Welcome to Kitten Season 2016

Looks like you are overworked and underpaid! We will all have to pray that People for Animals moves into the old shelter or its going to be an endless parade! And with Puppy Love moving out of town I would say you will be overburdened as well!


Morganna said:

Looks like you are overworked and underpaid! We will all have to pray that People for Animals moves into the old shelter or its going to be an endless parade! And with Puppy Love moving out of town I would say you will be overburdened as well!

Wait what ??!! Puppy love is leaving Maplewood ???  tongue rolleye 


I just left one of the newest fosters (I got yesterday) at the vet's. She has a swollen mass on the front of her face that may be some kind of abscess and her required treatment is beyond my skill set.

 I'm amazed the other foster was able to keep her going this long. She is teeny tiny and required feeding every three hours. She wasn't in any condition for me to squeak out another hour or two so, yep, I was up every three hours last night. What she has makes treating four kittens with explosive diarrhea the preferred option.

Hey, kittens are fun, right? People say, "Oh, I could never be a foster. Don't you want to keep them all?!!!" Um, no. By the time the eighth or ninth week rolls around we've had enough quality time together.


You are a good egg and staunch advocate for all cat-kind. 


Thanks, PeggyC. It's only been the last five years or so that I've been helping cats and kittens hands-on. Before that I was satisfied to send checks to various mega-name organizations and even smaller groups whose missions I supported (and not just animal related ones..people ones too!).  I grew up on a farm surrounded by woods and always had a lot, and I mean A. LOT. of animals around. One time my granny brought me a kitten whose mom was killed and I needed to bottle feed him. Elmer was my first foray into this realm back in the 1960's and when I learned of a motherless litter from MOL five years ago I figured it was kind of like riding a bike. If my 11 year-old self could do it why not an older me?

So here we are. Many people can't do what I do even if they wanted to. I run my own company so I can bring kittens to work and nobody's going to give me the stink eye if I take a few breaks throughout the day to feed them. Or if they deposit a pile of poo on the carpet. My family is super supportive. If it were up to my husband, every cat and kitten who comes in the door would take up permanent residence. The number of times he's said, "If you don't find a home for that one, she can stay", probably exceeds the number of times I've heard from other people, "We already have one cat and my husband would divorce me if I brought home another!' And I've heard that more times that I can remember. (Among my favorite adoption memories was the time a retired Essex County judge walked up to our adoption table the week before Christmas and adopted an adult cat as a surprise for his wife because she was sad their son couldn't come home for the holidays. My kind of guy!) I have adopted to so many great, fun, caring and compassionate people (you know who you are...) and I'm always tickled when they send me or post pictures of my former charges.

I don't mind doing the heavy lifting in caring for motherless kittens.  They are the most helpless of all animals who come into shelter.  If a foster isn't found, most places are not equipped to care for them so they're killed.  It's a shame because in another few weeks, those little creatures would FLY out the door; they are the most adoptable.  So if I can help, why wouldn't I? 


 rolleyes  My husband is somewhere in between. I consider it quite an achievement that I got him to let me bring four cats into our home, including an ancient grouch who used to belong to my Mom. 

I have a high opinion of anyone who does anything to help animals. 


Tried to make my life a little easier by introducing them to solid food. One ate with gusto, one wanted to eat only from my hand and the others were confused. I'll need to practice with them for a few days.


HarleyQuinn said:
Morganna said:

Looks like you are overworked and underpaid! We will all have to pray that People for Animals moves into the old shelter or its going to be an endless parade! And with Puppy Love moving out of town I would say you will be overburdened as well!

Wait what ??!! Puppy love is leaving Maplewood ???  <img src=" src="/res/static/common/plugins/redactor/emoticons/1.0/images/13.gif" unselectable="on"> 

Yes! We are helping them now with TNR to keep that going in Maplewood but rescue will suffer greatly. it was easy for me to go by and pick up some of their cats to take to my adoption days at Petco in West Orange. Now with no place to hold kittens or cats, and no fosters available, except for bigben, rescue is pretty much halted. 



Now with no place to hold kittens or cats, and no fosters available, except for bigben, rescue is pretty much halted. 

Over the past few years I have taken a few of Furry Hearts cats (mostly older kittens like Marvin) as fosters. So far this year, three...one at a time. Because of my family, work, and personal commitments I try to limit my fostering to rescues for whom I don't have to give up my precious Saturdays sitting at adoption days. But every now and then there is a remarkable cat at FHR who calls to me and I make it my mission to find him or her a home. Marvin was one such cat. At the moment, I have one of their cats and won't take any more from them until she is out the door.


Morganna said:
HarleyQuinn said:
Morganna said:

Looks like you are overworked and underpaid! We will all have to pray that People for Animals moves into the old shelter or its going to be an endless parade! And with Puppy Love moving out of town I would say you will be overburdened as well!

Wait what ??!! Puppy love is leaving Maplewood ???  <img src=" src="/res/static/common/plugins/redactor/emoticons/1.0/images/13.gif" unselectable="on"> 

Yes! We are helping them now with TNR to keep that going in Maplewood but rescue will suffer greatly. it was easy for me to go by and pick up some of their cats to take to my adoption days at Petco in West Orange. Now with no place to hold kittens or cats, and no fosters available, except for bigben, rescue is pretty much halted. 

Wow, sorry to hear this. Indeed it is a lost. If I had a big place I would foster. 


@ HarleyQuinn Its also wildly expensive for us all. I am losing my 2nd local vet who was kind enough to give rescue rates (and was willing to take surrendered animals). People for Animals is the only place that offers all folks discount spay and neuter and has a Wellness Clinic. Its tough for me to trap in our area and then make it in time for the drop off  in Hillside. Then I have to  go back at about dinner time. I know many people delay spaying their cats and keeping up with shots due to costs and convenience. Young families with children have so many expenses, its easy to see why they delay things like neutering and vaccinating.


Puppy Love is leaving town and so Furry Hearts Rescue will be no more.   And we are hopeful that People for Animals will take up residence in the currently empty S.O. shelter.

Do I have any of this right?  I am a little confused.


mlj said:

Puppy Love is leaving town and so Furry Hearts Rescue will be no more.   And we are hopeful that People for Animals will take up residence in the currently empty S.O. shelter.

Do I have any of this right?  I am a little confused.

Puppy Love is moving out of town, so both Furry Hearts and Morgan Le Fay rescues will not have a place to hold our animals. We did need the space when we did the big SO hoarding rescue. It gave us wiggle room while we tried to find adopters and fosters. With a lot of juggling we got almost the whole group placed in between handling bottle babies and the odd friendly TNRd cat. FHs and Morgan Le Fay will still TNR in Maplewood. Jane from PFA will help us with affordable spays but as trapping is an AM thing, it cuts it close to transport to Hillside some very frightened cats. As PFA has spoken of their interest in the building for almost a year, I'm just saying it would make life easier as they would do low cost spay and neuter and wellness, as well as take care of one or both towns lost or stray animals for the 7 day hold and then take on the responsibility of placing the unclaimed dogs and cats. They have been waiting for the RFP while voluntarily helping our town figure out some humane solutions to our animal control issues.


...and now back to our originally scheduled blog.

Busy day. I learned early today the kitten I brought to the vet yesterday didn't make it. 

Later this morning, a rescue friend (#1) called me after she was contacted by another rescuer (#2) searching for a bottle feeder. I agreed to take the litter but just before #2 left to bring them to me, another volunteer came through. So that got me off the hook there but when #1 found out, she pressed me to take a litter she had picked up last night.  She brought me three pathetic kittens and showed me the photo of when she first got them. The person who found them put them in a box, period. Three kittens. In a box. No towel, no blanket. Three kittens, splay-legged in a box.  She brought them to her mother, who decided the best place for them was in her unheated garage. Newborn kittens. In a box. With no blanket or towel. In an unheated garage. Not sure what prompted her to contact someone for help but maybe she didn't want to be inconvenienced by a box of dead kittens later in the day. So after some maneuvering, they're with me and they are extremely fragile and, like I said, pathetic. They can't even suck on a nipple. I have to feed them with a medicine dispenser pretty much every hour.  Right now I have them wrapped in a tee shirt which I stuffed under the shirt I'm wearing so they're warm and quiet.  Their odds are so slim as to be incalculable.

One the plus side, the grey litter of the digestive disaster and their little one-eyed white and orange friend are managing well. I had them on my lap a little while ago and most of them were crawling around and purring. Just three weeks old.

The adopting family of Magic's last two kittens came home from their cruise today so those are now ensconced in their new home in Glen Ridge so at least I can put another check mark in the win column.


I am sorry that this has been such a traumatic kitten season so far!! Thank you guys for all you do for them. I trapped, tamed and adopted out two one Spring, and took two tiny ones for the JAC, one of whom did not survive. I still remember her tiny face. I also baby sat for you one day with Linus and ? Can't remember the other name!


Where is Puppy Love going?


bigben_again - sorry for the thread drift and thank you for all you do.

morganna - thank you too.


mlj said:

bigben_again - sorry for the thread drift and thank you for all you do.

morganna - thank you too.

Thank you.


callista said:

Where is Puppy Love going?

To Union and I just mentioned Linus to bigben 2 days ago! Its amazing how many little lives impact our town yet go unnoticed by the powers that hold sway over their life and death. By the way, People for Animals has volunteers who handle a "kitten nursery." I'm thinking my teaching license could come in handy if they get the old JAC!


Callista, yes, I thought of you the other day when I missed my turn and found myself on your street. Who could forget Linus and Smitty?

It should come as no surprise that despite our best efforts, two of the kittens died. They were fading at the 4 a.m. feeding and slipped away quietly before 7 a.m.

These kittens came from Newark but if anyone thinks there's none in our community he would be wrong. I had agreed to take a feral to Pfa for a Maplewood resident who was unable to do it. She texted me in the a.m. saying she had trapped an opossum instead and we agreed to shoot for Tuesday. She texted me later saying the cat showed up noticeably and unexpectedly thinner. Uh oh. Then Friday a SO resident told me her friend mentioned a feral had given birth in his garage.


My heart is breaking. tongue laugh 


Thank you for all the incredible work you do, bigben!!! You are amazing and I hope you keep in mind all the Marvins you've rescued and homed when kitten season gets rough. 


Thanks, afa. I really needed that picture today.  You and your family will always have a warm spot in my heart for taking a chance on Marvin. I truly couldn't imagine a more perfect match.

Sadly, the final kitten of the three succumbed this morning.  I knew it was coming. I don't know how quickly tea towels deteriorate but if, after we sell our Maplewood home, you hear rumors about a gardener finding little kitten skeletons wrapped in burial shrouds all over the property, you can assure him they're not remnants of Santeria sacrifices.  

If that wasn't enough, of the four grey kittens, three of them woke up with crusty, pus-filled eyes and upper respiratory infections.  The white and red one has been off his food, eating less and less. I found him in distress in the morning, showing classic signs of hyperglycemia so I gave him some Karo syrup and tried to feed him but he would have none of it. So I stopped at my vet's on the way to work and he got fluids and was fed by inserting a tube down his throat into his stomach, something beyond my pay grade.  I plan to take him to the other fosterer's vet in Morris Plains where he can get the critical care he needs. Then I can focus on getting the grey four healthy again. They're still being bottle fed but maybe next week....


It's been a tough spring for you. I know it's never easy but this one seems especially tough. I hope you find some peace in knowing you are helping the kits. I don't know that I'd have the fortitude.


Smitty, yes!!!!!!  Those two were so adorable!  I'm sorry to hear about the little ones passing. I am sending prayers. I hope it gets much better from here.


 tongue laugh  I'm so sorry it is going so hard this spring. Take every win as a triumph. That photo of Marvin is darling.


Nobody died today. Winning!


 snake  question  snake  question  snake 


Today, not so lucky. The white and red passed away at the vet's. DAMMIT!


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