My fosters are finally ready :)

[lausa]

Iris is just so adorable!!

[Venusworld21]

Helios came back because of litterbox issues. He had used it fine with me, but wasn't using it in his new home. He was a very nervous guy, so I think it was stress related. He's had 3 accidents since being back here, but none at all in the last 3 weeks and has moved into the house full time (he was staying in the garage). He's gotten to the point where he really seems to like and trust people (even strangers) so I really think his problem was nerves related. He's much more outgoing now, and hasn't had any accidents recently, so is back up for adoption.

[my5kitties]

I'm curious. If Helios ends up having litterbox issues again because of nerves and you get him back again, will you just keep him? If he doesn't have issues with you but does in other homes then I'd think he'd be better off with you.

[Venusworld21]

I don't know what I would do if he comes back again. His first home he went to with his brother, and he was a very nervous guy. When he came back, he was much less nervous, but still really jumpy. He's calmed down tremendously in the last month or so and I really think he'll be "okay" now. I screen homes differently for each of my cats....Ivan went to a house with a somewhat rowdy 5 year old and a woman who had never owned cats before but is very willing to learn and take advice. He's a rowdy kitten himself and "durable" enough that won't be a problem for him. For Helios, I am screening for a quiet home, no small children, no other pets, preferably indoor/outdoor, previous cat experience. He doesn't have all that here with me. I think it will work wonders for him. I've had two emails so far that sound promising.

If he comes back again, it depends on what the problem is. If it is a "relapse" he may need to stay with me. If it just doesn't work out for some other reason (allergies, moving, personality) I could try rehoming him again, or as an outdoor only cat, or depending on the time frame (we are trying to buy land and build a bigger house, which will influence how many cats we can have), we may end up keeping him.

At this point it depends mostly on him. I'm screening for a specific home for him, but it'll be up to him what happens next. No matter what, I will always take any of my fosters back at any point in their lives for any reason. I am a permanent safety net for them. Of course my goal is to do what's best for them, so if that's what he needs, that's what he'll have. I don't think he's so "damaged" that he'll need to stay here forever though. He had a specific problem and I think we've got it fixed. Only way to know for sure though is to try it out.

[Venusworld21]

Igor did get adopted this past weekend, so it is just Helios left here with us now. Here's a pretty recent photo:

[Venusworld21]

Helios was just adopted by a nice lady and her grandma, so that's all of my fosters adopted, for now. Yay, Helios!

[spirite]

What a great job you did! And I hope Helios has really found his forever home!

[Venusworld21]

Me too! I explained to them exactly what's been going on with him, they signed my contract, and I told them at least 4 times that he is welcome back with me if for ANY reason they cannot keep him. They only live about 15 minutes away and I have both their email and phone #s, so I should be able to keep track of him. He's the only pet right now and will eventually be indoor/outdoor (they know he has to stay indoors only for a while to get used to his new surroundings first). It's as good a fit as I think he'll find and I'm very pleased with it.

Now I'm just nervously hoping he does as well as he should. I told her I'd email to check in after a few days. Fingers crossed he behaves himself.

[MyBabiesDaddy]

Great job Venus Iris looked like such a little princess, very cute!!! Out of curiosity, was that their mom in the first pic? Was she also fixed after she had the kittes?

Also, to address the poster who asked about neutering/spaying so young; the vet who did the "pediatric" neutering at my shelter did it when they were very young as well. I've read that some vets don't do it because they feel it leads to more UTI's later in life. I read that after around 8 weeks of age, neutering the males doesn't effect their growth anymore, so it's ok to do.

[Venusworld21]

Yep. Their mom wasn't spayed at the same time as the kittens because she was pregnant again. The backstory: my coworker's mother had a shop full of unaltered cats. I was unable to persuade her to fix them, so after 6 months I went out and collected as many as I could catch (she didn't want to deal with it and granted me ownership of all but one. I ended up with Lucy the gray tabby and her 3 kittens and Tootsie the black DSH and her 6 kittens. (There were 14 cats all together...I couldn't catch the last 3, but am still trying.)

Tootsie's kittens were 3 weeks old when they came here. Cats can get pregnant as soon as 48 hours after giving birth. Tootsie was already pregnant when she came here (none of my guys are equipped and she did not leave my house). Her kittens were all spayed/neutered November 8th, but because Tootsie was so far along by then, we decided to let her have the babies and then get her spayed. She ended up aborting on her own, so she was spayed a few days before Christmas. Merry Christmas Tootsie! She'd had 5 or 6 litters in as many years and seemed thoroughly sick of being a milk trough.

She's a happy girl now, running the house. She's going to go back to her people (they're paying me back for her surgery) and going to be an outdoor kitty again, so I'm not in a hurry to send her back. I'm dawdling until the weather warms up a bit...probably March-ish. They aren't in a hurry to have her back and Tootsie is really enjoying being a pampered princess in the mean time.