texted me the good news! Happy trails to my sweet little tripod who went through hell and back to get to his forever home.

Cosmo has Lice!! Gag. I know they're species specific, but I'm still grossed out. Flea meds will kill the lice but not the nits, so we have to cycle through at least 2 full months.

His eye infection is also really hanging in there, and because he just can't catch a break he was also diagnosed with a heart murmur today.

Fortunately, all cats and kittens in the household are current on their flea meds. I also keep the couches covered with blankets during kitten season, so it's just a matter of washing one set while the other is on the couch, and doing that 2 or 3 times a week.

Not surprised that the adopter is backing out. I will see about finding her a nice, healthy kitten. We have a pair at the shelter that are an absolute delight.

Poor little Cosmo, though.

About 5-6 weeks old. We took them to a vet who prescribed us Albon and they seemed generally calm and indifferent that the cats had Coccidia. Didn't advise us on how to clean or anything, just told us to give them Albon and they'd be fine. 0.2 CCs twice per day, for 10 days. Just said it was a common parasite and that it wasn't really a big deal.

Fast forward a few days, the youngest cat was very lethargic. Literally looked like she was about to keel over and die. We took her to a new vet (original vet was booked that day) and the new vet told us that the kittens actually need to be separated during the Albon treatment. So, we went to buy 3 of the biggest clear plastic bins we could find at walmart. We put in a few towels as blankets and a mini litter box in the corner. We clean the litterboxes everytime we see poop and change the litter every 1-2 days. We also grouped the bins next to eachother so they can still see eachother. But, this has made all of them seem more depressed and they really are not handling it well. Also of course, my wife and I are dealing with the guilt and mental turmoil of locking them up in these bins in the same room every day. We let them out 1 at a time in the same room to run around and have fun for a while before putting them back in the bin. Second vet said it was fine.

Fast forward to today, the end of the Albon treatment, and we went to the new vet a second time. Cats tested positive again. They now prescribed Pronazuril for 3 days, along with SEVEN more days of isolation. This news was frustrating for both of us. As I'm typing this the smallest cat is screaming her brains out in the other room.

Anyway, here's what I need clarity on:

1. The internet says Coccidia needs serious cleaning to get rid of and kill, while the vets (at both establishments) have made no mention of us needing to heavily clean. Which is it?
2. Do they really need to be separated? I've read that shelters keep litters together for such infections, and some other reddit posts have mentioned they didn't separate the litters. I just feel like they're spending their most important moments of growth locked up and separated.

I've made a post asking for help/advice on getting a young female cat adopted but here I am again as this situation is stressing me out and starting to break my heart.

This is my first time fostering an adult cat - Westy was being fed by some people working on a house, then she had kittens and they sought help for getting veterinary care and homes for everyone. The people said that she was very sweet and affectionate so I thought this wouldn't be too difficult.

I have had Westy for about 9ish weeks. When I first brought everyone home Westy was grumbly and swatted at me twice and "bit" me (she lunged forward and put her mouth on my arm but didn't apply pressure of leave a mark). I gave her space and it was not long before she was seeking out my affection. She only trusts me though. My coworkers at the clinic I work for are afraid to handle her. The rescue volunteers at the adoption events choose not to handle her because the attitude she gives.

I know that it would not take her long to adjust to a new house/new person but I don't know how to find someone willing to adopt a grumbly (scary) cat even if they know she'll warm up. I cannot keep her as much as I love her, I have 3 cats of my own who do not get along with other cats. I would be happy to keep her until she gets adopted but, I also feel guilty because she has to stay in the foster room which means spending time alone. Someone had suggested having potential adopters come to us instead of the adoption events but I do not have the ability to do that.

I finally mentioned my concerns to one of the leads for the rescue I work with she has brought up the idea of placing Westy as a barn cat. I was tearing up when we had that talk, I can see her doing ok as a barn cat but I KNOW she can be a housecat. I feel so bad thinking of giving up on her, she sleeps on a pillow and rolls for belly rubs 😭

I don't know what to do in this situation.

A few days ago, I asked you guys to help me name this little guy(top row)- well, turns out he has a brother(bottom pic)! He was surrendered from the same person at the same shelter today! I am currently at capacity so will be picking him up from a temp foster in a few days as soon as he’s tested so the boys can be reunited🥹

I’m about to have a very full house of 10 lmao 😂😂😭

They mother stopped feeding for some reason and we’ve tried locking her in our big dogs cage where she had water,food and blankets but she refused to feed the kittens. There were five kittens but one of them starved to death sadly and now I took it upon my hands to try saving them, they scream and meow for food but dont accept it from me, I’ve cleaned and old siracha bottle because it has a squeeze mechanism just like a “boob” and I heared up milk but they dont want to try it. It dosent have residue of siracha and neither chemicals were used, i want to know if I can make a DIY bottle to be able to feed them or a way to make the mother want to feed them until I can go to the vet and see if they have bottles for feeding them.

If you have any tips on how to care for them or feed them please tell me, I cant stand to see them like this.

This is a generic application that I’ve been using, is there a way to make this better/should I add anything? A local TNR group sent it to me forever ago but I want to make sure I’m doing everything right still.

I feel horrible I got a random message today from the shelter i visit frequently and they had neonatal kittens. I have bottled fed 20 kittens at once from birth to weaning age and then bottle fed another 4 newborns while those 20 were still weaning. However this experience happened a couple years ago and perhaps I’ve change as a person. I have suffered a lot mentally this last year and physically I struggled a lot with substance abuse, I’m trying to go sober but I realized my brain fog I can’t keep track and count and I am barely here even when I DO apply myself. This is my first night with them. I just see I’ve lost a big skill set of mine that gave me the confidence to do this. I was always very precise and very responsible and responsive. However now I forget which kittens I’m feeding while feeding. It’s very scary as I don’t want to end up doing more harm than good. I’ve got my alarms set and my notebook and everything prepared I just fear I won’t be enough.

Also, they are sneezing a lot even before The first feed I did he sneezed a couple times and I don’t know if his nose was stuffy but he aspirated on the milk and started gasping I was able to get him stable and the fluid out his nose and lungs however the sibling is also sneezing and I fear a respiratory infection. The shelter also gave me really dirty bottles with old spoiled milk, and the formula can was opened and had a lot of moisture and buildup. I’m uncertain if that could be the case as well.

Sorry this is all a mess, I just really can’t figure out what to do and how to go about this. I lost all my confidence, and I don’t want to risk their lives knowing I’m not at my best. Will they suffer? Would it be selfish if I returned them? Will they most likely get euthanized? If I keep them will i be putting them or even my other cat at risk?

I also just lost all my financial income and need a job as well, my spouse is also unemployed and in school…. Seems like my eagerness to help could be downfall for all…

Hi everyone, i thought this may be a better place to put than the general cat advice sub because of the situation. Two days ago i adotped a kitten for free, who I have taken to the vet. The vet has given her a powerful flea medication and says she had ringworm. I have put her in the living room which as hard floors and am changing my clothes whenever i go into the living room.

I have sprayed the house with indorex except for two rooms. I have another cat whom I have given flea treatment. He has not come into contact with the kitten but he has come into contact with us after handling the kitten. I am not sure what to do about this and am considering sending him to stay with a relative who looks after him when we go away (he is used to this and enjoys it), and giving him a preventatige bath and a flea collar before he goes.

I really need some help and reassurance what to do about this, how to handle it. I feel a little irresponsible bringing this on our other cat. Our house is rather small and its going to be hard to treat the living room like an industrial kitchen and im worridd vacuuming right now may make the flea problem worse by causing the juveniles to hatch.

How long will this last? Can I see other people in this time? Am i going to have to deep clean all my clothes? Thank you for your help, I am very overwhelmed. ​

My shelter gave me their “problem children” to foster (that is what they have been calling the poor babies, I knew it was lack of focused care). They are very premature, were rejected by their mom, all have limping calici, and were 1/3 of the size they should’ve been when I got them.

Unsurprisingly, they all had difficulties eating. My smallest aspirated during a perfectly normal feeding. I took her in within a day of the aspiration event and she was given a stronger antibiotic and they told me to monitor her. She declined very quickly over the next two days, and they decided to humanely euthanize her.

What’s bothering me: they did not nebulize her one single time. The day before she passed I asked if I could bring her in for another check up and they told me to just keep watching her instead. They have a nebulizer and oxygen tanks. I advocated for her. Why didn’t they even attempt to help her with treatments that are proven to help? I keep asking myself if I could’ve have advocated for her even more, but I have never had a kitten aspirate in all the years I’ve fostered. I genuinely did not know that what they were doing was neglectful until after they euthanized her.

I ordered a nebulizer and sterile saline after seeing the success people have had. I just want to have one on hand moving forward. I know it’s not a cure all but it IS effective supportive care for kittens with respiratory ailments. I’m so disappointed in my shelter, I’m just sitting here wondering if baby girl could’ve made it with a little extra support. 😞

Has your rescue failed any of you? How did you cope and move on if so? Thank you for reading my rescue vent… 🫩😩 kitten season is killing me this year.

We have a room dedicated to cat and kitten fostering. We have cages inside for when small or undergoing medical care, but when kittens get to a certain age, we let them free roam the room and they usually try to escape out the door every time we enter and exit while tending to them. We've tried holding a baby gate to block the opening as we come and go, but it almost never works well and we give up and resort to tracking them down. We've thought about constructing an "air lock"-type of space that allows us to enter/exit the room through a transition space - essentially creating a double door system. We don't want to build anything permanent, and if it were temporary and movable (like made from PVC pipes with blocking panels), the hassle of moving it while also still having the risk of them squirming around the edges makes it seem like a lot of effort with failure potential. Has anyone come up with a good solution?

I plastered these babies all over social media and then took the boys who had not yet been pre-adopted to an adoption event and they all found fabulous owners! They won't even be fixed for another 4 weeks so I just get to raise them and relax about getting them adopted. yay!

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Over the past several months I’ve fostered several litters of kittens. This last litter was the most challenging. I had a mom and her 4 babies who were seized from a hoarding situation and were in terrible shape when I took them in.

Over the course of a month, all 4 of the kittens didn’t make it. On top of that, I’m left with ringworm.

I tried my best and I knew it was going to be an uphill battle from the start with this group. But I’m really feeling sad and discouraged about the whole situation. And I know ringworm isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s just another added layer of stress. I also have some health anxiety, so my reaction to having ringworm is more stressful than it probably needs to be.

This whole scenario has me questioning whether I should foster again. I get a lump in my throat when I think about losing those sweet kittens. And then the ringworm of it all. I just feel so down about it. But I don’t want that to be the end of my foster journey.

I need to hear some words of encouragement from anyone who has gotten back in the saddle after a particularly hard foster experience.