08/25/2026
This kitten season has been BRUTAL. It’s my 4th season as a neonatal kitten foster. Each year I’ve upped my game & taken on more responsibilities & accepted more challenges. I’ve done my best to educate myself along the way. To ask questions & seek guidance. And to pass along the things that I have learned. Our little neonate program at NAWS has grown. We now have several neonate fosters who can help with medical situations, can give sub q fluids, that can assess kitten’s wellness, that can tube feed.
So I’ve spent more time this year with the more complex kittens. I like the chance to learn more, to gain experience, to make a difference. But what I’ve really learned this year is that medically complex kittens do not have a very good survival rate. They are always teetering on the edge of life & death. Some fail over the course of days. Some take a turn & don’t improve. Some seem fine & you go check on them & they’re gone. But… sometimes they improve. Sometimes they thrive. Some of them succeed. It’s just that the odds of a very young kitten with a very serious condition ending up with a “happily ever after” story is not overwhelming. Taking the worst case scenarios means accepting that there may be more failures than successes.
This kitten season has taken a toll on me. While I’ve dealt with plenty of loss over the years & while I’ve taken lots of cases when I knew the likely outcome would be a loss… I didn’t anticipate how my mental & emotional health would be affected. It didn’t happen all at once. It just started to drag me down a little more, week after week. And I finally realized that the number of losses I was experiencing were higher than the number of successes. That taking in kittens that are full of or covered in parasites, kittens with uncontrollable bloody diarrhea, premature newborn kittens, kittens with congenital defects, kittens who are failing to thrive, will lead to losses. They aren’t like grown cats. The tiniest bit of flea anemia or aspiration or diarrhea will end their lives.
My plan is to end my bottle feeding for the rest of the season. We & many other rescues have seen a rise in Giardia cases & the strain has been very difficult to treat. The neonates have not been fairing well against it & I have already had too much loss this year. I feel selfish stepping away when I’m needed. But I always remind myself…. When you’re on a plane & the oxygen masks drop down, you have to put yours on first. You have to make sure that you’re good first so you’re in a position to help others. I’m no good to anyone if I don’t take care of myself first. Bottle feeding around the clock as they fail one after the other from Giardia has completely drained me. So I have to step away from the tiny babies for now.
I’ve had some rough losses just recently. But they have been connected to successes. So I’m gonna take a minute to appreciate those~~~~~
-Caleb & Clark… Clark had an undetermined congenital condition & after weeks of working with him, we lost him. But Caleb is doing awesome. He’s big & strong & so handsome.
-Rosebud & Leaf… Leaf was sickly from the moment he got here. Half his face was covered in a giant scab of dried mucous. He’s struggled to thrive. He cared for Clark until the very end. He was so depressed. But he’s been my shadow recently. We do everything together. And he’s making huge gains now. And he keeps me smiling all day with his silly kitten play. His sister Rosebud is with Caleb, and she’s perfect.
-Mama cat Hazel… Found outdoors & bleeding. Gave birth to 5 kittens in the mud & trash. Two kittens expired out there. We got her with 3 babies. Hazel was 8 months old & 6lbs at that point. She rejected the smallest kitten & he passed. Another kitten was losing weight & began having very bloody diarrhea. He was lost as well. Mom now has one remaining baby. Her name is Holland & she is plump & healthy & mom is doing great with her. Hazel is also up to 8lbs & they’re being fostered by our shelter vet.
-My Poe girls got the Giardia. Annabel Lee was not able to overcome the illness & she passed Sunday in the early hours of the morning. Her sister Eleonora is improving. She has had an issue with milk coming out of her nose when she takes the bottle. It’s something that isn’t super uncommon but the frequency is concerning. It appears that she may have a cleft palate. She will be seeing the vet tomorrow. I’ve been instructed to tube feed exclusively for now.
Lastly… there was a kitten looking for rescue. A little girl that looked about Leaf’s size. I offered to take her thinking that after the quarantine period, she & Leaf could be together. The little girl (currently called “Peanut” but I think I’d like to change that) showed up to NAWS & she was lethargic, very underweight, and showing neurological symptoms. She’s been with a temporary foster & I haven’t met her yet. I’ve only seen pictures & videos. I’m also told that she may be blind. She looks like a “CH” kitten. We just dealt with Purrlock Holmes & his neurological issues which were mostly resolved when treated for toxoplasmosis. The vet has started this new girl on the same medications that helped Purrlock. I am going to see the vet with her tomorrow & bring her home from there with me.
Sorry for another crazy long post. My brain is in overdrive.
