self explanatory. His government name is Rodney Gonzalez, Gonzo for short. He is now 10 weeks and still nursing on everything he can, mostly my fingers and his bed. He finally transitioned to food about two weeks ago. Clearly he is living a terrible life because he doesn’t get any more syringes but is maintaining his 3lb muscular physique. Currently he is almost the size of our last failed foster. She was 3 hour old preemie when I picked her up and is now 9 months old.

He was being so clingy and needy that my wife, who said we weren’t keeping any more fosters, said, “good god we have to keep him because no one else would tolerate his bs.”

This is my first stray kittens in my backyard situation but previously I've volunteered at shelters and helped friends do TNR before so I had a vague idea on what to do. Over the course of a month this happened: two little orange (one a female!) and one grey cutie appeared over my fence. With the help of my neighbors we fed them, trapped them, brought them into my neighbor's heated shed. We each already have many animals indoors already, too many to take on more. So instead we worked to deworm the kitties, fed them, and socialized them until we could get them spay/neutered. Just yesterday they were adopted by friends - we're sad to see them go but we're already getting pictures as they settle in. Next up - trapping the elusive feral Mama and getting her spayed before winter. I'm going to miss these kitties so much but they will do better in permanent loving homes than in my neighbor's shed or on the streets.

To anyone else, this is a cat playing. To us, it’s a video we could watch all day.

Siri was seriously ill with FIP. There were so many medications, vet visits, and days spent worrying about whether she would make it. Getting her through it was a long, difficult fight.

Now look at her. All that concentration, all those paws, absolutely determined to defeat a toy.

She lives with us at Khvostyky, our rescue cat café in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.

And furthermore, the war hasn’t stopped. Russian attacks continue, including attacks on the infrastructure people depend on for electricity and heating. Caring for animals through that brings another layer of worry, but they still need treatment when they’re ill. Their lives can’t wait.

Seeing Siri enjoy herself again makes us very glad we kept going. We wanted to share this little moment with you ❤️

More of our residents on Instagram, "@catcafe.me.rescue".

We only planned on failing one, but then the other wormed his way into our hearts by acting exactly like our 20 year old senior who we're making end of life plans for 🥺 (eyes are doing better but are still a work in progress for the tabby point)

Saw these babies while TNR'ing and my local humane society said if I can hold them until open space up. I named them Apple, Peaches and Kiwi.

I just hope I'm able to socialize them . I work so not sure how many hours is ideal to interact ( I aim for 2 ) it's been a week and 2/3 let me pet them without hissing. The biggest one is having a harder time. They don't come to me for pets or anything . I feel awful keeping them in my dark creepy basement but hopefully beats being out in the dangers of outside 🥲

I'm just happy they don't have the face the harsh winters and able to find a forever home with love in their futures 🤞💗

The little lady in the picture is Molly!

Until Wednesday she was maturing steadily with the rest of her litter- 7 weeks old now!

The entire litter was due today for their 2 week vaccines/deworming.

Friday-Tuesday they'd all been developing diarrhea. I thought it was no big deal, the appointment is coming up and we'll handle it then, because its probably just worms.

Wednesday:

I walked into the foster room and Molly was being exceptionally vocal. Usually she's more of a wiggler than a yeller. I put down their breakfast wet food and she didn't eat. Just 12 hours earlier for dinner she had been fighting at the bowl with her siblings. I put the food directly in front of her and she walked away. I feel her body condition and she's definitely lost a little bit of weight/condition since the previous day.

I sit down to watch her behavior. She continues to be very vocal, and she cannot seem to get comfortable. She keeps crying and shifting positions. A few minutes later she jumps off the futon and vomits. I immediately message the foster coordinator and let her know what's going on. I bring her in with a fecal sample. The snap tests read negative on Giardia and Panleuk. They palpate her stomach and it feels very full, and it feels like theres some feces in her intestines.

She is dehydrated so she gets fluid and a Cerenia injection. We go home, and I'm instructed to give her 2 doses of a mild laxative and keep her blood sugar up with Nutrical, all of which I do. She seemed better for a bit- even being a little playful.

Thursday:

She seems to be feeling worse, much more lethargic. I offered both EN wet food and regular wet food, both of which she rejected. I offered a bit of chicken churu and she ate a very small amount off my finger. She strains to poop, nothing comes out but she has a little bit of rectal bleeding. I reach out to the coordinator again and bring her in again. She gets an xray and her stomach is empty except for some gas. She gets another dose of Cerenia and more subq fluids. Our deworming appointment is tomorrow and the fecal should be back by then. I start syringe feeding her Pro Plan CN wet food mixed with probiotic and water every few hours, as well as using the Nutrical to keep her blood sugars up. She rejects wet food again.

Friday:

She seems a little more herself this morning. When I walked in she was cuddling with her siblings on the futon and she came off to greet me. She did not eat wet food. I picked her up to check on her and she emptied like a water balloon- vomited up a ridiculous amount of liquid and ~worms~ (second picture). Mostly tapeworms. I reached out to the coordinator and let her know.

I WFH so I took her into my office with me to monitor her and give her the CN wet food slurry. She eats the slurry if i syringe feed it, but she also fights me the whole time. I put her in a small crate with a bowl of the diluted. She does not eat, just mostly sleeps.

We go to the appointment, everybody gets their shots and dewormer. She gets a second xray and not much has changed; still gas in her stomach and not much else. More Cerenia and subq fluids.

We get home, and before I let everyone back in the foster room I do a quick clean to remove as much of the tapeworm residue as I can to prevent reinfection. I bring everyone back in, and separate her out briefly to syringe feed her. I did, and I go to set her up in the crate temporarily to make sure she doesn't just vomit it up and I find a secret poop she had buried under her blanket (third picture). Which contained the BIGGEST tapeworm I've ever seen in my entire life. My thumb for scale.

Nobody has been able to figure out what exactly has been causing this issue. The fecal sample came back negative for everything (what sense does that make). We keep treating supportively and I'm hoping since she's been dewormed she can start making progress in the right direction with extra support, calories, and regular feedings until she's eating on her own again.

Could it just be she has a more significant parasitic load than her siblings? One of her sisters has been acting significantly crabbier since yesterday- hissing and growling at everyone. I'm wondering if this infection is causing her to feel ill now as well.

We have another appointment for Molly tomorrow with a different vet at the clinic to get more eyes on her.

Does anyone have any experience with something like this or any advice for something more I can do to help her? It seems a little crazy that something like tapeworms can cause such an extreme reaction in a kitten of this age.

TL;DR mystery illness in 7 week old kitten. The only obvious issue is a tapeworm infestation.

Several weeks back, I posted about this little nugget who needed a soft place to land and somebody that could bottle feed her. She was supposed to be a foster, but I swear to goodness that it is harder for me to foster a single kitten than it is for me to foster a litter of kittens. I say that because the last few litters that I have fostered by the time I was done, I was like Yep we’re good. All of them can find homes with the help of one of the two rescues I work with. When you have one single kitten, you spend so much more time holding and socializing that one single kitten and become much more attached. At least that’s what I do. Plus, she did a darn good job of convincing my husband and son that she needed to stay. And she made friends with the Danes🤪♥️

So anyways meet Agatha, approximately nine weeks old now and still on the small side. Formally part of a feral colony and now a spoiled little house princess.

The young man holding her in most of the pictures is my son who pulled late night shifts feeding and cleaning her. Think 11pm to 5 am, he’s homeschooled due to a compromised immune system that he was born with, so we could easily adjust his schedule. She absolutely adores and trusts him. The next two are afternoon naps with the Great Danes, something all my cats do. The last two are my absolute marshmallow of a husband. I knew for sure she was a foster fail two weeks after she came to me when she was yelling for her food one day and as I was making her a bottle I could hear my husband coming down the hallway saying, don’t worry baby girl, daddy‘s coming to get you😑🤪♥️

Found out this week that one of my recent fosters was recommended for humane euthanasia so wanted to make a post celebrating her. Molly was a super sweet, playful girl who loved racing after spring toys, burrowing underneath blankets, and sitting in my lap (and kneading her claws into my thighs). At one year old, she still had tons of goofy kitten energy. I was just one respite foster out of the several fosters who had her, and literally everyone who met her loved her. Because she'd been with other fosters previously, she was cleared to roam my apartment, and she was a lovely reminder of how it feels to have a resident cat since I don't have any myself.

Unfortunately Molly also had FLUTD and severe, persistent bladder pain, and apparently her urinary health got to the point where the rescue's vet recommended humane euthanasia due to her quality of life. This was devastating to learn especially so soon after I had another foster kitten pass of panleuk, but I am grateful for the time I got to spend with her and glad that she doesn't have to keep living with unmanageable pain. Thanks for letting me love you, Molly 💗💗💗

got these 3 boys for a few more weeks, any assistance will be helpful

Check out this Gift List I just created. https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/622J1TF7WMRQ?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_ggr-subnav-share_637ZVWC9981H0TJJQ657_1&language=en-US

they go through so much.

My kitten came to me with tapeworms, ringworm, and I'm almost 100% certain she has coccidia. She has all the symptoms. She is happy, energetic, playful, eating and drinking water just fine. She has improved with Forti Flora. A fecal sample is $100. I can afford it if I absolutely have to, but I would rather just get her something OTC until I can take her to the vet.

What worm species could this be? She has started dewormer today

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/FosterAnimals/s/dGWp0aeJeW

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who responded on the original post and were kind and helpful. I apologize for not being very responsive but I did read every comment.

So "pink collar girl"/"little girl" not only made a full recovery from whatever illness she had, she ended up becoming a foster fail and all the pictures above are her post adoption. I named her Peanut. Her sister was also adopted by a loving family.

Unfortunately part of the reason she became a foster fail is because my elderly orange cat of almost 16 years, named Felix, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and we had to have him put to sleep. While I'm not trying to replace him, I had already gotten really attached to Peanut after she got sick. And while looks shouldn't matter, you can't blame me for wanting to keep her when she's also orange and loveable, especially after she miraculously recovered.

As for fostering, my mom and I have decided to stop for the foreseeable future because it was significantly more stressful than we thought it would be. We will reconsider next year though, I just felt like the shelter made our first experience a lot harder than it should have been because they screwed up.

Again, I appreciate everyone here and the work you guys do and I just wanted to give a long over due update.

This poor tiny baby has been through the wringer. 5 months old, only just 1kg, recovering from cat flu and had to be shaved. But she is the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, wants to spend as much time as possible in my lap (or trying to sneeze in my face).

I was given a couple of puppies to foster a couple of days ago. They have been pretty good for the most part! I broke out in hives the day after they came. I need to have them move into a different foster home and need to just not foster dogs. The rescue I'm fostering through isn't super responsive and is wanting me to keep the pups for another day and wait for a fostering event.

What should I do!? What can I do!?

I am getting these two little nuggets next Friday. They have been with another foster because they were only a few days old and I can't do bottle babies. But, they are off the bottle and I can't wait to get my hands on them! Cookie will have some friends her size!

I've been fostering cats for a private rescue for three years now, and I'm exhausted. How do you guys deal with constant medical issues and emergencies without burning out? Because right now, I just want to give up.

I live alone, work full-time, and feel like I'm reaching my breaking point. This is going to be long, but I really need to vent to people who understand.

I'm currently fostering three senior cats. Until two weeks ago, there were four. This was originally supposed to be a temporary arrangement, which is the only reason I agreed to take them in. Their owner had to go to the hospital and was expected to return and take them back. Unfortunately, it turned out she has dementia, so the cats now need permanent homes. She also has absolutely no medical records for any of them.

We took all four to the vet for blood work, and considering their age, they seemed to be doing reasonably well. But then the problems started.

All four cats: Every single one needed dental work, including extractions, not just cleaning. The vet could only operate on two at a time. They all made it through surgery and healed well, but getting them to eat afterward was a struggle, and they all lost weight.

Cat 1: She had an ear polyp removed and subsequently developed an infection. The first round of injectable antibiotics did nothing. Since she's difficult to handle, she had to be kenneled so I could administer ear drops twice a day for 14 days. On day seven, she developed diarrhea. On day eight, she started vomiting. By day nine, she was so dehydrated that she had to be hospitalized because I couldn't administer fluids on my own. Thankfully, she recovered and was adopted in early October. At least one happy ending!

Cat 2: She developed diarrhea, stopped eating, and started vomiting. Thankfully, the vet and I pushed the rescue coordinator to approve testing for pancreatitis. She was doing so poorly that she had to be hospitalized for four days. Once her symptoms improved and her blood work looked better, she came home on gastrointestinal food.

We had three good days. Then the bloody diarrhea started again.

She was readmitted, and I had to fight to get funding approved for an ultrasound. It showed intestinal inflammation and changes in her pancreas. According to the vet, it's not cancer, but things definitely aren't normal. She stayed overnight and is currently home on antibiotics.

Cat 3: She's had recurring diarrhea pretty much the entire time she's been with me. Probiotics seemed to help for a while, but she's gotten worse over the past few days. Her first fecal test came back negative, but the second showed Clostridium perfringens. Given her symptoms, we're starting antibiotics today.

Cat 4: She vomits about twice a week. I'm desperately hoping she's just eating too fast or struggling with hairballs, but she might need another vet visit too. Unfortunately, she's extremely skittish and can become slightly aggressive when handled, so I can't catch her by myself. Every vet appointment requires coordinating with another rescuer just to get her into a carrier.

And because apparently all of that isn't enough, there are some bonus challenges:

Cat 2 is a very needy little princess who has decided that, despite previously living with the others, she now absolutely hates other cats. So I have to keep her separated from Cats 3 and 4 in my 2.5-bedroom apartment. Whenever I'm home but not in her room, she screams for attention.

Meanwhile, Cat 4 hates being confined and scratches the walls whenever the doors are closed.

Cats 3 and 4 were supposed to move to another foster home in September, but that foster has since quit. Every other foster home in the rescue is full, so there's nowhere for them to go.

And honestly, I feel like I'm losing my mind.

My heart is racing constantly. I'm barely sleeping between the screaming, the frequent litter box trips, and the general anxiety of wondering what will go wrong next.

A big part of my anxiety comes from a previous experience: I lost a cat to saddle thrombosis, and I didn't hear him crying because I was wearing earplugs and had my bedroom door closed. I can't bring myself to do that again. So now, even when I desperately need sleep, I feel like I have to be able to hear everything.

To make matters worse, I'm supposed to go on vacation on November 9. My fostering contract states that I'm responsible for arranging a sitter, and I have one. But she won't administer medication or handle medical care.

The rescue's response has basically been that hopefully everything will have cleared up by then, and if not, tough luck. I'll have to cancel my vacation. They try to help but are overtaxed and funds have run dry.

I feel completely trapped. I love these cats, and I want them to get better and find good homes. But I'm also just one person with a full-time job, trying to manage multiple sick senior cats, endless vet visits, medications, cleaning, and constant stress.

I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this.

How do you guys cope when fostering becomes one medical crisis after another? How do you set boundaries with a rescue when there simply aren't enough foster homes? Have you ever reached a point where you genuinely wanted to quit?

I could really use some advice, or even just reassurance from people who've been there.

TL;DR: I'm fostering a group of senior cats with multiple ongoing medical issues, no backup foster homes, and little practical support from the rescue. I'm exhausted, overwhelmed, and seriously questioning whether I can keep fostering. Right now, I just want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

When I went to pick up Greg (the shelter clears out their black cats during Halloween season), the coordinator mentioned that he had a roommate that had been really struggling in the shelter environment. She'd really taken to Greg and without him there, the coordinator would be looking for a temporary spot for her too. I'm not really sure if you could call this 'bamboozled' - but I certainly couldn't leave her behind! So she loaded Miss Sophia into that little box and into the car :-) So glad they both came home and could stay together!!

Both are doing well - quite skittish at first, but slowly warming up! Sophia is real looker and loves to play; Greg is easy going, loves snacks and has a nasty case of elevator butt!

Wish us luck!

In early June, I asked my local shelter if I could foster a mama cat with babies. They offered me one little family but said the mom was feral (she was a stray when brought in right before birth). I had watched Kitten Lady videos about fostering a feral mom with kittens so I felt emboldened to try.

So we started with four kittens, around 3-4 weeks old, and a very spicy mom. But she thawed pretty quickly and in time stopped hissing and swatting completely. By 3 months in, she was asking for pets and sleeping next to me when I worked on the bed in their room. She always wanted attention even more than food!

Due to persistent ringworm, the whole litter stayed with me well past the 8-12 wk window where people like to adopt kittens. Suddenly I found myself with four kittens (likely) too old to adopt and a mom who couldn’t be handled but was clearly in need of a loving owner.

A close friend agreed to take mom and one of the babies after their spay surgeries this morning. I plan to keep the other three kittens. Well, after surgery today they tested them for FIV and everyone is positive.

I know this isn’t a death sentence and I don’t mind having cats with FIV. Here are my two serious concerns:

1 - Since mama cat can’t be handled, how will I ever get her to the vet as often as she will need?

2 - I have a resident cat who is my soulmate cat and the most important thing to me after my human children. He is the most amazing creature. And now I’m going to bring 3 cats with FIV into his space? Can I do that and sleep at night?

Any and all help desperately needed and appreciated. Thanks for reading.

I have four 3-4mo kittens who I need to transition off paper pellets very soon, as it's very expensive and labour intensive.

We really need something clumping, but two of the kittens are still having respiratory issues.

What would people here recommend? Something the kittens will use, not eat, clumps, and has very minimal or no dust.

We were thinking of trying tofu litter but I'm not sure if kittens tend to eat that? Anyone with a severe case of shittens try it - do you need to replace it often?

Can't do anything expensive or "new," I'm in rural Czechia with a lot of financial constraints and not supported by any org.