Thanks Feathers for starting the thread. I have always loved animals and for many years when I was young, wanted to be a vet. I was in pre-vet med at Michigan State but did not take the test because on the day it was given, my cousin, whom I was living with, was dying in the hospital. There was no way I could have concentrated. Time passed, I got married, had a kitten/cat and sought out animals wherever I could. I was in our local PetSmart about 3 years ago to see the kitties and there was a sign on the window looking for a volunteer to work every other Tuesday. I called immediately and started the next week. We clean the cages, trim nails, feed & water and let everyone out to socialize with each other and us. I have RA, have had both knees replaced and need back surgery so I don't work regularly because I'm just not reliable but I can do the volunteer work. Last summer I fostered 21 kitties mostly very young ones. 5 were little ones under 3 days old when I got them and the one my DS found didn't make it. She lived 9 days and had gained an ounce and a half but just stopped eating and died the next day in my hands. At least she knew she was loved and not just abandoned, by herself. The other 4 were all adopted. Yes, I too cry when I have to put them in the cage up at PetSmart but I know that they will be found by their forever families. What makes it hard is that if they aren't adopted right away, they always cry when they see me when I go in. I live right across the street so I find myself going in every day for awhile to see them. Sometimes they are a little stressed and stop eating the hard food so I'll go in to give them canned food a couple of times a day. That gives me an excuse anyways. The main shelter has almost 80 cats right now so I try to go and pick up a bunch when we have empty cages in the store. Our traffic is much greater at the store so they are adopted much quicker than at the shelter. Right now we have mostly adults so there aren't any tiny ones but that will change in March when the babies start coming. Thankfully here in Michigan the feral moms stop having babies when it gets really cold. I wish people would just fix the boys since it is cheaper than the girls and then there would be no more babies. I can't even bear to think about all the kitties the Humane Society kills each year because of space constrictions. I'm thankful ours is a no-kill shelter but that means they need lots of foster help. Bless all of you who help out those who are the most helpless. I have 3 kitties now, one is a 'foster failure' from the first litter I fostered in May. Cinder, 10 yo, is a grey tabby & is the oldest, then there's Emily who is 7. She is a beautiful gray medium hair, very small kitty. Camille, the baby, is a 9 month old tortie and I'm sure Emily hopes that if she is nasty to her just a little longer, Camille will go away. That's not going to happen so I'm hoping they start being better friends. Cinder tolerates her but as she gets less "kittenish" I think they will be better with her. She just drives them nuts! I babysat for one of my bottle babies that had been adopted the end of November and first thing Sandi did was go into the family room and jump up on the loveseat where she used to get her bottle, looking right at home. She and Camille had the best time playing with each other. When she went home, Camille laid at the front door waiting for her to come back. I felt so bad, her playbuddy was gone. Thanks for sharing my story and I look forward to reading others. Next...
Wendy