This is a difficult story to tell. But this is also an important story to tell.
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| Peanut |
I wish I could have done more for you. I know the truth about animal rescue lies deep in the heart of everyone who's ever tried. It's this truth that breaks our hearts: We can't save everyone.
The shelter I foster through got a call from a woman in her car. After calming her down, the receptionist found out that she'd seen a cat running across a busy street with a jar stuck on her head. The police of that town were called, but catching a freaked out cat with a jar on its head was about as easy as catching the wind. But they persevered and the cat was caught. She was brought into the shelter after hours... with the jar still on her head.
At the shelter, the peanut butter jar was removed. The vet checked her over and found that all the hair had been rubbed off her left ear and it was infected. She would need medication. It was also determined that she was pregnant.
And that's where I came in... literally. I walked into the shelter, returning my latest set of foster kittens, and was asked to take this kitty home with me.
This would be my first pregnant kitty! I was nervous and excited. All the other foster families said the mama would know what to do and all I had to do was give her safe place for her to give birth. I set up three soft and cushy nesting areas in our kitten fostering room.
And that's where I came in... literally. I walked into the shelter, returning my latest set of foster kittens, and was asked to take this kitty home with me.
This would be my first pregnant kitty! I was nervous and excited. All the other foster families said the mama would know what to do and all I had to do was give her safe place for her to give birth. I set up three soft and cushy nesting areas in our kitten fostering room.
We named her Peanut for the peanut butter jar. She wasn't aggressive, nothing more than a few hisses when she got startled, but she was feral. Every time anyone came in the room, she hid. She tolerated me touching her and even putting ointment on her wounded ear, but she didn't like it. I would spend hours in the room with her. I would sit by where she was hiding and read to her aloud. After a while, she would visibly relax and seemed to become more comfortable with the sound of my voice. But she never came over to me; she never sought my attention.
She was incredibly skinny (we're talking skin and bones!) when we got her. The vet seemed to think that she'd have her kittens within a week. When that didn't happen, we figured that it only seemed like she was that far along in her pregnancy because of how skinny she was. She was putting on weight and getting healthier day by day, so we gave her more time.
At just a month of her not giving birth, we had plans to take her in to have the vet make sure everything was okay. That evening, she made some horrible meowing sounds. I kept checking on her. But every time I opened the door, she hid. Much to her disapproval, I checked her over. The next morning, I opened the door to her room and stepped in goo. She had lost her mucus plug! According to my research, she should have her kittens with in twelve to twenty-four hours. But a day went by and nothing. So I took her in to the shelter to see the vet.
The vet checked her over and determined that she wasn't pregnant after all. She may have had a false pregnancy or there was a possibility that since she was so unhealthy, the fetuses had been reabsorbed or it might have merely been that it seemed like she was pregnant because her uterus was swollen. He also detected a mass that might have added to the confusion. At the shelter, they didn't have the equipment to assess the mass.
Then came the hardest part... The operations manager at the shelter sat me down and said she would support whatever decision I made, but I needed to be realistic. Her health wasn't stable and she wasn't becoming anymore social. Even if I took her home to foster her, even if we managed to raise the money to pay for some risky procedures, even if she survived, even if we found a home for her, she would not have a good quality of life and would have a stressed out existence. Even if I adopted her and could afford to pay her medical bills, I had to consider how having a feral cat would affect everyone - cats and humans - living in my house. Setting her free in the wild wasn't an option. The shelter I work with doesn't do that. Plus we knew she was not well and wouldn't survive.
I cried. It broke my heart, but I had to make the decision to let her go. This kitty that I had spent so much time with... Thankfully, the euthanasia went smoothly and she died peacefully.
I wish I could have done more for you, Peanut. I will never forget you.
j9
She was incredibly skinny (we're talking skin and bones!) when we got her. The vet seemed to think that she'd have her kittens within a week. When that didn't happen, we figured that it only seemed like she was that far along in her pregnancy because of how skinny she was. She was putting on weight and getting healthier day by day, so we gave her more time.
At just a month of her not giving birth, we had plans to take her in to have the vet make sure everything was okay. That evening, she made some horrible meowing sounds. I kept checking on her. But every time I opened the door, she hid. Much to her disapproval, I checked her over. The next morning, I opened the door to her room and stepped in goo. She had lost her mucus plug! According to my research, she should have her kittens with in twelve to twenty-four hours. But a day went by and nothing. So I took her in to the shelter to see the vet.
The vet checked her over and determined that she wasn't pregnant after all. She may have had a false pregnancy or there was a possibility that since she was so unhealthy, the fetuses had been reabsorbed or it might have merely been that it seemed like she was pregnant because her uterus was swollen. He also detected a mass that might have added to the confusion. At the shelter, they didn't have the equipment to assess the mass.
Then came the hardest part... The operations manager at the shelter sat me down and said she would support whatever decision I made, but I needed to be realistic. Her health wasn't stable and she wasn't becoming anymore social. Even if I took her home to foster her, even if we managed to raise the money to pay for some risky procedures, even if she survived, even if we found a home for her, she would not have a good quality of life and would have a stressed out existence. Even if I adopted her and could afford to pay her medical bills, I had to consider how having a feral cat would affect everyone - cats and humans - living in my house. Setting her free in the wild wasn't an option. The shelter I work with doesn't do that. Plus we knew she was not well and wouldn't survive.
I cried. It broke my heart, but I had to make the decision to let her go. This kitty that I had spent so much time with... Thankfully, the euthanasia went smoothly and she died peacefully.
I wish I could have done more for you, Peanut. I will never forget you.
j9
