Hi all,
I haven't been here in a while, and since we are all big cat lovers, I thought I should share my little story with you guys.
I've been volunteering for a few months now at the no-kill shelter close to where I live (for cats only). One of the volonteer there was called by a guy: he had found 3 baby kittens in his backyard, in a wet box and it seemed like the mother was rarely there. It was during the winter, there was snow outside, the babies were newborns and it was very cold. So, she went there to rescue them. When she got there, the mother was back. She was a feral. She tried to rescue all of them, but the mother was somehow able to fight hard enough to get away. So, she brought back the babies that were now orphaned. She already had 5 cats at home and didn't know how to take care of these baby kittens (less than 2 weeks old and no mother). Of course, all of the other volunteer at our shelter are also foster family and their houses are full of cats so, as the new member of our community, I was asked to take care of them. Having seen them, I couldn't say no and I had already done a ton of researches on the subjects because I had previously had a pregnant cat at my place (wich unfortunatly died, RIP Maya). I was very scared, though, because I had been told by a few members here that I wasn't ready to do such a thing, and it was true. Reading on a subject and actually being able to handle such a situation are both very different things. But between that and giving them to another shelter (where they would certainly get sick without their mother), I just knew what I had to do.
So, here I was, bottlefeeding them every 3-4 hours, warming up their little socks filled with beans and their blankets every 1-2 hours, helping them go potty, washing them, visiting the vet everytime I had a doubt (most of the time for nothing, but the last thing I wanted was anything happening to these little creature), changing the configuration of the house to make sure they had enough space as they grew up...And falling in love with these 3 little fluffy balls.
They are now 8 weeks old, they are healty and almost ready to leave the nest. Our nest. They think I'm their mother. They had their first vaccination and are dewormed. They eat solid food, use the litter box, understand the word "no!", are able to run very fast and they love to follow me everywhere and they purr as soon as I pet them. I can't believe if they would have been found a few days later, they would probaly have been dead in the cold. In 5 weeks, they will leave to their new homes. I was blessed by having the chance to live such a great experience, but it is also a burden for me to know I will have to go through this separation. Only thing I can do is find them the best home as possible.
Thanks for reading my story. If you want to see Lily, Cloe and Gus, my 3 little angels, you can stop at . It's a little video I made of them so that I could see them even when they will be gone.
Marilou
I haven't been here in a while, and since we are all big cat lovers, I thought I should share my little story with you guys.
I've been volunteering for a few months now at the no-kill shelter close to where I live (for cats only). One of the volonteer there was called by a guy: he had found 3 baby kittens in his backyard, in a wet box and it seemed like the mother was rarely there. It was during the winter, there was snow outside, the babies were newborns and it was very cold. So, she went there to rescue them. When she got there, the mother was back. She was a feral. She tried to rescue all of them, but the mother was somehow able to fight hard enough to get away. So, she brought back the babies that were now orphaned. She already had 5 cats at home and didn't know how to take care of these baby kittens (less than 2 weeks old and no mother). Of course, all of the other volunteer at our shelter are also foster family and their houses are full of cats so, as the new member of our community, I was asked to take care of them. Having seen them, I couldn't say no and I had already done a ton of researches on the subjects because I had previously had a pregnant cat at my place (wich unfortunatly died, RIP Maya). I was very scared, though, because I had been told by a few members here that I wasn't ready to do such a thing, and it was true. Reading on a subject and actually being able to handle such a situation are both very different things. But between that and giving them to another shelter (where they would certainly get sick without their mother), I just knew what I had to do.
So, here I was, bottlefeeding them every 3-4 hours, warming up their little socks filled with beans and their blankets every 1-2 hours, helping them go potty, washing them, visiting the vet everytime I had a doubt (most of the time for nothing, but the last thing I wanted was anything happening to these little creature), changing the configuration of the house to make sure they had enough space as they grew up...And falling in love with these 3 little fluffy balls.
They are now 8 weeks old, they are healty and almost ready to leave the nest. Our nest. They think I'm their mother. They had their first vaccination and are dewormed. They eat solid food, use the litter box, understand the word "no!", are able to run very fast and they love to follow me everywhere and they purr as soon as I pet them. I can't believe if they would have been found a few days later, they would probaly have been dead in the cold. In 5 weeks, they will leave to their new homes. I was blessed by having the chance to live such a great experience, but it is also a burden for me to know I will have to go through this separation. Only thing I can do is find them the best home as possible.
Thanks for reading my story. If you want to see Lily, Cloe and Gus, my 3 little angels, you can stop at . It's a little video I made of them so that I could see them even when they will be gone.
Marilou
