You might remember back when I made the Chess shirts, Asa said he owed me big time- and you might remember I cashed in on that by having us sign up to do the 'Rapid Rescue' program at the animal shelter. The Rapid Rescue program is just for kittens who come in close to closing time. Apparently it is dangerous for them to stay at the shelter- too many little sicknesses they can't fight off, and nobody to tend to them as frequently as they need tending. In fact, if kittens too young stay at the shelter, they only have a 20% survival rate.
So, this is where the Rapid Rescue program comes in. You have to live with in 30 minutes of the shelter, so you can be right there when they need you- and they'll give you all the supplies and stuff you need, and you keep the kittens over night- or over the weekend if it so works out, and then bring them back as soon as the shelter opens so they have the entire day to place them with fosters or rescues so they're not in the shelter.
Anyway, Friday June 2, Asa and I were out to lunch when we got a text that our goat happy hour at the Loop had been canceled because there was a 90% chance of rain at 5pm. I was so bummed. (And I was like 'it better end up raining'--- which it did). But then a couple hours later, we got a call from the shelter for our very first Rapid Rescue. Five kittens had been brought in and needed somewhere to stay for the weekend (actually until Tuesday because the shelter isn't open on Mondays). So we dropped everything and headed over.
Since, mostly that weekend was a bunch of kitten pictures, I'm doing this blog a little different. Well, not that different. Basically it's just a ton of kitten pictures.
Friday June 2
Asa, Olivia and I headed to the shelter to pick up our little guys. The shelter suspected they were about 3 and a half weeks old. Given that age, they could take food any number of ways- syringe, bottle, gruel. And I was given everything I might need- but I would be the one that would have to figure it out. I was also shown how to make them use the bathroom (apparently kittens that young you have to stimulate) and instructed how to bathe them- since they were covered in fleas. I was also given a heating pad, though it didn't work all that well, and we ended up using our own- since kittens that little also can't regulate their body temperature. It was a crash course for sure (I was excpecting a bit more- or really any- training before being called in). We signed them out saying we'd bring them back- and that was it- we were on our way.
We called Calib on the way back and sent him out to get Dawn dish soap so we could bathe them asap. He went out to grab the soap while we made our way home with the kittens.
The baths were tricky- fleas were running for their lives. I was actually surprised they were all still alive given how many fleas were on their tiny bodies. I couldn't possibly get them all, but we did our best. I would wash them, dry them, and hand them off to Calib who flea combed them and then put them in a new makeshift home I made out of tote with holes in the top, a towel and a heating pad. I should have taken pictures of them then- but it was a whole process. No time for pictures.
I had no idea when they last ate, so after they were clean I got to work on their dinner. I had bottles to try and feed them, but the shelter told me to try and get them to eat the gruel if possible, since that'd be easier for the rescues/next fosters. It was basically just kitten food and some kitten replacement milk.
I tried the syringe, I tried the bottle. I couldn't really get anyone to eat, which was making me nervous. Calib got to googling, and we kept our patience about us, trying all kinds of different things, and eventually sucess!
Bathed, Fed, Bathroom used, and warmed, these little guys were ready for their first night at the Waterstraut Kitty hotel
Our pets did ok- they could hear the kittens- though they didn't get to see them. Because of possible disease (these little guys were too young for vaccinations) and fleas they had to be kept apart from our animals. The kittens spent most of their time inside here in my bathroom or Olivia's room.
Saturday June 3
Saturday I got up early to feed the kittens before I had to get to library to teach my crafting class. In fact both my June crafting classes coinsided with watching the kittens. I did feel a little run-down by the end of all of it. But, we were making Mickey Ears again, and I had some full classes which was nice.
In between all that, we're also house/pool/plant sitting for our neighbors. Hayden loves the acess to the grand piano, I liked my time in the pool inbetween kitten feedings.
And between all that- We were making Calib all his requests for meals for his birthday weekend.
With one day of kitten fostering under my belt, I sent out the word to the Blue Spring Drive crew- we had some baby kittens that needed feeding and cuddles. Anyone was welcome to help. Teresa was the first one down. In fact, she came to almost every front porch feeding. Again, since the kittens couldn't be around our pets and since I figured it'd be weird to have my neighborhood hanging out in my toilet room- the front porch was a great option. Plus it was nice and warm out there for the kittens.
At that point, I'd been feeding them the pate food/kitten replacement milk mash up on craft sticks, like the shelter had showed me. But, Teresa thought they could eat of bowls they were doing so good with the sticks (mind you just 24 hours earlier I couldn't get them to take anything). And the kittens were more than happy to eat like that. So, we were making progress.
And then we had kitten snuggles. Note, there's only a couple pictures of Asa with the kittens- and I took one every time he held one. He was not a fan- of the meowing or the fleas. He was really freaked out about the idea of them, but we did a great job getting rid of all of them, and containing them. (And by we, I mean me and Calib who was the MVP of Kitten helping).
Our pups didn't love all the attention on the kittens- they would just watch from the window..
..and then require extra snuggles in the evening. But they did ok.
Since we had kittens all weekend, for the most part, we nixed plans and stayed home.
Though, everyone else went to Spiderverse 2 while I stayed behind to do laundry (so much laundry! As to not cross contaminate or bring in fleas, I made everyone change every time they handled the kittens), and feed the little guys.
Sunday June 4
By Sunday, word has spread and we got the Maihack's to come on over to hang out with the kittens. They even brought a few toys to gift to the kittens to see if they were interested.
And then Teresa and Marcus stopped by for a 'Kitten Krewe' meetup as we were now calling them. Everyone would help feed them, Calib would continue flea combing them, and I would clean them up and get them to use the bathroom before everyone gave them some cuddles. And... then repeat every few hours.
We did decide that night to see if we could get them to all eat dinner off one paper plate. It went ok, as in they all got plenty of food- but on my goodness was it a mess. Some of them were basically treating the plate like a slip n slide.
But we got them all cleaned up and cozy and did some porch drinkin with Kittens. It was like Happy Hour with Goats, but Kittens instead! And then we even got Katie to swing by on her evening walk to play with them.
Note: the Orange tufted one was such a bully, he'd go after everyone!
Monday June 5
By Monday, we were prepped for our final full day with the kittens, though they all seemed to be doing pretty well. We headed out to the porch for the daily lunch feeding.
Asa had seen another couple of our neighbors: Glen and Lisa down at the pool, and invited them to come over for feeding time. They were both in and brought all kinds of stuff over to help with them.
They had a large old liter box and some puppy pads, so we put the kittens in there as kind of a playpen and to see if we could get them to go on their own- and they were in fact using the puppy pad, which was great news!
(You guys just look at these faces of these tiny little kittens!)
Teresa and Lisa were back for lunch and dinner, and we were all sitting out on the porch when Fire Theresa came driving by on her way home from Ohio, so she stopped down to see us too. I'm telling you, I was famous for having porch kitten parties for the whole weekend.
We cuddled them basically until the sun went down because we knew it was our last night with them.
I will say, Calib and Olivia were helpful with night time feedings, they would take the late shift, and I took the early one so the kittens never had to go too long without food. Calib did say though it was like hanging out with Gwen and Garrett. It's fun, but at the end, you're exhausted and ready to go home.
Tuesday June 6
I had a crafting class to teach before I could get the kittens back to the shelter- I was able to feed them all breakfast before I headed out to the library.
Again, it was a full full class- I even got some people from the waitlist.
Once I got home, I made sure to take my picture with all five kittens. They are, after all, my first Rapid Rescue group. (On the one hand it'd be nice if they didn't need rapid rescues because animals had homes- on the other hand, I'd be happy to do it again!)
I put them back in their box with their sheet they came with, freshly laundered.
It was a little bitter sweet to say goodbye to these guys, but I too was exhausted.
We did have some neighborhood interest in adopting these guys. I had no idea how that process would work. I thought they'd go to a rescue, a people would have to wait until they were 8 weeks old to get them. But, turns out, they can be fostered with intent to be adopted, and it's first come first serve. Basically if you wanted them, you had to get down there right away. Teresa came running, debated on the process (she has two other cats to think about), but ultimately decided to foster two. A 17 year old girl who had come looking for kittens, only to turn up empty handed was just about to leave, and got so excited when I walked in with a box full of them (it's like it was fate for her), and another family walked in and decided to foster as well. I tried to put one on hold for the Maihack's but our efforts were futile, even after I made the trip back with Jen to try and get the orange one. It was too late, he'd been fostered out as well.
Later that night it was Chess Club night, so back to the library we went. A girl who comes to my crating classes and chess club asked Asa if he would wear his Mickey Ears to Chess Club that night- Asa said only if I came. So, to the library I went. Again. After getting home that night (two trips to the library, two to the shelter), I was ready to just relax with the pups, who felt like the needed a little extra love after I had been so pre-occupied with the kittens all weekend.
So, fast forward a week since I returned the kittens, sadly one of Teresa's two has passed away. The white one with the little grey tuft was the runt of the group and suffered from 'kitten fading syndrome'. Most likely he was never properly developed. It was very sad for me, but especially the Harvison's who had become so attached. Thankfully, the remaining kitten, the grey striped one, is thriving. His name is Yoda, and he's doing really well. Teresa also has a friend lined up for him that can come home somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks. The girl who adopted the one with the grey and orange tuft connected with us on IG and said he's doing well too. She's named him 'smudge', which I just love. I don't have contact info for the other ones- but hopefully they are doing just as well.
And, even though we lost one- and it was terribly sad, I would do it all over again. At least that kitten's last week was full of love, cuddles, and a full tummy thanks to his foster moms.
Next up: Filling my cup back up!
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