Hello all! I'm a somewhat overwhelmed (kitten season) kitty-mom with six permanent cats, two foster cats, and seven foster kittens. I found this site when searching for information about cuterebra parasites.
Three of our permanent cats were adopted from a local rescue group. Two are "foster failures" that we just couldn't let go - one has a chronic weepy eye and develops upper respiratory infections in the multi-cat shelter, and the other is a shy, high-strung black cat. One was inherited from my mom when she moved into seniors' housing that doesn't allow pets.
We've been fostering felines for a local group, and this is our fourth year. Even though we're up to foster number 52, every batch teaches me something new, whether I want to learn it or not.
Foster cat # 1 is one that we fostered as a kitten. She wasn't doing well at the shelter, so bounced back here for some rest & relaxation.
Foster cat # 2, Monica, came into rescue about a month ago with five kittens (foster kittens # 1-5). She seemed almost feral when she came in, hissing and growling whenever we came near her in the foster room. She's made such amazing progress that we now suspect that she was a stray. Her five kittens were born about eight weeks ago, and are doing beautifully - healthy, tame, happy. One developed what we thought was an abcess last week, but it turned out to be a cuterebra worm! ICK! Vet squeezed it out without a problem, but there's still a lump and red spot left, so we may be dealing with a second one and are keeping a very close eye on her. This is apparently very rare in our area - the vet said that he sees one every 3-4 years. I hope I never see another one.
Foster kittens # 6 and 7 are about seven weeks old. They accidentally hitched a ride aboard an RV from one campground to a local campground - it took almost two days, and they managed to survive! Rescue founder had an interesting time getting them out from behind the wheel well, sort of inside the engine. They were dehydrated, traumatized, and feral. Poor little things. When we turned them loose inside the foster room with Mama Monica and her babies, they just hid, too terrified to even eat or drink. I put them into a large wire dog kennel for almost a week, where they slowly relaxed and started eating. The other kittens came in for regular playdates. When they were finally tame enough to release from the kennel, they were sooooo happy to have a mama cat again. One is fairly friendly now, but the other one barely tolerates being touched and usually hides but she's coming around.
Looking foward to getting to know other crazy cat people.
Three of our permanent cats were adopted from a local rescue group. Two are "foster failures" that we just couldn't let go - one has a chronic weepy eye and develops upper respiratory infections in the multi-cat shelter, and the other is a shy, high-strung black cat. One was inherited from my mom when she moved into seniors' housing that doesn't allow pets.
We've been fostering felines for a local group, and this is our fourth year. Even though we're up to foster number 52, every batch teaches me something new, whether I want to learn it or not.
Foster cat # 1 is one that we fostered as a kitten. She wasn't doing well at the shelter, so bounced back here for some rest & relaxation.
Foster cat # 2, Monica, came into rescue about a month ago with five kittens (foster kittens # 1-5). She seemed almost feral when she came in, hissing and growling whenever we came near her in the foster room. She's made such amazing progress that we now suspect that she was a stray. Her five kittens were born about eight weeks ago, and are doing beautifully - healthy, tame, happy. One developed what we thought was an abcess last week, but it turned out to be a cuterebra worm! ICK! Vet squeezed it out without a problem, but there's still a lump and red spot left, so we may be dealing with a second one and are keeping a very close eye on her. This is apparently very rare in our area - the vet said that he sees one every 3-4 years. I hope I never see another one.
Foster kittens # 6 and 7 are about seven weeks old. They accidentally hitched a ride aboard an RV from one campground to a local campground - it took almost two days, and they managed to survive! Rescue founder had an interesting time getting them out from behind the wheel well, sort of inside the engine. They were dehydrated, traumatized, and feral. Poor little things. When we turned them loose inside the foster room with Mama Monica and her babies, they just hid, too terrified to even eat or drink. I put them into a large wire dog kennel for almost a week, where they slowly relaxed and started eating. The other kittens came in for regular playdates. When they were finally tame enough to release from the kennel, they were sooooo happy to have a mama cat again. One is fairly friendly now, but the other one barely tolerates being touched and usually hides but she's coming around.
Looking foward to getting to know other crazy cat people.
