Ever tried to do a good thing but....

[CatVet2Be]

---

Members do not see this ad.

it went horribly wrong?

I was really excited to get back into fostering now that I'm done with classes and was given a pregnant cat last Sunday from a local Humane society. 3 days later she decided to burst through my windown screen at 2 in the morning (I know because the dog woke us up at that hour barking, I thought she was just being a pest and told her to go back to sleep). I've put out 230 signs around the neighborhood and on people's doors. Spent the last 2 days driving around, walking endlessly up and down streets, put out 2 humane traps, called local clinics and groomers, and both days we thought we spotted her in a neighbors yard only to find out tonight it was the wrong cat all along. The rescue doesn't blame me, no one expected this to happen but I still can't shake the horrible guilt and sadness that I probably won't ever find her. Too many coyotes in the area.🙁

So to anyone out there, what great thing did you set out to do that just backfired on you? I'm hoping to feel like less of a schmuck, and I also know other animal lovers can understand why I feel so bad about this. Family doesn't quite get why I'm so upset.

 

[JustCats]

If it were me I'd be crushed and inconsolable (read story below), so I completely understand how you feel. 🙁 The chances are excellent that she didn't go far so please keep setting traps.

I'm a worst-case scenario type thinker so these things don't happen to me too often but my best friend lacks my horrible imagination so they happen to her more frequently. She lost a feral kitten--8 weeks old--the exact same way you lost your cat. We set traps daily but didn't have any luck, then we happened to spot him sunbathing in a neighbor's overgrown back yard. We finally trapped him that night.

Here's an instance where I failed to imagine the worst-case scenario and royally screwed up: I trapped a feral cat and one 8 week old kitten that were living in the shrubs of a median in a busy parking lot. I had monitored before trapping and I only ever saw the mom and one kitten. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me that it might not be the same kitten I kept seeing with the mom cat. As soon as I loaded mom and kitten into my car, I spotted another kitten running around the parking lot like a maniac screaming his head off. He wouldn't go into a trap though--I suspect he was probably nearby and saw mom and sister trapped. I was worried sick about him because he wasn't being a smart feral kitten and hiding in the shrubs--he was darting in and out of traffic. I spent the next 3 nights in that parking lot. The last time I was there I was there for 14 hours straight and I missed a cell bio midterm. I finally got him though. Incidentally, he's the same little bugger that then escaped from my friend's house. (He and his sister were socialized and adopted together--happy ending.)

Everything is a learning experience. It's unfortunate when our education comes at such a high price, but it does happen. Hang in there.

 

[JustCats]

Side bar: they don't spay pregnant females there? Just curious. Not judging.

 

[incendium04]

I absolutely understand what you mean. I think I would feel just as awful in the same situation -- although I do not think you are at fault. I've never seen a cat bust through a window screen! 😱

What happened to me? I work at a vet hospital, like many here, and I am the "kitty person" or the "cat girl" because I often foster kittens that come through the hospital. Ironic because I never had cats until the last 2 years! This last winter three black kittens, maybe 3 days old, came to the hospital. A fourth had been lost to a scavenging bird and the Good Sam bottle fed them through the night then brought then to the hospital. Kittens that young always get euth'd at the animal reg around here. So I fostered them... only to have them die one by one after a couple days. I know that fostering kittens that young often has a poor prognosis but these guys were my first loss while fostering and they were so healthy up until they started having neurologic signs and died. 🙁 The vets I work with think they probably had an existing disease from the mama cat. My coworkers at the hospital and my family don't understand why I felt so bad for the little buggers I had for only a week and a half.

I hope you are entrusted with another foster kitty and everything goes much smoother 😳 I want to foster more cats or dogs this spring but I'm at the limit for the number of pets at the apartment I live in. Anymore and I risk eviction.

 

[CatVet2Be]

At this particular organization they let them have their kittens and then fix mom once the babies are weaned. The kittens are fixed once they hit 2 lbs and everyone goes up for adoption. I was surprised too since I work at a spay/neuter organization where we'll spay regardless of how far along they are. This was supposed to be an easier way for me to get my kitten fix, no 2am bottle feeding since mom would be around to do that.

 

[JustCats]

You poor thing. I really feel for you.

At this particular organization they let them have their kittens and then fix mom once the babies are weaned. The kittens are fixed once they hit 2 lbs and everyone goes up for adoption. I was surprised too since I work at a spay/neuter organization where we'll spay regardless of how far along they are. This was supposed to be an easier way for me to get my kitten fix, no 2am bottle feeding since mom would be around to do that.

 

[JustCats]

It's common enough that we always tell people to make sure that either their screens are nailed in or their windows are closed.

I should add: I agree that you definitely are not to blame. Everyone is surprised the first time it happens to them and it does happen to a lot of people.

Your efforts to get her back are commendable if not heroic.

I've never seen a cat bust through a window screen! 😱

 

[Pandacinny]

This might be too much for you, but my dad lost his cat a few months ago. He lives way up in the woods and was worried sick that she'd be eaten by a fox or get lost forever. He put out traps and I helped him make BIG signs, as well, but we couldn't find her anywhere and the traps weren't working. He ended up calling a local search-and-rescue organization that works with lost pets. The SAR dog didn't lead him straight to the cat, who probably saw him coming and hid. He did, however, figure out the general area where the cat was hiding. My dad told the neighbor whose yard the dog led him to that Princess may be hiding there and put his trap in that area. A few days later, his kitty was caught.

Sounds a little crazy, but it did work in the end. There's a website for it here:
http://www.lostapet.org/

They also have really good tips on sign making. I made signs like they did - big letters on colorful poster board and a color picture, and I got WAY more calls after those were put up. Good luck!

 

[gone2dogs]

For a while I felt like the kiss of death for foster kittens. I just started fostering last summer. My very first kittens were a pair that were about 4 weeks old... they came to me with diarrhea but I was told all "foster kitties have diarrhea" so don't worry too much, but keep an eye on them. They ate pretty good for a few days and then started to become listless so I rushed them back to the shelter vet. I had to leave them there because they were busy and I had to get to class. By the time I was out of class I had a message to call them. One of the kitties had actually died waiting to be examined and the other was euthanized because he tested positive for panleukopenia. My house was quarantined for several months... Even though I only had them for less than a week, I cried. The reason I has started fostering was to fill a horrible void left when my dog died a few weeks earlier. So now, not only were these kittens dead, but my house was now contaminated preventing any more animals from coming home.

Then my next set of kittens arrived at about a pound each. I kept them for a month until they were 2 pounds... they seemed like great little kitties except that they were never 100% with the litter box which was a pain. I brought them in for surgery. A few days later I got a call that they had both tested positive for feline leukemia and were euthanized.

At this point I swore off kittens... even though I was assured that their illnesses were not my fault and they they had surely gotten them from their mother, I still felt like coming to my house as a kitten was a death sentence. Since then I've done several medical fosters, a singleton kitten, and now I have a mom and litter of 3 kittens that all seem to be doing well, except that I think the mom is trying to wean them too soon... only one is eating on his own... So hopefully my luck is turning and I will no longer be specializing in kittens with deadly diseases!

So not exactly your situation, but still a horrible feeling!

 

[CatVet2Be]

Even though I only had them for less than a week, I cried.

Ugh, I know what you mean, even when you have them for such a short period of time it's so easy to love them right away, and you feel responsible for their outcome. Even when things are out of your control you can help but wonder, what if I'd done something different. Of all the kittens I've fostered I've lost 1 to FIP. Rationally I know I did everything I could but I still felt like I should have done more.

It's common enough that we always tell people to make sure that either their screens are nailed in or their windows are closed.

The craziest part is that I actually had the window open a crack because she had scratched the screen. She managed to slide the window open so she could get to the screen and then tore a cat sized hole in the center, the screen was still on the window! The shelter people said they'd never seen anything like it. Even my problem child who always tries to sneak out has never done anything even remotely close!

 

[JustCats]

My aforementioned friend did replace all of her screens with that pet-proof screening because she has a shredder at home. They are devious little creatures.

The craziest part is that I actually had the window open a crack because she had scratched the screen. She managed to slide the window open so she could get to the screen and then tore a cat sized hole in the center, the screen was still on the window!

 

[CatVet2Be]

Pandacinnny, I considered a search and rescue dog lol, but it's out of my price range and with so many outdoor cats in the area and the way the houses are set up, I'm not sure it would help much. I tried taking my dog on 2 of the walks since she gets excited when she sees kitties, I figured she'd point out any cats I didn't spot.

Kind of a funny part of the story, the shelter has a pet psychic that does free readings for them and according to her, the cat likes her foster home and is trying to figure out how to get back to it. 🙄 I really wish that was true.

 

[JustCats]

It probably is true, but you don't have to be psychic to figure that out. 😉

Kind of a funny part of the story, the shelter has a pet psychic that does free readings for them and according to her, the cat likes her foster home and is trying to figure out how to get back to it. 🙄 I really wish that was true.

 

[Neoformans]

I hope you find her soon CatVet2Be, good luck!

I have a story that's for the "good intentions but...." theme: I heard this from one of the vets I work with.

One of the vet students she used to go to school with, he was asked to cat sit for one of the profs at the school. The cat was old and kind of chubby, so with good intentions, this vet student decided to put her on a diet and chase her around the house to give her some exercise. She died of fatty liver disease..

😱

 

[redsteven]

I absolutely understand what you mean. I think I would feel just as awful in the same situation -- although I do not think you are at fault. I've never seen a cat bust through a window screen! 😱

While I also wouldn't blame you, my mom had a cat go through a screen. According to what my mother told me, an air-conditioner in an adjacent window had recently been serviced, and to access the air-conditioner the repairman removed the screen from the nearby window, but apparently failed to correctly replace it.

Shortly thereafter my mother's cat knocked the screen out while leaning against it and fell two stories to the ground below.

Luckily, she did not suffer any injuries, and was too stunned to run away or anything.

 

[CatVet2Be]

One of the vet students she used to go to school with, he was asked to cat sit for one of the profs at the school. The cat was old and kind of chubby, so with good intentions, this vet student decided to put her on a diet and chase her around the house to give her some exercise. She died of fatty liver disease..😱

OMG, that's awful!!

This is a minor oops but one of the vets I work with thought she would be nice and trim a doxies toenails while he was under for his dental. The owner called the next morning in an uproar because he was holding one paw up periodically, apparently one of the nails was cut a little short and the poor vet got chewed out for it. It makes you weary to provide any free services on a whim.

 

[aretoo]

this is completely off topic, but what kind of dog is in your display pic, CatVet2Be?

 

[CatVet2Be]

My best guess is a shep/rottie/lab mix. She was found in the desert in New Mexico by a client and I happened to be the tech that grabbed that chart. There was just something about her that made me take her home that day (he was going to drop her off at a local shelter). She came in with a badly healed broken leg, the worst case of giardia I've ever seen (horizontal explosive diarrhea) and about 30 lbs underweight. 3 years later she's spoiled, obnoxious and loved beyond all reason, even shen she gets into mischief. I tend to ramble when asked about my pets, I'm a proud mom 😀.

 

[twelvetigers]

We have no doubt that you're an excellent and loving pet owner, catvet2be. Don't beat yourself up about the cat - it could have happened to ANYONE. The next time you foster (and I do hope you foster again) just make sure you keep the windows closed, just in case. 😉