How likely is it to have a bottle baby pass while in foster care?

[rosieclover]

R rosieclover I will keep your cat in our thoughts.

It's really disturbing that they are saying, "well these other ones are fine. Yours will be too." They don't know. No one can. As an immunocompromised individual whose been told that by other people, maybe that extra rubs me the wrong way. Bottom line: it's your comfort level with it that matters, not theirs!

Also, something suspicious: The foster kittens were removed from those homes immediately, but they're expecting you to take yours back??

P.S. even if it was just for your own mental health and you had no other cats, it is 100% perfectly fine and reasonable that you not be given (purposefully) kittens outside of the level of care you have been trained to give. Or if having mental health issues with it due to grief being triggered, that you be given the support to stop.

Thank you, I got a strange feeling about those things too. I was never given the option to have the kittens removed from my home after they tested positive. The whole time I got the feeling that they were determined to keep the kittens in my home no matter what. Since I'm still pretty new to fostering I didn't know what was normal, but a lot of people are saying it's not. I'm hoping that I can still foster older/fully vaccinated cats for a different rescue after disinfecting everything, but we'll see

 

[silent meowlook]

I think you fostering older cats and kittens is a much safer idea. Plus, everyone wants to help baby kittens. I think the older ones just don’t get the same help and they need it so much.

 

[catsknowme]

I agree with S silent meowlook that fostering older cats is probably a better option. Since your human support system is also processing grief, you might try having a family discussion and see what they are willing to consider. Another member here had suggested using the herb Holy Basil for grief which I tried after the death of my special somebody & it really helped. I was able to work in pharmacy during the height of the pandemic while concealing my devastation.
It sounds like that lousy rescue is probably working with feral colonies in a disadvantaged area. I have formed that opinion after doing TNR in trailer parks & impoverished areas as well as in business areas and more "middle class" areas. The shame and blame should be upon the people who live in those communities; it shouldn't be the responsibility of the rescue or you to deal with situations that they cannot be bothered to deal with (just as it isn't mine since I live 10 miles from the nearest current unfixed-feral group and my colony has been completely TNR'd since 2015).
Please let us know what you decide to do and we will gladly support you in whatever you decide to do

 

[rosieclover]

The rescue is contacting me again today saying the kittens all tested negative and are fully recovered and that I can come to pick them up. I may do it and tell the rescue I have to take them back if they get sick again. I'll just have to do it as safely as possible. My cat's vet told me today that this situation is relatively low-risk, but it would be safest for me to stop fostering since I have an FIV cat, so these would be my last fosters for a long time.
catsknowme Wow, yes that is exactly what they do. How did you know? I'll have to try the basil, I've never heard of that before

 

[treeclimber]

The rescue is contacting me again today saying the kittens all tested negative and are fully recovered and that I can come to pick them up. I may do it and tell the rescue I have to take them back if they get sick again.

I’d strongly suggest saying no. This rescue has already shown a tendency to give inaccurate information and pressure you - do you think they would make it easy to take the kittens back a second time if they got sick again?

The kittens may be doing better and may be shedding less virus, but it is too soon to assume they are no longer contagious. The SNAP test typically used for panleukopenia has pretty low sensitivity, a negative test doesn’t mean they’re not contagious.

Here is a study on viral shedding after feline panleukopenia infection. The commonly-used SNAP test was giving mostly negative results by day 3, but the more sensitive PCR test was still giving some positive results at day 14, and some kittens weren’t PCR negative until day 21.

If you bring the kittens home while they are still shedding the panleukopenia virus, it’s probably a good idea to wash your hands and change your clothes/shoes after every contact with them to reduce the risk of exposing your FIV cat.

 

[rosieclover]

I’d strongly suggest saying no. This rescue has already shown a tendency to give inaccurate information and pressure you - do you think they would make it easy to take the kittens back a second time if they got sick again?

The kittens may be doing better and may be shedding less virus, but it is too soon to assume they are no longer contagious. The SNAP test typically used for panleukopenia has pretty low sensitivity, a negative test doesn’t mean they’re not contagious.

Here is a study on viral shedding after feline panleukopenia infection. The commonly-used SNAP test was giving mostly negative results by day 3, but the more sensitive PCR test was still giving some positive results at day 14, and some kittens weren’t PCR negative until day 21.

If you bring the kittens home while they are still shedding the panleukopenia virus, it’s probably a good idea to wash your hands and change your clothes/shoes after every contact with them to reduce the risk of exposing your FIV cat.

I ended up picking the kittens back up, and thankfully they have been doing a lot better so far. I was told that they aren't contagious because they tested negative. I read that isn't how it works, but I decided to go ahead and finish fostering them anyways and just take as many precautions as possible.

We have them quarantined in our main bath/closet area so there are multiple doors between them and our FIV+ cat, we also have shoes outside the door for going in there, are sanitizing everything with rescue, etc.

The night before the rescue told me they were negative, I was cleaning up their room, crying, looking at all of the toys they loved. It was so hard thinking of them in a tiny cage at the shelter and not knowing if they were going to be okay or if I did the right thing... So it was partially an emotionally-driven decision, but I'm trying to do it as safely as possible and just have these be my last for a long time.

The vet said even fully vaccinated/adult fosters could expose ours to things like colds, so I shouldn't even do that. In a few years, my sister will move out with the FIV+ cat since she's her ESA, and then maybe I will try fostering again. For now, I'm going to focus on keeping these babies safe and getting them into good homes while protecting ours the best that I can

 

[fionasmom]

Please keep us posted. You have done a very kind thing for those kittens and I am sure that a lot of members here on TCS understand how you felt about leaving them at the shelter. Take all precautions possible, as you have said you are doing, for them and your sister's cat.

 

[catsknowme]

You are certainly following all the right protocols and I applaud you for your decision. The world of rescue is often filled with "less than ideal" situations as is the world of human caregivers. You are facing challenges with both commonsense and courage

 

[silent meowlook]

Good job rosieclover!! I don’t think those kittens would be alive without you. It is so hard to make practical decisions when there are kitten lives involved. Cat rescue is hard. Sounds like you are taking the proper precautions. Wonderful that you now have a “ kitten ward” in you home!!

Let’s see some pictures of all of them and the FIV+ cat.

 

[Caspers Human]

Some kittens live and some don't but remember! If a young kitten passes away in your care, at least it had a warm place to sleep even if only for one night in its life!

That's something to be proud of, right there!

 

[danteshuman]

The older the bottle babies, the better their chance. I have only raised 2 litters. My last litter were 4 weeks old and they needed the bottle still. So if you do it, I let them wean themselves so they were completely off the KMR by 9 weeks.

I suggest older bottle babies like 4 weeks old & putting them on your chest all the time. I kept the babies on my chest under a quilt (after I bathed their back ends) and they were happy as could be. They could get out from the blanket and as they got older they switched to just sleeping on top of me/the quilt. I think for sick babies chest time is your best chance besides an older cat adopting a kitten (I had a neutered male cat that adopted the 2 kittens. He let the little one nurse off of him!) Hearing your heartbeat comforts them and keeping them warm is a must, the younger they are.