Hi, All.
Me and my dh had an interesting Father's Day. We found a pair of kittens under our shed. I was concerned our three dogs might find them or that a raccoon or a local tomcat may come after them so we caught them both in a raccoon trap.
Our neighbor came out and took the first one (around 4pm). He's been feeding them mamma cat and trying to trap her and her 5 kittens to get them spayed and vaccinated. He already had one kitten so there's 2 more out there. No one is left under the shed, so I'll loan him our trap in hopes he'll have a better chance at catching the mamma cat and the remaining kittens.
The second kitten we caught after midnight so we had to hang onto him. We planned to hand him over to our neighbor in the morning, but DH named him "Yoda" and now we're caring for him. Our poor neighbor has 3 of his own cats on top of the kittens he's taming and the mamma he's going to take in so we feel happy to help.
Yoda is a cute little orange kitten who is very calm for a feral-born baby. He is scared, but doesn't struggle to escape handling nor does he swipe. I took him to the vet yesterday, and he didn't cry or growl when he got his temperature and a stool sample taken and his first 3-in-1 vaccine.
I've been working with him for two days now, and he's doing great. This morning I was combing him and he climbed up my chest and rub-marked his face on my chin. He will make a wonderful cat!
I feel torn though. I am getting attached, but I want to find him a good home as soon as he's tamed. We are really maxed out with pets. We have 3 small dogs, 2 cats, and 5 rats. It's a lot of work, and this has been a very expensive month. Everyone of our pets (except the rats) is on some sort of medication right now. It's really overwhelming as for the past two weeks, I've been taking someone into the vet every other day--sometimes twice a day.
I don't want to make our two cats feel displaced, either. One of our kitties(Stewy) has had a terrible month at the vets. He started off going to the vets for scabby feet and now he has been diagnosed with a stage 3 heart murmur (goes to the cardiologist next week). It's a real drag, because he's the sweetest cat in the world...he's so sweet he's going to be doing volunteer work at retirement homes.
Anyhow, DH has a very responsible coworker/friend (we know her really well)who has been looking for a few months for a cat/kitten. When we get the Yoda socialized I'm hoping to home him with her.
I'm just really worried about getting more attached. DH already is super-attached and wants to keep him, but we need another pet like a hole in the head.
Has anyone here been through fostering? Is there any way to make this easier? How do you deal with letting your foster go to his permanent home?
Thanks!
Me and my dh had an interesting Father's Day. We found a pair of kittens under our shed. I was concerned our three dogs might find them or that a raccoon or a local tomcat may come after them so we caught them both in a raccoon trap.
Our neighbor came out and took the first one (around 4pm). He's been feeding them mamma cat and trying to trap her and her 5 kittens to get them spayed and vaccinated. He already had one kitten so there's 2 more out there. No one is left under the shed, so I'll loan him our trap in hopes he'll have a better chance at catching the mamma cat and the remaining kittens.
The second kitten we caught after midnight so we had to hang onto him. We planned to hand him over to our neighbor in the morning, but DH named him "Yoda" and now we're caring for him. Our poor neighbor has 3 of his own cats on top of the kittens he's taming and the mamma he's going to take in so we feel happy to help.
Yoda is a cute little orange kitten who is very calm for a feral-born baby. He is scared, but doesn't struggle to escape handling nor does he swipe. I took him to the vet yesterday, and he didn't cry or growl when he got his temperature and a stool sample taken and his first 3-in-1 vaccine.
I've been working with him for two days now, and he's doing great. This morning I was combing him and he climbed up my chest and rub-marked his face on my chin. He will make a wonderful cat!
I feel torn though. I am getting attached, but I want to find him a good home as soon as he's tamed. We are really maxed out with pets. We have 3 small dogs, 2 cats, and 5 rats. It's a lot of work, and this has been a very expensive month. Everyone of our pets (except the rats) is on some sort of medication right now. It's really overwhelming as for the past two weeks, I've been taking someone into the vet every other day--sometimes twice a day.
I don't want to make our two cats feel displaced, either. One of our kitties(Stewy) has had a terrible month at the vets. He started off going to the vets for scabby feet and now he has been diagnosed with a stage 3 heart murmur (goes to the cardiologist next week). It's a real drag, because he's the sweetest cat in the world...he's so sweet he's going to be doing volunteer work at retirement homes.
Anyhow, DH has a very responsible coworker/friend (we know her really well)who has been looking for a few months for a cat/kitten. When we get the Yoda socialized I'm hoping to home him with her.
I'm just really worried about getting more attached. DH already is super-attached and wants to keep him, but we need another pet like a hole in the head.
Has anyone here been through fostering? Is there any way to make this easier? How do you deal with letting your foster go to his permanent home?
Thanks!