08/01/2025
Hello, friends
I know I have been MIA for a while. I needed some time off to deal with recent losses and compassion fatigue. I will make an effort to get back to posting more often as we have quite a few kitties ready to find homes. Here’s an update on some of the things I have not talked about.
Back in the beginning of September, a few days after having to let Bentley go, Chandler crossed over the rainbow bridge in my arms. It was a very difficult loss for me, after trying for so long to help him get better. But I didn’t get a chance to grieve and process it properly, as Star’s babies were born later that day, and the four sick Siamese mix kittens were brought to me late that evening. I had to focus on caring for the sick little ones to give them a chance. Unfortunately, a couple days later, two of the Siamese kittens died within a day of each other. This made me worry about fading kitten syndrome, which added even more stress. The fear of checking in on the remaining kittens after waking up every morning was an entirely different experience. Thankfully, with each passing day, the two girls started to improve and eventually got better.
While all this was going on, Kona, our FIP kitty who completed her treatment, started to get sick again. She had a relapse. After discussing the situation with our FIP Warriors team, it was decided that she should go through another 84-day regimen at a higher dose. So, on September 21st, we started her on meds again. (Huge thank you to Kona’s foster for syringe feeding her to give the meds a chance to work.) More blood tests (about every four weeks), daily weight checks, dosage increases based on weight gain, staying on top of ordering meds. So much to keep track of. Kona’s most recent lab work four weeks ago showed that her FIP levels were good, but her protein levels were still a bit too high. Her dose was increased again to try to get those down. She is scheduled for another blood test tomorrow and we are hoping for good news.
Dealing with all this by myself, while trying to take care of the rest of cats and kittens in the rescue was exhausting. Then another big hit. Nova, the tiny baby who was starved for weeks, got sick around December 15th. We made a vet appointment for a couple days later, but she crashed the following day. She was rushed to the emergency vet. Due to her being so tiny (only a little over a pound at about three months old) it was an uphill battle, and despite all of our efforts to save her, she passed on December 17th. I was crushed. But while the loss was difficult for me, it was completely devastating for her foster family. For almost two months they did everything they could to give her a chance. And they loved her so much! Being the empath that I am I felt their pain. And I internalized it. I wanted to post about the loss of Nova on our page, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. If I didn’t put it out there, maybe it never happened? A wrong way to deal with it, I know.
Fast-forward to last Thursday, January 2nd. Bruiser, the soul of this rescue, leader of the welcome committee, keeper of the kittens, and a friend to all, took his last breath while I stroked and kissed his head. I have not cried this hard for years, and tears are streaming down my face as I type this almost a week later. If you are newer to the rescue, you most likely don’t know about this special boy. (I will make a separate post for him to give him a proper goodbye.) If you have been with us for a while, and especially if you’ve met him personally, you’ll understand the pain I am feeling right now🥺
I know this is a really long post, and I thank you if you’ve read it all the way to the end. I am going to ask for patience and understanding while I sort through all of this. Since I have not done any fundraising lately, including not participating in Giving Tuesday, I am going to ask for some financial help to help cover some of our emergency vet bills and Kona’s FIP treatment. We can really use the help. Zelle is the best way to send funds. There are no processing fees, and we don’t have to wait for weeks to receive money (as with Facebook). PayPal is another option, although they do charge us a small credit card processing fee. We are not going to use Venmo as other rescues have recently reported that scammers are creating fake accounts to steal donations.
Zelle: [email protected]
PayPal: paypal.me/ogafil
Alternatively, we can always use some cat food. Menards currently has their 15% off everything you can fit in a paper bag promotion, and cans of cat food fit very well in those bags. With the discount, cans of Friskies are $0.66 and cans of Solid Gold (a step above Friskies) are $.59 for 6-ounce cans. Our cats eat anything when it comes to wet food. Dry food is a bit tricky, and I prefer to stick to a couple of brands they do well on. If you’d like info on dry food, please let me know.
Thank you again for reading this long post and for your continuous support.
❤️ Beata
