Brambles fever is down but her personality is puzzling. She will flip from being a sweet, loving kitty into a sabre tooth tiger in less than a second and I never know when the change is coming. I cannot put her with more than one kitten and not with any of the girls she traveled with last week or there is a major fighting. Her incision looks messy and almost herniated so it will be another trip to the vet today to see what he thinks.
This weekend, I encountered an abuse case that cost a beautiful kitty and the litter she was carrying her life. The teenager who hurt this cat is now in the system and his life is changed forever. It cost CATS several hundred dollars to try and save Angel but the damage had been done. What I find the saddest of all of this beside the loss of the lives (and I am talking about this teenager as well because life as he once knew it is now over) is he found out how to hurt this kitty on the Internet. When I look at all the websites dedicated to saving cats and kittens and helping people to understand, care for and nurture these animals, I cannot grasp the fact that there exists websites that do the opposite. But they are out there.
I also got in a kitty this weekend who was crawling with fleas and loaded with worms and the people didn’t want him anymore because his blue eyes changed to green! All kittens are born with blue eyes, they change (sometimes) when they start to develop and grow. He is a very needy kitty and I have de-wormed and de-flead him. He goes to the vet to be neutered today. Right now- looking for no-cost spays and neuters is off the table. Seems like every time I try that- I end up losing a kitten. I’ll just swallow the cost and try to come up with creative ways to raise money for a very good cause. Stopping all these stray kittens from coming into the world is a VERY good cause. I just hope one kitten,Brambles will straighten out in time.
I’ve been quietly reading and following your passionate cause for a couple of years now, but haven’t said anything until now. I read about Brambles and had to tell you what I’ve experienced. I have lost 3 kittens to low cost neuterings. The first 2 were siblings and the most sweet, loving, snuggly kitties. The place we adopted them from used a lost cost spay and neuter clinic that was part of the adoption fee. The cats I got back were changed. They went from sweet to utterly feral and eventually, vicious. My heart was broken. We adopted again from another shelter and again, a sweet, loving, snuggly kitten. The shelter required neutering to be done by 12 weeks so off he went as a wee one. He came back with a belly scar because the vet went in and found him cryptorchid, and badly. She said that it was like a “micro surgery” because of how tiny he was. I was SO mad that she didn’t say, “let’s let him get bigger and do the surgery then.” No, she mangled my baby. He nearly died a few days later from a horrendous infection and UTI that my regular vet saved him from. I took him back to see her and get more tests and full exams, etc because she did the surgery. She swore he was fine and no complications. Around the same amount of time went by as with my previous boys, and he started going feral and getting very aggressive. I found out, the vet the shelter used, was the same from the low cost place. I’ve heard from people in town that they use a sedative that isn’t meant for our pets, but for horses, and there’s no exact down to the pound measurement for it, just a range. I don’t know what truth there is to it, but I lost 3 beautiful, loving kitties to that butcher shop and I fully believe the meds they used, damaged their brains. Sorry for being long-winded. Thanks for reading. Bless you and your good work.
I am so sorry to learn of your struggles with these wonderful creatures. Some vets will use Ketamine on their cats and my vet knows that I hate that drug with a passion. I have requested they not use it. My hatred grows from having a horse who was being gelded being given the drug by another vet and then watching Traveler go from active and loving to a horse with seizures. It was heart wrenching. When I did the research on the drug, I found that it was typically used for cats during surgery as well. The clinic did not use this drug and when I talked to them this morning (just got off the phone with them in fact) they just told me that she doesn’t feel well and is having a reaction to the “trauma, the sutures, the experience” and it will soon pass.
Brambles is as of this morning and I am holding my breath here, gone from being fully feral to acting like she is in full heat. I am so confused and now wonder if they left part of her ovaries in?
I thank you for letting me know that you have been quietly following me. I try to give an accurate picture of rescue and sometimes it seems like maybe I shouldn’t share as much as I do- but I think it is important for people to realize what these cats are up against. I find it sad that a friend of mine who routinely collects donations for cat research, she has never had someone donate a huge chunk of change to the organization and be told “We would like this to go to stray cat and feral welfare.” It is always with the stipulation that the money be used for the breed-specific cats so the strays virtually get left out in the cold.
In the past, I lost two male cats from a low-spay clinic because they forgot to tie off and suture all the vessels. I almost lost Glacie when a volunteer after the spay put a small heater in front of her carrier and forgot to turn the oscillating fan on as well. Glacie almost fried. And now, I have temporarily lost Brambles and she has her claws disfigured because of whatever she went through there. I find it a bit ironic that the student who did her surgery was wanting to adopt her.
We have 11 more to neuter here. God is still behind this organization and so we will press forward. But not if it means the possibility of losing these kittens we try so hard to save just to save a few dollars in the meantime.
Poor little Brambles… I pray she’ll be okay and it’s not some kind of neuro issue popping up on her. If it’s just a trauma response from what she went through, I know you’ll get her turned around.
I recall Glacie and I want to say I recall you talking about her nearly cooking, and that you found her just in time? Or I’m remembering someone else…
I found you quite by accident while looking for info about feral cats and cat behavior, and though you didn’t have what I was looking for (I think it was helping cat behavior with natural remedies, but hard to remember exactly) what I found here was someone I wanted to keep up with. Even though you didn’t know I was here, and perhaps I should have spoken up sooner, I’ve been here with you through so much. I’ve seen such highs, and such lows. I’ve celebrated your triumphs and cried with you over losses. So when you question this blog, know that it’s appreciated and valued. I love your candor and that you haven’t ever sugar coated things. You put things into a perspective that people need to see more, and understand all aspects that go into rescue, not just the happy part where a kitty gets a new home.
The work you do, it’s such a labor of love. I’ve fostered and rescued over the years, but never to the degree you have. I know how much work and dedication and love it takes for even the little I did. What you do? Grace of God. He works through you, I have no doubt about that.
Wishing the best and praying for you. ~MJ
The teen may have found out how to hurt Angel on the internet, but he was disturbed enough to go looking. He knew right from wrong and must now suffer the consequences.
I feel terrible that this cruel behavior happens. People who abuse animals often ‘graduate’ to harming people. Hopefully, this teen will get the mental assistance he so desperately needs so nothing/no one else suffers at his hands.
🙁
I also had a kitty go for a spay… from the most loving snuggly kitten ever…. to hating everyone and attacking anyone if they tried to touch her except me. But when she was like had even id get it sometimes…..
Wow! So sorry so many have had such bad experiences with low cost clinics. I have been using them for years and have had dozens speutered with no issues whatsoever. I can’t say what sedative they use, but I have never had any trouble. Hopefully you can find ones that use a different sedative if that is the problem.
Oh, forgot to add, Brambles behavior really sounds like a kitten in pain.