by Marilyn Y Meyer

Created on: May 10, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I used to foster cats and kittens for a local pet rescue. I specialized in hand rearing kittens of all ages occasionally I'd get a pregnant queen. I fell into this occidentally when I took a baby rabbit to a wildlife rehabilitater. She had become over whelmed with wild animals and felt she could not care for these two orphaned kittens as well as they needed. I being the sucker I am for critters volunteered myself to do it. There was only two of them,how hard could it be? Actually it was easy, the next litter of five not so much.

These five were way younger, not even with their momma long enough to learn to nurse. I could not, no matter what I did get them to suckle on the bottle. So, I learned to tube feed. My rehaber friend showed me how and said"If you get the tube into the wrong place they will die instantly in your hand." There I am at the next feeding trying to convince myself to do this," hmm, let me see here,let them starve or get the tube in right." I got it in right! I soon became an expert at it and ended up with quite a few more babies. I did lose one of the five because being so little chances are very slim for survival. I was as thorough as I could be when I'd get a new kitten, I wrote down everything and kept diaries for each baby for when it got adopted to a forever home. I wanted the people to know what these kittens had been through.

There was one kitten I called "Oreo" who came to me at about four weeks old and brought with him a serious case of ringworm which, by the way is a fungal infection of the skin. This stuff makes bald spots on kittens and can make them completely bald. Oreo and a few of his friends had to have a bath in a medicated sulfur based shampoo once a week for four weeks. I thought at the end of all of this four weeks I'd get him adopted out so he would not get it again,ha the joke is on me. He did get adopted out but I was asked to hold him until his new family got back from vacation. He got it again and when they got back he could not go home with them. They waited patiently for him though and he did find a great home.

I continued to foster for the next few years and loved every minute of it. I felt so much satisfaction in what I was doing that I was addicted to it. I loved people calling me to tell me what a great cat so and so had turned into. I kept at it. I had a lot of sad cases to.

Pocket comes to mind here, I got her at about four hours old and she was slate gray. We named her pocket when she was twelve weeks old and was the size of a two week old kitten(hamster sized). With her also came a surprise we soon learned to dread. Panleukopenea! This is the ultimate kitten killer. She was a carrier of this disease which was why she did not grow and it spread like wildfire through the house. That year I lost all but three litters and this was my breaking point. I stopped taking orphans because I was at this point not doing them any good. I called the rescue I was doing it for and said that I was done.

I still once in a great while still will care for an orphan or two but that is the extent. I give many applause to those who do. Many tears will fall and they get right back in and do it again.

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