Chili posted:

hosed up though it may sound, it's the truth. As is often the case for me, I found out how I felt when I was listening to a song.

Alteisen posted:

It seems to be you all do this because you're wonderful people, because you genuinely care and want to give these poor animals who have nobody to bat for them a good life, make sure their first steps in this world are ones full of love and care.

LivesInGrey posted:

Thanks for that reminder. I don't know if I mentioned it here at all, but last week or the week before I spent the night holding and trying to stimulate a kitten who had severe heat stroke. She died the next day because the damage done was just too much. And of course there was Mars last week.

As cat_herder says, the remaining senshi babies all passed a vet check (including SNAP tests for FIV and FeLV!) aside from another round of deworming but we're still worried about Venus. At least, unlike her brother, she's gaining weight and energy. We're keeping them until they weigh two pounds and then we take a break. This kitten season has been exhausting.

Alteisen posted:

Yea that's why I said that here, cause in a way I'm trying to help myself as well, gonna get a little personal here but I'd like to tell a story on the dangers of what can happen if you're just not in the right state of mind and think you can change things just by being there.

Geolicious posted:

Instant manx! We had a kitty at the shelter that had to have a full tail amputation and afterwards she was a completely different kitty. Cuddly and full of purrs and wanted to be a lap cat.

Chili posted:

OK, so my house is currently devoid of fosters as I'm still healing up from my surgery.

It's a ton of work, and it can be a pain to foster sometimes, but I really miss it.

I do have some Butterpictures though!

He's holding steadfast to his title of personal guardian.



But sometimes, he falls asleep on the job.



We're pretty good at freaking out would be interlopers though.



(sorry for the selfy but I don't have much more recent stuff on hand.)

Chili posted:

Alirght, everyone. I need help.

What shape is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrX2S8eSNH0

ElMaligno posted:

non-mewtonian fluid

porkswordonboard posted:

Hi foster and rescue people! I've lurked since forever, really appreciate everything you superstars do, and now I have a question.

I live off a busy road in a semi-residential area in New England. I sometimes see cats I suspect might be strays, most recently a long haired black dude or lady. The first time I saw it I was driving along said busy road and it was on the side...not the sidewalk but in the breakdown lane. If it hadn't disappeared I would have chased it, however it wasn't an option for me to do so that day. The second time, yesterday, I was outside my apartment in the evening and (s)he approached me when I clucked, gave a few gentle headbutts and rusty meows, then tripped off into the bushes. In the minute or two I had to examine it it didn't seem unduly starved or matted, but the booty area might well have been and its coat felt somewhat dirty. Whether this was because it spent the day lying in dirt before going home or because the dirt is its home, I couldn't say. It certainly didn't have a collar, and while I looked through Craigslist and the area's lost pet service, I couldn't find a match-at least not for cats reported missing in the last 6 months or so. Either this cat is an outdoor cat with no collar, or it's homeless.

Now I'm having a bit of a dilemma as to how I should proceed. We already have two cats; our apartment is very small and it is not an option to keep it...sorry to disappoint, PI. My current plan is to take a can of cat food out whenever I sit outside to use my vaporizer, if it comes back give it to him/her to keep it in the area while I run upstairs for our cardboard cat carrier, and then try to bundle it into the box and bring it inside. Then I will sequester it in our spare room until I can bring it to the local no-kill shelter, where I used to volunteer and now keep a professional relationship with. I intend to bring some food and cash with me when (if, really) I drop it off as a thank-you for everything they do.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up flea treatments to keep in the house from now on, because if the cat (or any others I might find) is truly homeless it likely has fleas. I will not be treating the cat with Advantage/etc, however-if it turns out it's a pet and had already been treated, I don't want to poison the poor thing. Just an all-natural spray, and once it's at the shelter, bombing the poo poo out of the room. I've had fleas before and know how to deal with them.

I guess what I'm asking is this: Am I doing the right thing? Is there something I could do better? When I took in strays before I was in a different living situation and my landlady worked with the local stray cat rescue team, so I was more hands-off. And I know I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here; I've only seen the cat twice and there was a gap of at least a week or so between sightings. And I'm only assuming it was the same cat both times!

Pictures promised if I run into the little buddy again. It's a pretty cat-long black hair and a tiny white star on the chest

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

Not my thread, but helping animals in distress is definitely the spirit here

Iron Crowned posted:

I want to know more about rear end cats

Alteisen posted:

Sylvester's gone, he seemed to be perking up and went to bed after a good meal but when I went to check on him he was gone.

I guess his body had just taken to much abuse.

Feel like poo poo, I know I did everything but goddammit.

Pollyanna posted:

Does removing part of the tail cause pain for the cat? I feel like cutting up the nerves would result in chronic pain issues.

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Maybe you can make him a girdle or something.

Sanguinary Novel posted:

cat_herder posted:

Soraya is beautiful, and well named!

Got through fostering two girls recently, got a newborn preemie that some awful hoarder brought in, kept him alive for five days until last night. RIP Rio, I bonded to you on accident and now I'm heartbroken.

This kitten season is absolutely brutal.

Squidtentacle posted:

Really hoping for the best for those of you with foster struggles.

Chili wanted me to share more about our own rescue, a little orange tabby named Geki. We found her about six weeks ago now on the way home from tabletop, just hiding in the grass on the side of a farmland road in the middle of the night, nobody anywhere near her. These are all pictures of her in the last couple of days, where she's grown a lot by now; she was just a little nugget then, not even bigger than my hands.



She was really spooked, but we got her bundled up in a sweater and she fell asleep almost immediately for the entire rest of the ride home. Right away, she knew how to use the litter and gobbled down both wet and dry food. A quick visit to the vet showed that she just had a little weepiness in her eye and some ear mites, and a follow-up showed some normal kitten worms that a few days of medicine took care of. She can't have been outside for long, and considering how good she was already with litter and food, someone must've had her and just left her in the middle of the night.



Now, though, she's doing great. Runs all over the place, then falls asleep, then gives our older cat hell, then sleeps some more, then bites everything. She loves playing, and she's already turning into a really pretty girl. Haven't had any further health problems so far, but she'll be getting some shots today since she'll be at least nine weeks (we think) by now.

ZoeDomingo posted:

As promised, I return with pictures of my cats...

all three of them.

Yes, three. My friends came with me to the pet store (which was showing cats from the county's animal services) to help me, and these three siblings were all so cute I was having trouble picking just two.
And then the shelter volunteers told me the cats were FREE today.

And I asked my friends, and one said "Well I'm just going to enable you and tell you to get all three."

So I gave in.

Meet George,

Henry,

and Emily.


Sorry the pics are kind of bad. I haven't been able to get good pictures of them yet: they're too wiggly! I'll work on it. Emily was a little shy at first, but she's gotten settled in nicely and cuddled with me in my chair for quite a while earlier. The two boys are funny. Right now they're watching TV.

They're a little over 3 months old, have been spayed and/or neutered, have all their shots (except rabies, which I have to get within the next month) and are microchipped. They're all very friendly and playing, and cuddly when they want to be.

So it wasn't the two cats of at least a year old that I had planned on, but they seem pretty chill and seem to like me, so I think it will be okay.

Wish me luck, folks.

ZoeDomingo posted:

These kittens are adorable.

However.

I'm really stressed out. They keep clawing at my legs and pulling my hair. One of them leaped up me earlier, clawing small bloody holes all over my torso. I'm saying "No!" very firmly, and sometimes following up with a clap. It seems to startle all the kittens except the one who's doing the thing I'm trying to stop.

Also, they knocked down the curtains in "their" room today, and I'm scared they're going to get hurt somehow. I had a friend with me when I brought them home Sunday, and she looked around the room and said it looked pretty kitten-proof. Obviously, we were wrong.

I really like them, but I'm feeling overwhelmed. I know it's only been a few days, and everyone tells me (and everything I've read online says) that it's normal to feel this way. But I'm afraid I'm not doing a good job.

Does anyone have any advice or can point me somewhere I can learn more about how to deal with them? I feel like a failure.

porkswordonboard posted:

Is it possible for you to trim their claws? Those needles are drat sharp. Getting them used to having their nails done would actually be a huge bonus for their owners in the future. If you don't know how, there are a lot of good youtube videos, but honestly all you really need to do is burrito them up in a towel and pull one paw out at a time. DO NOT use people nail trimmers; they will crush the nail. Cat/dog ones are super affordable.

Do they have anything in the room they're ALLOWED to claw at? They definitely need a scratching outlet.

ZenVulgarity posted:

Alright I have a stable income stream and I want to get an animal from a rescue (since this is a rescue thread I think). Is there any kind of things I should be looking for when I'm going through the rescue process? There seems to be a ton of resources available, but part of my brain is going "I go and I get kitty/puppy and they're immediately happy with no problems at all". That might be the case but very likely it won't be.

Thin Privilege posted:

Granted mine aren't fosters (but I got one from a super shady pet store so I technically rescued her) but at night, one sleeps on my head, one cuddles up in my arms, and the other, after playing the elusive foot under blanket game sleeps between my legs. It's the best thing ever and makes me so happy

Chili posted:

Also, I'm shooting to update the OP into something a little more robust/relevant/purposeful now that this thread is accommodating spontaneous rescuers as well.

If you'd like to be added to the OP as foster/rescue parent, let me know. I already got you katka.

Oh and if there are any other suggestions for the op, go ahead and suggest away. This thread typifies a team effort.

Chili posted:

Well done katka, have a cross post from the cute thread:


This actually raises a question, however. A reunion seems possible. As much as I am tempted to have that happen, I'm worried that the whole thing would be heartbreaking. Since they were clearly bonded, I'm guessing they'd really like to see each other again. But, the thought of them getting to see each other, and then splitting them up again seems really bad to me and I'm worried it would be exclusively self-serving in the long run. There's no way any sort of exchange would be considered, he's our cat now and we can't take on a third, just not possible.

His old owner hasn't asked for any kind of reunion, it's just something I've been thinking about. I can't decide if it's something worth pursuing. My wife seems to like the idea but I'm just not sure.

Since this isn't the cute thread, I'm hoping any opinions may go a bit further than WE WANT THAT VIDEO. Help?

Ofecks posted:

You know what you must do. Steal the Precious. Enjoy your Butterpiles

ZenVulgarity posted:

This was all good advice. Me and my girlfriend and friend are all looking into what will set off the least allergies now as well as scheduling, etc. It's definitely not as simple as I thought!

katka posted:

It is now!

Sorry I'm super late with this update but we've been busy. Anyhow so far little Farrah seems to be doing well. We got a scale and she is starting to put weight on quicker now and she has started to eat even more then she already was. It's a lot of work taking care of her, but its worth it!

Alteisen posted:

Well technically his name is Tiberius as in James T Kirk, but we shortened it to Tibi