I'm a new member of the site and my husband and I recently started fostering cats for a local rescue organization. The deal was supposed to be that we provide food, litter, and daily care while the foster organization took care of the medical bills.
At the end of February we took in two littermates approximately 3-4mos old who had been suffering from exposure and malnourishment. Because they were sick when we got them I was making special food for them every day. We made sure they got their medicine and have taken excellent care of them, including continuing to provide a special food puree daily because they refuse to eat dry food. They are still underweight and look bony.
I contacted the rescue the first week we got them and said I thought they needed to be seen by a vet due to the low weight and ongoing lack of appetite. They came to us with loose stools and that never really resolved. The rescue org told me to just keep feeding soft foods and gave me medicine for the loose stools, which turned out to be an antibiotic meant for a specific gastrointestinal infection, and only in that case would it cure loose stools. I was frustrated because while I know the rescue is trying to save money, given the condition of the cats I felt that they were just throwing general medication that they had on hand at the problem rather than getting the cats treated properly for their health issues.
The rescue never did seem to get that the cats were severely underweight and had scheduled them for spay and neuter surgery this week. It wasn't until I took them in on Saturday to meet a potential adoptive family that the head of the organization saw them and said they were underweight and shouldn't have surgery. I didn't agree with scheduling this week because I thought the cats should be 100% healthy before they underwent any kind of procedure.
The rescue said we needed to do their booster vaccinations on 3/11/16, and we did, but in the back of my mind I wondered if it was a good idea.
On Sunday March 13 both cats became lethargic and basically slept all day. They were hard to wake up and refused to eat or drink. We ended up syringe feeding them liquids and a small amount of food on Sunday night, and again on Monday morning. This time I decided I wasn't going to let the rescue org hem and haw over whether or not to go to the vet, so I scheduled an appointment for them myself with our regular vet (who happens to be an approved vet for the rescue). I felt that rescue cats or not, they were primarily my responsibility and I wasn't going to watch them suffer. Foster animals in my home are not second class animals. If I am primarily responsible for their care then I will take them to the vet.
The upshot of this is that the cats are extremely ill with a systemic viral infection. Their initial condition had probably never resolved and the continuing low weight weakened their immune systems. Their bloodwork showed all kinds of problems with nutrition (anemia, increased liver enzymes, etc) and they were both running fevers of 104 degrees. I ended up paying $500 for all the lab fees, medications, etc., and my husband and I are having to administer subcutaneous fluids with an IV once a day, as well as giving them antibiotics meant to protect against secondary bacterial infections. The vet says if we don't see any improvement on this treatment (which is basically palliative care, not much to be done for viral infections) then we are likely looking at hospitalization. If this turns out to be a certain kind of infection (one that is difficult to diagnose up front) they could die.
We have a big house, we love cats, and we don't mind having several fosters at a time. However, I absolutely mind that the rescue organization seems to be stingy with medical care for the cats. If I wanted to pay for medical care, I would have adopted the cats myself. Honestly I feel like essentially forcing me to take action for these animals due to inaction on their part blurs the line of foster cat vs. personal pet and I'm having a hard time with that. I now feel responsible for these kittens and I obviously don't trust the rescue to act in their best interest in terms of their health.
I don't think that the rescue organization is bad or is not willing to care for cats. I get that it is a business that has a bottom line to think about. My husband and I should have clarified the emergency health care treatment with the rescue organization before we took in sick cats. However, I am now wondering if I should continue fostering at all, or should just cut down the fostering to 1 or 2 cats (we currently have four and have agreed to a fifth who is pregnant) at a time to minimize the financial risk.
If anyone has advice to share about fostering ill cats and dealing with cat rescue organizations as a foster family I would greatly appreciate it.
At the end of February we took in two littermates approximately 3-4mos old who had been suffering from exposure and malnourishment. Because they were sick when we got them I was making special food for them every day. We made sure they got their medicine and have taken excellent care of them, including continuing to provide a special food puree daily because they refuse to eat dry food. They are still underweight and look bony.
I contacted the rescue the first week we got them and said I thought they needed to be seen by a vet due to the low weight and ongoing lack of appetite. They came to us with loose stools and that never really resolved. The rescue org told me to just keep feeding soft foods and gave me medicine for the loose stools, which turned out to be an antibiotic meant for a specific gastrointestinal infection, and only in that case would it cure loose stools. I was frustrated because while I know the rescue is trying to save money, given the condition of the cats I felt that they were just throwing general medication that they had on hand at the problem rather than getting the cats treated properly for their health issues.
The rescue never did seem to get that the cats were severely underweight and had scheduled them for spay and neuter surgery this week. It wasn't until I took them in on Saturday to meet a potential adoptive family that the head of the organization saw them and said they were underweight and shouldn't have surgery. I didn't agree with scheduling this week because I thought the cats should be 100% healthy before they underwent any kind of procedure.
The rescue said we needed to do their booster vaccinations on 3/11/16, and we did, but in the back of my mind I wondered if it was a good idea.
On Sunday March 13 both cats became lethargic and basically slept all day. They were hard to wake up and refused to eat or drink. We ended up syringe feeding them liquids and a small amount of food on Sunday night, and again on Monday morning. This time I decided I wasn't going to let the rescue org hem and haw over whether or not to go to the vet, so I scheduled an appointment for them myself with our regular vet (who happens to be an approved vet for the rescue). I felt that rescue cats or not, they were primarily my responsibility and I wasn't going to watch them suffer. Foster animals in my home are not second class animals. If I am primarily responsible for their care then I will take them to the vet.
The upshot of this is that the cats are extremely ill with a systemic viral infection. Their initial condition had probably never resolved and the continuing low weight weakened their immune systems. Their bloodwork showed all kinds of problems with nutrition (anemia, increased liver enzymes, etc) and they were both running fevers of 104 degrees. I ended up paying $500 for all the lab fees, medications, etc., and my husband and I are having to administer subcutaneous fluids with an IV once a day, as well as giving them antibiotics meant to protect against secondary bacterial infections. The vet says if we don't see any improvement on this treatment (which is basically palliative care, not much to be done for viral infections) then we are likely looking at hospitalization. If this turns out to be a certain kind of infection (one that is difficult to diagnose up front) they could die.
We have a big house, we love cats, and we don't mind having several fosters at a time. However, I absolutely mind that the rescue organization seems to be stingy with medical care for the cats. If I wanted to pay for medical care, I would have adopted the cats myself. Honestly I feel like essentially forcing me to take action for these animals due to inaction on their part blurs the line of foster cat vs. personal pet and I'm having a hard time with that. I now feel responsible for these kittens and I obviously don't trust the rescue to act in their best interest in terms of their health.
I don't think that the rescue organization is bad or is not willing to care for cats. I get that it is a business that has a bottom line to think about. My husband and I should have clarified the emergency health care treatment with the rescue organization before we took in sick cats. However, I am now wondering if I should continue fostering at all, or should just cut down the fostering to 1 or 2 cats (we currently have four and have agreed to a fifth who is pregnant) at a time to minimize the financial risk.
If anyone has advice to share about fostering ill cats and dealing with cat rescue organizations as a foster family I would greatly appreciate it.