Beware the free kitten

It seems funny but there appears to be a shortage of kittens, at least with THS and the rescues. Maybe it was the cold winter or all the spay neuter, I'm not really sure.  Unfortunately it's not that way on kijiji, if you browse there as I occasionally do there are people still giving away kittens for free or selling kittens who have not had any vetting.  I worry that people take in a free kitten not realizing how much vaccinations and spay neuter cost.  Beyond that, even with a kitten or young cat you need to somehow put aside money for medical issues.

Just last week our ten month old kitten Oliver became very lethargic.  I knew something was wrong when he didn't help clean the house.  He was still eating though, but sleeping way too much, so I took him to the vet where they found he had a fever.  I was terrified that he might have FIP, a terrible disease that mostly affects kittens and is fatal.  So we did an X-ray, and bloodwork and was sent home with antibiotics, hello and goodbye $700.  A month ago we did a cardiac ultrasound on him due to a heart murmur, that was $900.  Now maybe I could have been conservative and not done those things, but he's my baby and I love him and I want to do all I can for him.  Thankfully the antibiotics are working and he's back to his old self, I'm just praying it was just a passing infection and not a marker of anything more serious.  I'm grateful that we had the money to care for him but it's not something that everyone considers when adopting.

My baby Oliver

Joanne has gotten happy updates from Clara and Cassie's new homes.  Talk about success stories.

Clara in her new home

Clara and her new friend

In other good news, the diabetic cat has found a foster!  A wonderful woman named Tara has offered to bring him home, she's never done insulin injections before but is willing to learn.  Yay!