Teddy had a little bald patch over one eye that turned out to be ringworm, a cutaneous fungal infection. It's not usually life-threatening, but when you are the ward of a busy shelter system it can be a death sentence because it's highly contagious, very expensive to treat, and can spread to humans who are usually not happy to catch it from a newly adopted pet.
Yesterday was a very traumatic day. I took the kittens in to be examined, they kept them for euthenization. And I'm banned from fostering for as much as a year, because they made a mistake and sent a kitten with an obvious lesion home with me.
I cleaned out the Nursery one last time, discarding nearly everything and soaking the rest with 10% bleach solution. It's hard to clean when you are crying. Then I took the Nursery sign down and threw it away, too.
That is all.
20 comments:
I'm so sorry to hear that you have to take a break from taking care of all of those wonderful cats.
Oh dear. I've been used to dogs more than cats but I am so very sorry.
Ohhh no. I'm so sorry - that's horrible. We're all sending good thoughts your way.
How terrible. What a tragedy. I guess one can never be too careful when taking care of animals.
I had several canaries once that got wiped out by a disease practically overnight so I can sympathize...
I am so sorry. You must be devastated. But why ban you for a year? Is it for fear of contagion, or are they saying this is somehow your fault? Either way, it is so sad for you and for the kittens.
No, no, I'm not banned because of fault, but because of risk, because the fungal spores are so hardy and so contagious. The Nursery may have been contaminated, though I can assure you I have done my utmost to ensure it is no longer. And fortunately they were quarantined in a confined and easily cleaned space for the 72 hours they were in my house. But I *am* heart broken that they had to be euthanized. I am in a terrible blue funk.
Our hearts are breaking for you and your recent tragedy. Tonight we will light a candle in memory of those sweet little babies.
I'm so sorry to hear about this.
I am so sorry to hear about the last litter of kittens. They were so cute it is a shame that they were sick.
How sad for the kitties.. and for you. I hope your own cats remain free of it.
I am very sorry for you and the kittens.
I am sorry to hear of the devastating events and loss. My thoughts are with you.
I'm so sorry to hear. Our thoughts are with you.
Damn. I am so sorry to hear that. I don't understand why the kittens had to be euthanized, though. There's a vaccine that helps clear up the ringworm pretty quickly, and topical treatments, too. Fungus is a pain in the tuchas, it's true. But to put those babies to sleep???
Big hugs to you, my friend.
I'm so sorry for you. I don't understand why the cats had to be euthanized. Many years ago I caught ringworm from my then-new wife's cat. We were both treated and survived just fine. The cat lived to a ripe old age, for cats, and no other humans, or the other cat, got it. I have to think there are better solutions.
I don't have any personal knowledge of ringworm, but what Omnibus and Terry say makes sense. A quick search of the Internet did not reveal any tales of being banned from keeping kittens for a year. Maybe the room can be professionally fumigated (if necessary) and you can welcome more kittens into your life. I hope so.
http://www.fabcats.org/ringworm.html
This is very sad and also depressing. I'm so sorry for you.
I agree. It is tragic. And in many ways senseless. I think you might be surprised to find out how many animal shelters in the US have a policy of euthanizing kittens with ringworm. Sometimes adult animals, too. The rationale is that they are considered unadoptable, and because ringworm is highly infectious the risk is high that very quickly many other animals will succumb and become "unadoptable" and very soon the system will be overwhelmed with the treatment requirements for those animals and unable to deal with the hundreds of new animals that they now have no room for each week.
I do understand that argument (I'm cursed with the ability to see at least two sides of every issue) but I do think there are solutions that don't require the sacrifice of little lives for "the greater good." On this particular day, however, those solutions were not in effect.
All I can do now is to grieve, and to remember these little guys when I do have opportunities to make a difference.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I admire you and others who foster cats. I know it must be a lot of work and a lot of love goes into it. And then to have something sad like this (and earlier with Cap'n Jack) it's just got to be so difficult but still necessary. All three of my boyz spent time in a foster home and I can't thank those who took them in enough.
((((GGP)))) I'm so sorry.
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