So it's time to give my last batch of foster kittens up for adoption. It's in fact high time, as they are well over two pounds (at our kitten rescue, we work by weight, not age. It's just like lobsters, all about the weight). Their cuteness has already peaked, and they need to go before they uglify more.
The problem, of course, is that we are hyper-bonded to these kittens. Known as Love Love, Crazy Horse (also called "Silk Horse"), and Smart Horse, these three little cats have been cavorting around our house for months. I begged Anton to let me keep Smart Horse, offering to go out of the cat fostering thing altogether in exchange, but he was inflexible.
"NO CAT! No more cats! NO NO NO!"
We kept these kittens longer due to one having a touch of the old ringworm, which at our pound, is grounds for euthanasia. Ringworm is merely a fungal infection of the skin; it is not a worm of any sort, and it's a minor nuisance. However, it is highly contagious, spread by spores and surface contact, and it can (and does) spread to humans. Currently our kitten rescue believes that the optimal way to treat ringworm is through sulfur dips, meaning the animal in question is shampooed against its will and then submerged in a bucket of stinking yellow liquid, until, clawing and screaming, the kitten stinks like a rotten egg. I need to give these cats one last sulfur dip for old time's sake before they go, such joy.
To add to my joy, I have to take Lola to the dentist today, and I think she has a cavity. If there's anything worse than being harangued about flossing oneself, it's getting interrogated about flossing one's child. I do make her brush her teeth every day, using toothpaste (Lola resisted toothpaste; an epic battle ensued which lasted for months), and there have been occasions when we've flossed her teeth, but c'mon, people, there is more to life than teeth! My nerves are just not up to the battle required to floss a four year old's baby teeth every day.
8 comments:
And then ... the darned teeth fall out anyway. Well, most of them anyway.
You know, every damn day it seems like there is something for me to feel guilty about when it comes to mothering. I never had much success in the "flossing a small child's teeth" realm, either.
I'm not the mother my mother was. And that's both a good thing, and a bad thing.
wow, i couldn't do it. foster care animals that is. i grow attached to puppies i see in TV commercials.
i think keeping one cat is a fair exchange for giving up the foster thing. after all, it'll no longer be a kitten and older cats are relatively low maintenence.
then again, i don't have kids.
It's sad to see kittens go - but it's kind of like kids leaving the nest - you get used to it, and even grow to like the kid/kitten less life.
You know, Sam has an up and coming appointment to re-fill a cavity he had filled back in October. Not bad enough to have to have it done once, but twice?! I will say he was rather good about it- not one tear, which I think is pretty darn good for young boy! Anyway, our dentist is also very firm about kids flossing daily. They are well known for being *tough* in our local area. And though I make them keep up with the brushing, I'm pretty bad when it comes to enforcing the flossing. Basically, if it's to be done right, it has to be done by me and I just don't have the fricken time (or by night, energy) to pester them! So just today I was stressing about this up and coming appointment, and the lecture I'm sure to receive.
vt
huh. This must be one of those areas that makes me appreciate where my kid is "easy", since the Q lets me and/or Ray floss her teeth every night. We use those dental pick things, not as environmentally conscious as just using a length of floss, but much easier than trying to force my whole hand into her little mouth. To get the right angle on things, I have to stand behind her, tilt her head back and hold her mouth open. And she puts up with this. Are you calling CPS now? Anyhow, she's partly motivated by having to have a cavity filled a year ago, and by her joy in the floss that the dentist gave her. Some days her two front teeth are very thoroughly flossed with her repeated use of tiny little lengths of flavored floss.
wait, what?!
they "euthanize" kittens for ringworm?!?!?!
for fuck's sake!
I'm sorely tempted to adopt, at least Smart Horse (though I would probably have to change her name... do they know their names at this point?)
I'm not quite sure if I'm ready yet, because I'm still having a hard time accepting that I will never again be able to live with my darling Pounce, but I do think that it really would be wrong to uproot a 19 year old cat just because I miss him. and these kitties seem to have that ideal combination of smarts and sweetness.
I'm also torn about taking just one (and thus separating them) vs taking on multiple kittens - I don't know what Jovino would think about that, for one thing. he's totally supportive of me getting *a* cat or kitten - not sure about two though, and three sounds like a bit too much for me.
anyway, let's keep talking in email. Smart Horse at least may have found a home.
Xs & Os - I so respect and admire you for doing this work!
Everyone should be educated, including the animal shelter on choice policy. Even though the shelter has a policy on "when" to kill, the public if given a, informed choice should be given all the facts @ the time of diagnosis of ring worm. Why do I say this? Just yesterday we took a little stray kitty to the shelter, after being told the shelter doesn't kill unless there is something seriously incurable wrong etc. with a kitty.
The public (people that don't own felines) unless educated doesn't know ring worm from earth worm. After second guessing our choice we called the facility to see if the vet had taken a look at the kitty yet, and the vet said she had just killed it! Now why couldn't the vet or assistant called me for Plan B? No. This is wrong. I have gone to many web cites since yesterday and find ring worm is treatable, we would of taken the poor thing back and nursed it to health so that it had a chance at a good home. Good for you, you knew!
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