Small, But Mighty Rescue Day

Whew! What a day! There are some days where I feel like I do nothing but rescue. It's 5 pm as I start this blog post, and I just finished emptying the dishwasher and loading the breakfast dishes. Does it sound like I'm complaining?

I went back to the shelter today to rescue my favourite little girl "Ellie" with the electrical burns in her mouth. I'm happy to report that she's safe and at our vet's office. Funny thing about cats - here she is with the inside of her mouth sore enough to make the vet gasp, but she leans over and starts play biting my hand! Yes...I love the bad ones! :)

Look at that precious, grubby little face!!!!! I think she hasn't figured out how to eat with her tongue the way it is. What you can't see, and I tried hard to get a picture, is a hole at the bottom of her chin where the electrical charge must've left her body. There's a scab on it now, so it looks like it's healing. It'll be interesting to see what the vet has to say.

I also rescued two 4 week old kittens - the noisiest little things I've ever seen! One was a calico (that figures!) and a little tabby. They had just arrived at the shelter, but didn't have to do the stray time because they were so tiny.

My other favourite boy named "Mulberry" was rescued today. I didn't say much about Mulberry, but he's an 8 month old charmer:

No matter how many times you make kissing sounds, he'll come RUNNING to you and lick your lips. He's the CUTEST little guy. At the vet's office, he came out of his carrier and flopped over in a huge ray of warm sunshine. Why do small things like this always make me cry? Mulberry arrived at the shelter wearing that collar. I didn't take it off of him, because I think collars give ordinary looking black cats a little zing. :)

I also rescued another 8 month old guy posted as "Urgent":

Decland had been in a tiny shelter cage for more than 2 months. He's a total favourite at the shelter and curls up into a little ball when you hold him. He looked very overwhelmed by the expanse of the veterinarian's lobby. But he slithered around and seemed happy for the leg stretch. Stretching must feel so good when you've been in a shelter cage for so long and can't fully stretch out.

I've been to the shelter every day this week and am disheartened to see how many kittens and nursing Moms are starting to arrive each day. It's a whole new crop of cats each time I arrive. I need to get more rescues involved with helping the cats from this shelter. (They don't have a problem with the dogs -they have rescues helping them.) But with the cats, there are an obscene number. I don't know where to begin, but am hopeful rescue people spread the word to help the cats here.

Tomorrow is a euthanasia day, and I wish I didn't feel guilty for not rescuing tomorrow. But I our foster homes are starting to fill up. I can only rescue as many cats as we have available foster space.

The words I hate to hear this time of year? "I'm taking a break from fostering for a while."