Thursday, April 26, 2012

dammit.....

Louisa crossed the Bridge on Tuesday night.

Mom got home from work and found her with her third eyelid part way up, hot to the touch. She called the shelter director and they met at the shelter. Louisa's temp was 106.3 (normal is about 101). The director called one of their vets who recommended fluids and a shot of metacam and antibiotics. Or, head to MedVet and have her looked at. Mom opted for the vet route and the director agreed that was in order.

Mom got there about 6:30pm. They took blood and sent mom home about 8pm to check on the kittens and told her to come back around 9:30pm once the results were in. The preliminary results looked ok so the vet hoped to give Louisa fluids, convenia and send her home.

Didn't work out that way...... Louisa's CBC numbers were all over the place. The vet said she was septic - and basically already dying. She called the director and they spoke for a while.The director then talked to mom and together they decided to let her go. The vet gave her less than 50% survival chances and said she was suffering. Mom couldn't let that go on.

Mom bottle fed the kittens Tuesday night and Wednesday morning about 2am and again before work. She then dropped them off at the shelter and they are going to try to find foster homes that can support tiny bottle babies (they were born 4/8 so they are just over 2 weeks old). The cat caregiver called mom yesterday afternoon to say they are going to split them into groups of 2-2-3 and try to introduce them to the other nursing moms currently in foster care.


Mom is pretty sad. But she is also angry. Sitting at the clinic, she got to read Louisa's paperwork. The lady who brought her in found her LAST JULY!!! She had every opportunity to get Louisa to a vet for shots and care and to get her spayed. And did NOTHING!!! This could have been avoided. Instead, the woman did nothing until there were kittens and then brought them to the shelter. We know she couldn't have known how sick Louisa was, but she still pawned off her responsibility.

Mom knows that rescue work is hard. It is like a teeter-totter. Somedays are good days: cute kittens, great adoptions, good follow up stories, successful saves. And then there are the other days: losses, stupid people, adoption returns. To keep doing this, all you can do is hope you have more good days and bad. Cause you have to get up the next morning and keep going - heaven knows the next animal coming doesn't care that you are having a bad day.


We may not post tomorrow - we are making sure to give mom lots of love and purrs. Plus it is the end of the month which makes her pretty busy at work. We will try to get her to get the laptop out over the weekend at home so we can check in on everyone. She has a slobbery bloodhound transport on Saturday morning but no real other plans.

34 comments:

  1. I am so very sorry for your loss.

    I am sad everytime we lose one at the shelter where I volunteer. Some kitties come in, in rough shape :( Its frustrating to try to educate sometimes because it feels like you are either talking to yourself or a brick wall... but each time a life is saved, that is what gets me through.

    God Speed Louisa. You've earned your angel wings.

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  2. I'm so sorry about Louisa :-( Hopefully the kittens will be accepted by some nursing mums...I'll miss the little black panthers!

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  3. Oh no. :-( Oh the kitties have lost their mama! :-( We are so so sorry. Poor Louisa - what a life.
    :-(

    Hugs and purrs to all of you and to Louisa's babies. Their mama gave her life for them. Poor babies.

    Take care
    x

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  4. (((Jeanne)))

    There's not much I can say that will help, just that we're all so sorry poor Louisa passed, and all p*ssed off at the careless, stupid, ignorant woman who didn't give her the care she needed in the first place.

    Sending purrs to you and to the kittens.

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  5. Oh that is so sad, I am welling up here((HUGS)) to you and those poor kittens!!

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  6. Oh no, I hate that, such a sweetie. Many purrs and hugs to you. Run free little one.

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  7. I'm so very sorry about Lola. Thank goodness she is no longer suffering. She'll be up in Heaven now, for sure. Maybe she'll meet my mama there and they can have a chat and cuddle and some playtime together. That would be nice, I think. My mama would take very good care of there. She was a lovely kitty. My fur family & I are all sending you lots & lots of purrs... a little comfort in your time of need.

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  8. I am so sorry about precious Louisa. XXX Bless her precious heart and her babies too. It makes mommy's eyes leak thinking about all of that which comes with fostering and volunteering. She admires you so much and all other folks who help like this. It's a heart rending job sometimes and mom's heart would break over some things.

    xoxox

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  9. I am so sorry to read about Lousia. My mommie volunteered for a while at a shelter, but she was not strong like your Mommie, the stupid pet owners got to her. One day a woman brought in her persian cat that she had for 10 years who she had used a poodle shaver on. She wanted to give it up for adoption because "it was mean to her and hissed at her". Mommie went nutso and proceeded to tell this idiot exactly how stupid she was. And that was pretty much the end of her volunteer stint!

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  10. We are so sorry to hear that Louisa
    has passed - that woman should be banned from having a cat or a dog -or any animal for life and get fined.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  11. I am sorry about Louisa It really sucks that she had to go like that just because of one stupid person who could have at leats got shots done they are not expensive......But there will always be like that in this world and it makes me mad that no matter what we do we cant change that.

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  12. I'm very sorry to hear the sad news about Louisa. I don't blame your Mom for being mad at that irresponsible woman. It takes a special soul to be able to do what your Mom does day in and day out...and I too hope for more of the good days to lighten the load of the bad ones. Purrs....

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  13. So sorry about Louisa - such a short hard life she had. Bless you for what you do - it is not easy but you provide so much for these animals. Sending lots of purrs that the kittens thrive and get adopted in good homes.

    Cats of wildcat woods

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  14. That is so very sad. People are so stupid sometimes. If she had just gotten Louisa fixed none of this would have happened. We send lots of goat hugs....

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  15. We were so sad to read about Louisa. You are right to be angry about the woman who found her. So many people just never bother to put their brain into gear.

    Purrs,
    The Chans

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  16. This makes us so, so, sad and angry too. Purrs and headbumps to your Mom. What a tuff day.

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  17. Oh No, we are so so sorry. We know how upset you are. Our mom has leaky eyes too. Darn it all. Why can't people do the right thing. I can't stand people's attitude, on how they will be just fine. It gives me the screamies. Take a deep breathe and remember how many goods you do. Just think about Silver and Marble. Take care.

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  18. I am so sorry about Louisa, and we are very sad here too. But my human and I are also mad about the human who did not look out for her and just brought her in when she had kittens. This is why my human prefers kitties to most other humans.

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  19. Oh, we are so very sorry. And the stupid people out there are both saddening and maddening. We are so grateful that YOU are out there though, helping so much.
    Bless you.
    xo Katie & Glogirly

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  20. I'm so sorry about Louisa. I would have been angry about the woman as well. How irresponsible and what happened to Louisa was so preventable.
    Sending lots of purrs that the babies thrive at their foster homes and get adopted to good forever homes in due time.

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  21. Yup, "people" suck. Which is why I don't do more for the kitties out there and totally admire people who can deal with it. I so wish I could, but I'm sure I'd go off on people much like Callie's mom.

    Blessings for a safe journey for Louisa..

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  22. Oh no! We are so deeply sorry to hear about Louisa. We hope her little kit-cat babies do OK. You know, without your mom, Louisa wouldn't have known love when she most needed it - and those wee babes wouldn't stand a chance. Your mom is making a HUGE difference.
    Please give her a gentle lick on the nose for me - and a big hug from Dave.
    Play bows,
    Zim

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  23. Crap. This makes us sad and mad. Some humans can be so stupid. We are so sorry about Louisa. And we're sorry your mom had to go through this.

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  24. So very sorry to hear about Louisa. The poor little girl deserved more than the fate she met. It angers me so much that the woman who gave her up with her kittens had so little regard for Louisa.

    It's so unfair. I hope that the kittens will do well with their foster mommas, find good homes where they will be loved and cherished and live a long, long life.

    Thank you for the work you do. You're a true hero.

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  25. That's so sad. They are all so precious and deserve good human stewards to care for them. Thankfully, Louisa had you in her moment of need so you could send her off knowing that she was loved. My heart hurts.

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  26. Oh I'm so so sorry. Hugs and purrs for you. We're praying for the kittens to be accepted by the other mommy kitties. Good luck on your transport!

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  27. Be at peace, Louisa, brave little mommie. We send White Dog woos asking the Universe to keep special watch over her little ones, keeping them healthy and safe and growing until they can find wonderful forever homes that keep each in loving security.

    Tell mom to listen to her heart about why she does what she does...and tell her THANKS, from the White Dog Army

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  28. I'm so so sorry about Louisa! Thinking of you xo

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  29. I am so sorry to read about Louisa passing away:(( Poor little girl, and it makes me angry, too, to know all these could be avoided! And now the siblings will get split up, too, but it is probably the best option - having a mum cat is far better than bottle feeding.
    We almost lost a cat mum, too. She had 5 kittens and when she was trapped, she smelled bad. The lady who trapped her took her to the vet immediately - and lucky for the cat as she had a ruptured uterus because she had 5 kittens while being still a kitten of 9 months herself. After 3 days at the clinic she refused her kittens but they are doing fine on the bottle feeds and they are in a good foster home.

    No, we can't save every animal, but we surely can try.

    Hugs

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  30. As others have said here, it really does take a special person to do what you do. Am so sorry you lost Louisa! There is really know excuse for such stupidity in some people. Thoughtless and probably selfish. You are doing a great job x

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  31. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss. Never easy to lose one that you fight so hard for. :(

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  32. I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is and my thoughts and prayers are with you.

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