Overnight detainees

[Kirial]

http://a375.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/88/l_1681902e4a961f996ee96a0d143137a6.jpg

Found my first rescue for this spring on the porch today. They were in the "drop box" when I went out with trash. Both are a little on the sickly side, and I wish of course that whoever had left them would have just turned them over to me in person so I could ask about health history. They are very affectionate, with healthy appetites, and I see no reason they wont make ideal pets. Of course, vet visits and adult attitudes pending. Calling all local animals shelters and law enforcement revealed no missing pets had been filed fitting their description (or at all), but I have e-mailed them all Found forms just in case, and put up some "found kittens, call #" signs in my neighborhood in case of adolescent meanness.

The tortoise shell in particular shows a lot of affection, as it was almost impossible (http://a770.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/97/l_00d558088c51033214a042ed981b3119.jpg) to take her picture. She loves to rub noses, and seems to fancy herself to be a parrot instead of a cat. The yellow male is very sweet and playful (http://a518.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/118/l_23c590575d140313a7bfc79830c01db5.jpg), but has some eye discharge and a little sneeze. Both of them are mostly ribs atm, but they chowed down when it came feeding time. Luckily, they are both already weaned, or at least old enough they should be. The female also appears to be a week or two older, but as close as they are I'd say they have spent some time together in a home.

They already fancy themselves to be cold blooded killers, attacking everything they can inside or out, and when they get a little bigger I think I shall let my little miss wont-stay-out-of-heat try to teach them to hunt. For now of course, they are completely seperated from the other animals until all health checks come through thumbs-up.

Hubby has taken a shine to them (seems to have a thing for tortise calicos) and decided he would get involved and name them Mickey and Mallory. This rescue seems to be turning my cute little basement-dwelling, computer gamer/nerd into a big softy, as I'm often catching him in the enclosures these days, or find dog treat supplies mysteriously depleting themselves despite locked cabinets. He's also taken to reinforcing my work and disciplining our wound up black lab, and you can tell the dog appreciates the re-ordering of pack positions. (except for at mealtime when he has to wait patiently until we tell him it's okay to eat his already visible, reachable food.)

[Kirial]

Well, vet confirmed my suspicions of mange on Mallory, thank goodness it's Demodectic Mange. I already have Mitacin spray and Sulfinex on hand, and harlan said that she is old enough that I shouldnt have any problems using these products on her. Hopefully after the treatment she will be a fluffy shiney furbearer, rather than the thin dull coat she is currently sporting. She also tested negative for worms.

Mickey was possitive for worms, and negative for mange. So unfortunatly I have to split these two up. They wont be comepletely alone, as I have them in adjoining rooms that share a window. I also got age confirmations for them. Mickey is 7 weeks old, and Mallory is 9 weeks old. So, once I get them on clean bills of health and vaccinated, these kitties will be available for adoption (pending spay/neuter.)

The mange and worms may explain why these kitties were in my trash bin this morning, as there is no other reason I can find that these lovable little things would be unwanted. They both have proven litterbox trained as well.

[MissDolittle]

Wow, that's a first that I hear of mange in cats, leave alone kittens. Is it that rare or did I just not notice it?

Good luck with them!

Btw, I never ever had to train a kitten to go on a litter box, they all did it on their own as soon as they were able to walk.

I have 9 kittens right now. Tried to bring them to the shelter..but they are FULL. I'm going to put them all on petfinder too I guess. So far I only have momma on there. The 3 dogs I put up there last week are all adopted out, wow! AND I had to turn down people..but there are more dogs to come.

Today I put up a Jack Russel Terrier...she kills cat and was thrown over the shelter fence because of that. But the owner had regrets and called in later that day, admitted to it and at least gave the shelter some information on the dog.

[Kirial]

mange is actually rather rare in cats. This is one of the rarest forms, as this particular bug is actually always on dogs and cats, it only starts causing problems when the immune system takes a dive. Thankfully, it is the non-transferable kind because of this. It's also know as "dandruff mites" or something like that, because it often just gives them scaley or dandruffy areas around their ears, eyes, and forehead (unless it is generalized like this case, in which it is several little scattered patches across the body) If it wasnt for Mickey's worms I would have them in the same room.

Considering that both kittens are undernourished, I'd say that ms Mallory just is having some immune issues at the moment, and this was the end result. they are both on vitamins now (same as all my sick or under-sized charges) so with some washing to remove the irritated tissue and some of the parasites, and some sulphex to sooth itches, she should be back up to speed in no time.

As far as litterbox training, I work mostly with feral kittens or "mystery kitties" that people leave in my trash recepticle. As long is momma is trained and the kittens see that behaviour, they will do the same, but most of my feral babies need to be put in the litter pan when they start to go elsewhere so they figure out it's a more conveniant place than the "self-cleaning" newspapers on the floor. Cats dont like filth, and naturally look for sand, gravel, loose dirt, or heavily perfumed areas to potty, so they can cover it and dont have to smell it. (Zeroun and Ryxy were terrible to the neighbor's cedar chip mulch)

When I checked my messages after other-work I've already had six people call about the kittens. Not one of them mentioned loosing a cat, but all of them were curious how old they were, and what they looked like, and if I was going to be giving them away. So.... I told them all to check back in a month, and come by the house for forms and a peek in the meantime. I did loose two of them when I mentioned that it was going to cost money ($50.00, $20 refund after confirmation of de-sexing) to adopt them and that they would have to be spayed or neutered no later than 7 months or they would be siezed. Hooray for contracts that force responsibility! It usually weeds out the less than favorable applicants before I have to bother with a home visit or vet check.

Good luck with you little furballs of fun!

[MissDolittle]

Good job! It's great that the people seem to be standing in line.

We got laws and contracts here too, but the problem is that there is nobody there to enforce them. :/

[Kirial]

Heh, if someone signs one of my contracts and tries to duck out of assigned duties they have a week to comply with my phone calls or my lawyer and I show up at their door and ask for the surrender of the animal on the basis of contractual violations. If they do not, then we go pick up an Order of Replevin. Seems there are still benefits to animals being "property".

Of course, reasonable exceptions are made. I realize that sometimes it can be hard to get the animal altered in just one month, so if there is already an appointment schedualed for prompt action I count that as covered.

And in the case that the animal came in heat early or while waiting and is pregnant, my contract allows me to sieze the cat temporarily (two weeks before the due date, to be kept up until the kittens are 7 weeks old) and return her sans kittens after she has been spayed. Since any kittens are viewed as "the result of a failure to act" they are technically my property, and the cat is as well if there was no attempt to prevent conception.

In two cases the owners of the momma ended up adopting members of her litter a few weeks later. (many try, few get them) On the flipside, one woman attempted to adopt the six kitten litter that her female had, without informing me she had moved from a three bedroom two story house into a one bedroom apartment (which doesnt allow pets) with the momma and three un-neutered toms she had adopted from another shelter and hid while I siezed the momma. Wouldn't be so bad, but my mother is the secretary and application agent of the complex, and everyone knows that we're related. The adoptee also happened to get the apartment across from my sister, which is the only reason I know about the toms.

The beauty of my contract is that it allows me to be as strict as certain situations demand, or a little more leniant if the owner really has made an effort.

In addition, we recieved five more calls ^.^

[MissDolittle]

That is so awesome that you can follow up on all of the people and pets. It'd be a full time job here for at least 2 people. Great system! Kudos : ))))).

[Kirial]

I figured out about a year ago that I had to be good with people if I was going to do any good to the animals. So just making sure I had feelers out to most every area or social circle has been the only reason I can keep up with everyone. Gossip is the main recreation in towns this small, and I take advantage of that. If someone hears that so and so has a new cat, or too many animals to handle, or the family dog had puppies, I usually hear about it. This allows me to be pre-emptive and send them some info about care, and vet coupons that make sure they don't just throw it away. While I'm sure that not everyone who gets a spay/neuter pass or vaccine cards uses them, Harlan just seems to get busier and busier, and the tax money they got back from charitable donations this year will allow them to build another little wing onto the clinic.

And the strict adoption policy deters most of the people who I would need to constantly check up on. Most of the owners that go through mulligan actually send thank you notes (and some times thank you donations) or send me letters with photos at christmas at the very least, and several of them give me forwarding info if they move so I can update them in the database in case they want to adopt again. Wish I could find a picture or two of "the walk of fame" around christmas time, it gets insanely full of colourful family & pet photocards. One elderly lady came in to ask about donations and ended up leaving with a dog because "the photos made her realize how lonely she was with the house to herself." The house-trained akc bred Chin that she adopted had only been in my care long enough for a vet check and record confirmation. That was one happy christmas gift.