Be flexible

 Part of fostering is being part of a supportive group and being flexible. 

Mochi and Boba came here Wednesday night. Both that night and Thursday, Mochi howled...all night. No one got much sleep.

Mom was talking to her friend Miss Heather and they discussed moving Mochi to her house. She has the ability to close off her bedroom to see if being with a person overnight would make a difference. 

Well turns out Mochi is most likely in heat. Ugh. But she is scheduled to be spayed on Thursday. We just have to survive that long. Haha

Boba is with us since it lets Mochi dry out from nursing. Boba is eating fine on her own. 

She is a little mouthy but is discovering that mom is good to sleep on. She is allowed out some during the day so the adults here will teach her some manners. 

First fosters of spring

 The rescue got a call about a momcat and single baby and we picked them up last night. 

Momma is medium hair, medium sized brown tabby - with thumbs (only in the front). Her kitten is about 5 weeks old, female (we think) and short hair brown and white tabby - no thumbs though. 

Mom is super friendly and the kitten should warm up pretty quickly too. The guy who found them has had them since the kitten was a couple days old, so we know there was just one.

Momma cat will be Mochi, the kitten Boba.

Of course mom also has the best built in toy ever:

vaccines and vet visits

 a blog post by the mom

I was messaging another cat mom and blogger the other day and she mentioned about getting her 15 year old cat in to the vet for a check up and vaccines. I mentioned that Ivy (who will be 15 years old this year) is no longer vaccinated. She said the vet was saying it needed to be done. 

I decided to do a little research and see what I could find out.

First let me say this - I am not a vet and I am NOT telling you to ignore your vet's advice. But I also do suggest all the time that you are allowed to ask questions (be kind and polite) about reasoning and care. 

Is something necessary? Is is required? Are there other options?

The last time Ivy was vaccinated was at age 12. Even then my vet asked why we were vaccinating a senior cat. I reminded her of the foster kitten situation and she agreed that due to risk it was worth doing it that time. At Ivy's last vet visit, we agreed that we would no longer vaccinate her. Keep in mind circumstances here: Ivy really doesn't like kittens so they don't spend a lot of time with her. I keep foster kittens quarantined when they are smaller and until after at least their first vaccine. I have had Ivy since she was 6 weeks old and I know her entire vaccine history. And regardless, Ivy will continue to have annual vet visits.

I did find an article written in 2021 by an RVT (see here) that basically says similar things to what I am saying above - a lot of it depends on circumstance. 

Here is something else to consider - there may be local or state laws your vet is required to comply with. This would ONLY apply to rabies vaccine not the FVRCP vaccine. So be sure to ask this as well. Some laws are written specifically for dogs and cats are not mentioned so be sure this is part of your conversation. 

For example, in my area here:

In accordance with Franklin county law, all dogs and cats are required to be vaccinated against the Rabies virus. Giving the vaccine is considered a medical procedure and only healthy pets should be vaccinated.

Read that again though - ONLY HEALTHY PETS. This can give your vet some leeway. In my case, is Ivy healthy? Sure, but she is also considered geriatric (when did that happen??) and that in itself can be considered a health issue. Plus if something were to happen, I am more than willing to pay for a titer test to check her rabies vaccine levels. And keep this in mind - I know her well enough to know she isn't really going to bite unless something terrible happens. Also she has about 3 teeth left. The risk level is pretty low. I also know that she has never once been exposed to rabies.

Where does that leave you? Having a vet you trust and you can talk to about these things. Have an honest conversation about your concerns and desires. Go over risks and precautions. 

Let me know what you think - do you still vaccinate your senior animals? Why or why not? 

Worked her too hard

 Mom had a guy over yesterday to replace the garbage disposal in the kitchen. Daiquiri, Junior and Goldfish disappeared. Ivy has it the "too old to care" stage of life so she was unimpressed. At one point it got loud and she went under mom's desk but otherwise napped.

Chanel of course had to supervise.

At one point she was in the kitchen about 3 feet away from the guy. Thank goodness for cat friendly handyman.

Then it got more exciting after he left when I guy showed up outside the building across from is. He had a ladder even.

Of course that is all hard work so she slept most of the afternoon. 

Be kind

                                          A post by the mom.

Yesterday the rescue community online learned that someone very invested in cat rescue took her own life. She had been struggling and now she's at peace.

Rescue is hard. Every day we are faced with health decisions, intake decisions, and angry people. Even if we have people on our lives who understand, it can be hard to reach out. "I don't want to burden them." "They have enough going on." The list continues...

Add in social media and it can be 1000 times harder. I've stepped up many times to shut down a troll. I've had others do it on my accounts for me. But I sincerely wish people could just stop and think for 2 seconds before hitting send. You don't know what else is going on for that person. 

During the year I was a foster coordinator, I caught flack from leaders and board members for not pushing fosters to do more. I pushed back hard. People are allowed to take breaks. They are allowed to decide what they can handle. And "no" is a complete sentence. 

I've been in rescue now for over 20 years. Now more than ever we need to nurture and encourage the next generations of rescuers. And we all need to stand together to help each other along the way. 

So here's what I'm asking:

Be kind

Ask for help if you need it

Be willing to help if you can

Stand up for others 

Know you are not alone 💜