Adoption Event

This post is admittedly part update, part rant.

I’ve said this several times: everyone wants a kitten. They’re cute, tiny, imprintable. Yet don’t people know that this is not a permanent state? Your kitten turns into an adult. Then you don’t want it. Then it’s at an adoption event, competing with the adorable little kittens.

We don’t have kittens year-round. Obviously mating season affects this. Imagine how tiring it gets when people come by and ask “where are your kittens? do you have any kittens? I want a kitten.” Imagine how exasperating it is when even the store manager is asking this question. After all, their store customers want kittens, adoption rates affect their bottom lines too.

So imagine how much more vexing it is when you have two adoption events in a row, with kittens, and NO ONE gets adopted. Here are alllll those kittens you all wanted, where are all of you now?!?

Even better: “oh, we’ll probably come back to adopt a kitten in a month.” Guess what? Your kitten eventually turns into an adult. Those kittens you held off to adopt will be adults in a few months, and then magically, you won’t want them anymore.

Okay okay. I should stop now. But believe me, I’m not the only one in cat rescue that feels this way.

This past Saturday was our adoption event. Unfortunately, Manhattan had been displaying signs of an upset stomach or obstruction; he couldn’t keep any meals down. About an hour after eating, he’d inevitably vomit all of his meal’s contents. While my husband and friend set up for adoption, I brought him to Hayfield Animal Hospital. They took xrays, and couldn’t see anything he might’ve eaten wrong. His stomach was very full, so the vet was curious as to why he couldn’t pass anything through his stomach.

The vet decided he should be isolated so that we could watch his vomiting and bowel movements before turning to invasive exploratory surgery or anything. So far, he’d managed to keep chicken baby food (the kind you feed human babies) in small quantities.

At the adoption event, we had 7 kittens and 3 adults.

In addition to Mimosa, Martini, Mojito, and Mai Tai, Hayfield Animal Hospital had 2 black kittens and Eros, one of the 3 kittens I’d fostered at my home before. Bruiser and Kalliope had been previously adopted at the Animal Hospital.

The grey cat pictured above is Sebastian. About 2-3 years old, Sebastian came from a hoarder situation. He was incredibly scared to be there. Again, these kinds of cats don’t show well. But he was a sweet guy.

Since no one was adopted, Martini Mimosa and Mai Tai were sent to a Luv-A-Pet station further South in VA. There was available space there so hopefully they’ll have luck. Mojito was beginning to have a red eye, so we decided to hold her back with Manhattan while they both recover.