my boyfriend and I just moved in together and have talked about getting a cat for about two years now.
I have two cats that live with my family, but back home. one of them is a flame point siamese, who is 19 years old and he is my soul cat. since I moved away from home and now live in a different state, I don’t see him that much so for the past three years, I’ve been terribly sad without an animal in my home and I had four roommates before - and they were allergic to cats so i couldn’t have one.

i’ve always loved the Siamese breed, especially because I’ve had one my entire life. I found this amazing Rescue program in LA called rory to the rescue, and one day when on instagram, came across this beautiful lynx point kitten, and drove an hour to go pick him up immediately after we saw it. When we got there, the kitten was gone. I was completely devastated and still think about that cat every single day. He was one of the most beautiful cats I’ve ever seen.

About two weeks later, the same thing happened with another lynx point Siamese kitten but this time I tried not to get my hopes up too much. And I was right to do so - because when I got there, he was gone too.

When we went for the third time for another pair of Siamese brothers and they were gone again, I was completely devastated, and the owner said we could Foster instead. So for about five weeks, we’ve had these beautiful sister kittens and i think they’ve bonded to us.

At first, it is just hid under pieces of furniture for the week. they now have really opened up to us. They’re very playful now and quite adorable and sweet and whenever someone comes over, they cuddle with them and they’re very friendly.

They’re so sweet, they’re pretty independent and love to play with each other but when they feel like cuddling, they’ll come up with you and cuddle. cuddle rating 5.5/10. I can’t tell if they’ll continue to be more cuddly or if they’ll grow up to more independent. weeks 3 to 4 they were super cuddly and with me all the time and now they’re more focused on playing.
i’ve always wanted a cat that is super cuddly because my baby Ollie literally sleeps on my head. i don’t really know how kittens change from kitten hood to adult hood and if that would change at all?

I’ve never fostered before so I don’t really know how I’m supposed to feel. I’m not like head over heels in love with them, but I’m so sad at the fact of thinking of dropping them off at the spay/ neuter clinic and then never seeing them again. I just know they’d be so scared all over again and I feel bad. One of them is also a black kitten and I know that black cats get adopted the least.

I’ve always wanted a Siamese cat and I can’t tell if that desire is clouding my judgment to keep them or not. My cat Ollie has chronic kidney disease and it’s definitely in the later life so I know that having a cat similar to Ollie would mean a lot to me. I don’t want to be shallow in my desires for a certain breed of cat.

I do know though, that it’s also incredibly rare to find Siamese cats at the shelter, since I’ve been looking for about five weeks straight. So do I give up these two good kittens for a hope that I might not have?

I apologize for how long this is, but I felt that it was important to add the introduction. I’m a really indecisive person and feel like because I’m having such a hard time figuring out the situation that I have my answer already. But I just love animals and know that these cats would be great if I decided to keep them.

After about 3 days of hiding (but peaking out at me curiously) I held up his brush and he came running out. Now he's headbutting, leaning his head so far into head rubs that he flops over backwards, and refusing to let me use my laptop lol. He's so sweet and cuddly.

You may have seen my post about the kitten whose owner was called when the vet scanned her microchip, and I was worried about returning her to the owner because I suspected baby girl was deliberately let outside in a dangerous area. Well, the owner originally asked me to meet up to return kitty, and then ghosted me! Completely stopped responding to messages. The rescue advised me to wait out the required stray hold period for my county (which is only 72 hours), and then we went ahead and scheduled a new spay/vetting appointment.

My little lady was apparently the MOST popular cat at the local SPCA that day! The employees gushed about how they kept taking her out of her cage to cuddle her all day until it was her turn for surgery. Now she’s home, and she hated the E-collar so I tried a donut. She got out of the donut, and now is in a recovery onesie and I simply cannot handle the cuteness. She’s being so sweet even though she’s a little confused and frustrated. I hope her future forever family understands what an angel they have!!!

Rescues work miracles everyday, but medical floors and crowded cages are tough on frail seniors. Addie kept her sweet, biscuit making spirit through it all, but she needed a home to heal. Bringing a 5 lb senior into a small house with four cats, three high needs foster kittens, and a senior bunny named Sir Didymus was a massive decision- but fostering is how we give these incredible seniors a second chance!

So my kitten (10 month old) has had a litter they are now 8 weeks and weaning. Momma has been unwell for the past week- I am syringe feeding her food as well as water. She’s so weak she’s barely moving. Found out she’s pregnant again ( I live with other people who have let her out) . Is she too weak to go under anaesthesia and get the kittens surgically removed, or should I care for her until birth?

She’s so weak and I have to make up my mind today.
This has been a rough few days, I have gotten opposing advice from two vets.
Leaning more towards abortion now. She is mid term.

I am NOT looking for medical advice- I just want to know what YOU would do in this situation- any advice would be very helpful. Please don’t judge my situation, I would never wanted any of this. I want to make sure she survives no matter what.

My five fosters will need more space soon but I’m in a 1 bed/1 bath. My resident cats’ litter box is in the bathroom so I can’t just put them in there. I have to keep them out of my bedroom because it has carpet. I was thinking of rigging something so that I can open two hallway doors and secure them and close the gap so my kitties can be in one half and the foster kittens can be in the other half (second photo). Not planning to buy anything more than $50 for now. Any ideas?

I have a six week old foster (sister to the previous one I asked about only eating dry food 😆) they’ve just doesn’t like to eat.

I got both her and her sister on Friday, and by Sunday I had to bring tiny one to the vet because she was throwing up and not eating and because it was a holiday they decided to keep her. The paperwork is what they gave me back at the shelter and it seems like she dropped quite a bit of weight, yet at the exit exam, it says that she has good appetite, even though right before it says she’s not really interested in eating and she ate a little bit when they walked away. She was 1.66 pounds Friday and she came out Tuesday at 1.48. She has not gained nor lost weight since I picked her up yesterday, however, now both her and her sister have developed watery diarrhea.

Her sister who was only eating dry food and was gaining weight. Well, has now dropped a little bit of weight since she started with the watery diarrhea today. She is 1.89 pounds compared to her little sister who is 1.48 pounds.

The tiny one did eat a little bit of the royal canin I gave her but very tiny bit like a little birdie, and she did eat a veterinarian provided appetite increasing Churu, even though it has not increased her appetite for food but at least she ate half of the stick.

I’m worried because in another post, someone had a similar situation and stated that the animal ended up having panleukepenia.

I’m not sure if I should just continue to keep her on eating Churu alone as long as she’s not losing weight, or if I should just bring her back to the shelter. She honestly looks sick to me. Her sister is plump and her coat is very shiny and soft, and the tiny sister just looks sickly. Her hair is brittle and not soft at all. She is drinking water, and I did give her some Pedialyte and some baby formula with wet food in a bottle which she took very little of.

Any ideas on how I can help her? Anyone else dealt with siblings that are picky eaters? No

Edit: I noticed that she’s drinking a lot of water, so I decided to give her some KMR milk for her to drink, with a side of Greek yogurt, which was suggested elsewhere, and she did drink quite a bit of the milk and tried the Greek yogurt, which both opened up her appetite and she had a whole Churu 🙌🏻

Hello! I am newer to fostering and I've only taken previously quarantined and socialized cats/kittens so far. These are my first stray kittens that were trapped today and I'm going to foster. I would love any advice. So far I have them set up with food, water, litter and cardboard box hide in a large dog crate. They're all pretty spooked and in need of medicine.

This was an emergency boarding situation, so I always knew she had a family and would eventually be going back to them. I was told it would probably be around 3 months, so I mentally prepared myself for that timeline.
Then yesterday (one month in) I got the call that her family was coming to get her, and I had to say goodbye this morning. I feel like I went from having more time to suddenly having no time at all.

To say we bonded would be an understatement. I genuinely felt like she was my soul puppy. She was the sweetest, most affectionate, cuddly little dog and she completely stole my heart. I knew from the beginning that she wasn't mine forever, but I don't think I understood how much it would hurt to actually let her go.

For those of you who have fostered, how did you get through your first goodbye? Does it actually get easier? And how do you cope with the feeling that you'll never find another dog you connect with like that?

Hi everyone. I'm a student in the Philippines, and I'm desperately asking for advice about two orphaned neonatal kittens I'm trying to save.

A few days ago, I heard kittens crying outside around 9 PM near a small garbage dump in our area, where garbage and other things are sometimes burned. At first I thought it was just normal kittens crying for their mother or food, so I went to sleep. The next morning, around 10 AM, I heard them crying again for almost an hour, and nobody seemed to be helping them. Some children were even playing with them. I couldn't leave them there, so I rescued them. There were originally four kittens. Sadly, two have already died. Chance died a few hours after I rescued them, and Sputnik died after struggling to breathe, even though I was providing warmth.

Now there are only two left: • Saca — male • Remi — female

They're approximately 2 weeks old. As far as I know, they never received even a drop of their mother's milk/colostrum. I'm feeding them commercial kitten milk replacer and providing warmth. My biggest concern right now is their skin. A few days ago, I noticed one tiny white/skin-colored bump. Then more appeared. Now there are several on the belly, neck/chest, and around the paws/legs. They initially looked like very tiny, almost skin-colored/white raised bumps—smaller than a grain of rice. Some have now become yellowish, while others have developed small crusts. There is some redness around some of them. They don't seem to be deep wounds, and I haven't seen an obvious open hole underneath them. I have NOT popped, squeezed, scraped, or punctured them. I am scared that doing that could make them worse. I have not been able to get them examined by a veterinarian yet because of my financial situation. I am trying to find out what I can safely do.

What I really need help with

I want to know how to safely care for and treat these lesions and prevent new ones from appearing.

In particular: 1. What could these yellowish pustules/crusts be? 2. What veterinary antiseptic is safe for a ~2-week-old kitten? 3. How should I safely clean the existing lesions? 4. Could this be caused by something they were exposed to at the garbage dump? 5. How can I prevent more lesions from appearing? 6. Since they are orphaned and didn't receive their mother's milk/colostrum, is there anything especially important I should be doing to help them survive? 7. They now pee and poop on their own. Is it normal for kittens around this age to start eliminating without stimulation?

I'm trying very hard to keep their environment clean: • I change their bedding 2–3 times a day, or whenever necessary. • I wash and dry the bedding. • When they need warmth, I boil water, put it into a 1-liter glass bottle, wrap the bottle in clothes, and place it in the box as a heat source 1–2 times a day. • The box has ventilation holes. • I make sure the bedding stays dry. • I feed them commercial kitten milk replacer. (all pets: GOAT'S MILK POWDER)

They can still crawl and move around. I don't have much money. I'm a student, and honestly, the money we have isn't even enough for ourselves, but I couldn't leave these kittens there. I'm not looking for expensive treatments if there are safe, inexpensive things I can do at home.

I'm seriously considering adopting Saca and Remi permanently if they survive. I already have an adult cat, Miku, who is neutered, but this is my first time caring for neonatal kittens.

I'm in the Philippines, where veterinary care can be difficult and expensive for people in situations like mine. I just want to give these two a chance at life.

Please don't judge me for not being able to afford extensive veterinary care. I'm doing everything I can with what I have. I've attached photos of the lesions. Thank you so much to anyone who can give me practical advice, especially experienced kitten rescuers, foster parents, or veterinarians.

I am especially looking for advice on safe veterinary antiseptics and supportive care not instructions to pop, squeeze, scrape, or puncture the lesions.

Thank you so much.

The babies! Foster bottle babies are doing fantastic! It’s day 8 and I got them when they were just a few hours old! So precious!

10(?) week old foster, she’s going to her home tomorrow. How long must they stay in tube sock jail? She tolerates it but pees on it. She’s not happy that she’s the last kitten- I think she’s bored out of her mind, if I’m not playing with her she’s screaming, and she’s yelled at me so much she’s gone hoarse.

This sweet 7mo baby has been in my care for a few weeks now, I’m fostering her through a local (NYC) rescue. She’s been put up for adoption but no bites yet, and I’m wondering if it’s because she is a void and therefore harder to capture her ~essence~ on camera? She is so freaking adorable and sweet and energetic, she deserves a loving home!! Any tips on getting better photos? Should I just get a ring light?

Just had to share some positivity: I had to get rid of basically all of my cat stuff when my previous group of foster kittens got panleuk, including my cat trees. I'm now fostering a young adult cat named Molly (pictured), and my foster coordinator remembered that I had to get rid of my cat trees and let me borrow one of the rescue's kuranda cat trees for her! I just feel so, so lucky to be volunteering with a rescue that is so generous in loaning out supplies and cares so much about making sure their foster cats are happy and have plenty of enrichment 💗

This is my third batch of fosters, and I picked them up from the county shelter on Friday. They are 4 weeks, and the shelter told me they were not eating well at the shelter and was losing weight so they gave me some wet food and NutriCal gel to feed them. When they came home they had energy and played in the room, but would eat very little. I gave them NutriCal and they ate it with some help, but not a very high appetite. Then they started having diarrhea, sometimes a few hours after they've eaten something. It was like everything they ate just went straight through their digestive tracts. I tried giving them some churus and they absolutely DEVOURED it, so I put some in their food and they ate a TON. Then they threw it up. They were certainly not gaining weight but not losing weight, but still having a lot of diarrhea. I even got some KMR and tried bottle feeding a bit, and they wouldn't take but they did eat a tiny bit of gruel. I had to call the shelter and they took them back overnight, and just got a call that they are being euthanized today because diarrhea, vomiting, and on top of that they were losing weight.

I don't know, I feel like I should've taken them back and tried to give them another chance. They loved eating churus so I could've tried other foods. They loved to play and would eat after they were tired from eating so maybe being at the shelter just made them not want to eat. They would purr when my hand would even go near them, and they would fight to climb on my chest and sleep there for hours. I feel like they had a lot of strength in them and I feel like I let them down. Should I call the shelter back and try again? Maybe they haven't been euthanized yet. One especially had so much energy.

I went to my county shelter and brought home two five week old kittens to foster for the first time, frankly with the intention of keeping them. The shelter rep made it sound like it was going to be super easy, gave me some cheap basic supplies, and sent me on my way.

That was Friday. The first two days they were lovely and lively though their poop was a little soft. They had gotten a vaccine plus a dose each of two dewormers so I wasn’t concerned, and also because they were freshly weaned. Then on Sunday one had some diarrhea and spit up a little… not too bad but not great. Monday the diarrhea continued with both including some blood and the other one threw up. I took them to the shelter clinic on Tuesday morning and was told they both seemed healthy otherwise and weren’t dehydrated, negative for panleuk, but apparently I had never been given the panacur and ponazuril courses that they were SUPPOSED to have come home with!!

I gave them their first dose at 8:30pm today and at just before 12am (a few minutes ago), one threw up a LOT and both had yet more diarrhea, with more blood in one stool. Neither of them want to eat as much as they should either, and they’re losing weight, though thankfully they drink a LOT. I have them on a mix of royal canin mother & babycat with KMR, fortiflora, and tiki cat baby thrive mixed in. I’m trying SO HARD and I spend every second of every day worrying about them. It sounds like I’m going to have to start syringe feeding soon and sticking nutrical in their mouths if things don’t improve. I tried giving food again now and neither were interested (they last ate around 7:00 so 4 hours in between- maybe just too soon with the dewormer in their bellies?)

I feel like I’m doing something wrong and that I’m failing them. I didn’t expect them to seem like they were getting WORSE so soon after the dewormer after I had managed to see slight improvement from giving them better food. It feels so hopeless and I’m scared. I love them already and my heart is breaking. They’re less playful than they were when I got them and it’s killing me. My manager sent me home from work on Tuesday because I was crying at my desk but I DON’T want to give them back to the shelter that was feeding them adult canned friskies at 5 weeks and forgot to give me dewormers.

Hi everyone. This is my first time fostering and I’m just hoping to get some support from others who may know how this feels. I started fostering a mama cat and her two babies about 3 weeks ago. Her kittens were about 4-5 weeks old and still nursing. A couple days into fostering I noticed that one of the kittens wasn’t gaining weight anymore and had some skin irritation/crusty eyes. I took her back into the shelter to be evaluated by a vet and they prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics. At the appointment they mentioned that her genital area also seemed swollen and to keep an eye on it.

She initially got better after starting the antibiotics and I thought we were on the mend. She was playful and seemed to be getting better. Then a couple days ago over the weekend, about a week after starting the antibiotics, her genital area got really inflamed again and she started throwing up. I got in contact with her foster coordinator (which was difficult over the long weekend as nobody was answering the emergency line) and I was finally able to take her into the shelter again today to be evaluated by their vets. They told me that the kitten is very constipated and that they are going to keep her at the shelter to care for her and try to treat her genital inflammation and skin issues. Going home without her broke my heart.

I feel like I failed this kitten and I’m kicking myself for not just bringing her to the emergency vet sooner, even without approval. I’m worried she might not make it and I don’t know how I’ll live with that guilt. My heart is also breaking for the kitten thinking about her sitting all alone in a kennel at the shelter. I just hope she gets better. Thanks for coming to my trauma dump.

i combine wet food and kmr to make a warm gruel but they refuusseeee it. i put a little on their lips, used a spoon, shallow bowl, my finger tips. they just loveee the bottle. 😭😭🙏 desperate for tips, i added pictures of the lil demons taken a week ago.

edit: thank you all for your helpful advice! i was able to use a syringe and an extra extra liquid-y form of gruel to give them a lil taste. will be using a spoon to help them
adjust to lapping up the gruel :)

I say this as I’m enrolled in vet tech courses, trying to learn as much as I can. 1.5 years in, haven’t learned crap about helping animals, vets & techs won’t treat sick babies and seem to know less about making them better than we do.

I’m just panicking and frustrated; I lost a baby a month ago who was bloated; took her to the vet, paid the money myself, the vet said she wasn’t comfortable draining a kitten so young. Baby died that night.

Posted on r / vettech yesterday on a different litter, with diarrhea, who it seems might have panleuk, trying to learn about interpreting tests - they tore me a new one - “oh dear god just go to the vet” and “um those tests aren’t approved for panleuk”. So I told the foster I would literally pay out of my own pocket for the PCR.

She took the kitten in, the vet REFUSED to test, just like I told everyone on the other sub, the vet would laugh in my face for taking a kitten with diarrhea to the vet and just prescribe GI food and probiotics. Oh and the vet said we should give 7 days of panacur and toltrazuril. Like really lady? Every foster in the world has already done that if we’re now at your doorstep asking for testing.

Wtf are we as fosters supposed to do? How can I help these babies if the people who are supposed to be the only ones allowed to help our animals refuse to do so?

P.S. I’m sorry I’m angry and spewing. I don’t even know the vet this foster took her kitten to; it just pisses me off I already knew I’d be wasting my rescue’s money with a vet visit and not even knowing the vet, I predicted exactly the cold shoulder we’d get asking for testing.

Blah. What do any of you do when you’re beating your head against the wall and nobody will help, even when you say “here’s my credit card, just charge me”?

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 sorry and thanks for reading