Sigh...this seems to be a month of sad stories.
Yesterday, I received a call from Dr Veeranoot. She was crying in between trying to tell me what had happened to the four black kittens she had rehomed to a sanctuary in Segambut and were subsequently adopted by one person.
A little background first - Dr Veeranoot rescued the pregnant mother-cat from Section 17, PJ, because she wanted to provide the cat a safe home to deliver her babies. 6 babies were delivered, safe and sound. Dr Veeranoot looked after the whole family, along with her own adopted cats and all was well until she was required to move from her university quarters to an apartment.
Dr Veeranoot brought all her cats along, but a neighbour started complaining, so she had to rehome some of the kittens. She discussed with me and said the mother-cat, Kwanjt, was still very protective and caring to her kittens. I suggested she leave two kittens behind with the mum, Kwanjit, and rehome four.
We have heard about this cat sanctuary in Segambut and our friends had rehomed some kittens there, so Dr Veeranoot decided she would take the kittens to the sanctuary and check the place out. The day of the visit, she brought the mother, Kwanjit, along to say goodbye to her kittens.
The visit turned out well, Dr Veeranoot was happy with the place and she paid the surrender fee for all the 4 kittens. There were updates from the sanctuary too.
Subsequently, all the four kittens were adopted by a lady from the sanctuary and Dr Veeranoot was very happy. At least they would still be together.
Then....
Dr Veeranoot decided to visit the kittens and she was devastated by what she saw.
The kittens were in a sorry state. The surrender fee she had paid was supposed to have covered vaccinations, but apparently, this was not done. The food she had provided had not been given to the adopter too.
One of the kittens was having diarrhoea and was in a bad physical state.
Dr Veeranoot was completely shaken and shocked and immediately took back this weakest kitten, Thongkon.
She called me and I advised her to take back all three since they were in a bad state already. I immediately contacted Punitha to enlist her help to look for reliable adopters or fosterers for all four kittens. Dr Veeranoot's own kitten, Kwanchai has also been diagnosed with FeLV (and is now on RetroMAD1), so it would be good for her to foster so many kittens. FeLV spreads through saliva.
Now, take a look at the photos....
BEFORE
The whole family when they were with Dr Veeranoot. (the four black kittens were rehomed)
NOW
I would cry too, if I were Dr Veeranoot.
I think you would, too.
It reminds me of what happened to Bobtail and Teddy Bear. Six kittens were given to me for fostering (Prince, Simba, Bobtail, Teddy Bear, Xiao Li and Bandit). I got Prince and Simba adopted, and decided to foster Xiao Li and Bandit as they were the weakest of the lot. Bobtail and Teddy were the stronger ones and were given to a fosterer (he had advertised his services as a fosterer).
I had kept in touch with the fosterer and was told all was well....until it was too late. Suddenly, one morning, he said Bobtail had diarrhoea and was ill. I told him to bring Bobtail to the animal hospital (with emergency call-back). What I saw was shocking. Bobtail was skin and bones and dying.
Bobtail was found to be severely emaciated with suspected food poisoning. He was put on drips and antibiotics. We also took Teddy Bear back immediately and he too was emaciated but in a slightly better state than Bobtail.
I camped at the clinic to nurse Bobtail, but he passed on after 2 days of struggle. It was heart-wrenching, to say the least. You can do a word search on Bobtail and read his story.
I took Teddy Bear back to nurse, and he regained his health after weeks, but came down with a fungal infection, which in turn infected three more fosters, Peanut, Butter and Jelly.
That was a real nightmare for me then.
Finally, Teddy Bear was back on his feet and in the pink of health again. He was adopted along with Xiao Li by a friend whom I could trust. No more strangers, please. I was absolutely paranoid.
So, you see....rehoming IS the HARDEST thing to do, if you asked me. To have given your heart and soul in looking after a helpless animal until it is healthy and to give it away to an unknown person and hope s/he will take care of your animal...we can only hope. Or to give away an animal, based on trust, to a person who CLAIMS to be a fosterer but turns out to be not so....that is so, so heartbreaking.
Recently, Weiwen had to learn it the hard way, and so have I before this. And now, Dr Veeranoot has to endure this heartache.
Isn't it sad?
We cannot adopt so many, so we have to give them up for adoption, but how do we ensure they will be in the best possible care? We can't. We can only use our gut feeling and PRAY.
And sometimes, our gut feeling goes hopelessly wrong and our prayers are not answered.
I spoke to a shelter manager on this issue and he tells me he just has to close both eyes the moment an animal is adopted and hope for the best. With so many animals on his hands, he cannot monitor the proliferation, and even if something bad happens, what then? Take back? Remember Zandy's case? Bruce's case?
Now, we at least take some comfort in knowing that Thongkon and her siblings are still alive and we can still take them back before the worst happens.
We have pledged our financial help in the medical treatment of all four kittens. We have also enlisted Punitha's help in finding them adopters.
Let's pray all will be well from now on.
Life is not perfect, however hard we try. But try, we must.
Note: Dr Veeranoot will take back the three kittens as well, and after that, she will seek clarification from the sanctuary manager.
I am now paranoid and will not dare recommend any sanctuary to anyone. The only sanctuary we have had any direct experience with is Meiji's where she offered to look after 4 of our rescues. All 4 are doing well and given the best of care, medical and physical. That would be Russell, Sweetie, Jackie and Doby. We thank our guardian angels for Meiji.
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