Adopting Kittens

The kids had been asking for about a year if we could get a cat. While things were a little crazy at home with a baby (Madelyn) and having a dog. I was a little leary about getting another animal. But when we dug up the ivy that was taking over the back yard I started to see little mice running around the yard and not wanting them to make their way into my house I thought ok let's explore this kitty thing!

A friend of mine told me the pet store by her house has rescue cat's for adoption. OK great. We went and they had 2 litters. The lady in the store informed us that getting 2 kittens, if there were no other cat's in the house, would be ideal as they would have a playmate to keep them busy and not get into as much trouble. Sure sure, it's true but I think it was also a great way to scam us into getting two! So we filled out the adoption papers, waited and visited the store often to see the kittens. The girls working in the store assured us that they were holding the two we picked for us and would let them come home with us as soon as the lady who ran the adoption agency approved us. Based on previous adoptions they had supervised they had no reason to think the lady wouldn't approve us. Everything looked great and we even signed the, will not declaw agreement that most people didn't sign.  The kids had named the kittens Rocket and Annie. They were so sweet and the kids were super excited, we even took Samali with us several times to meet her new little friends.

Then we got the call from the lady from the agency. We were not approved. I seriously thought I would cry. We had been visiting these cat's for a week and a half while waiting for this lady to get back from another rescue she had been busy with. When I asked her why she would not adopt to us she said because we had kids. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The girls in the store told us she was one of the few private agencies who adopted to families with kids and even they were surprised. She explained to me that kids didn't know how to treat animals. Now I don't know what kind of kids influenced her in this way but I was determined to convince her that my kids were fine with the kittens. I convinced her to meet with us at the store to observe how the kids were with them. As the day approached I told the kids that the lady probably wouldn't let us have the kittens. They were so upset. I called her and told her that we were no longer interested. I didn't care that she had made a mistake and didn't care to convince her otherwise. I didn't want my kids to be crushed by this woman face to face who already had her mind made up about kids and pets.

So our search continued. Again we checked at the SPCA and they only had adult cats that came with the recommendation of a quiet home with no other pet's or children. For cryin' out loud! So I searched on kijiji in the pet adoption section. There was a charming pic of two brother kittens from a farm. The lady who had several kittens listed wished that these two go together as they seemed so attached to each other. Seeing as we had already been convinced of getting two anyway I went to meet them. We did not tell the kids about them, trying to avoid little broken hearts in case it didn't work out.

When they woke in the morning me and Jonny introduced them to two orange tabby kittens. They were so excited! That day we thought of names for them. Both kids wanted to name them Annie and Rocket still but that didn't seem right to me, especially being that they were both boys. Now if you hadn't already picked up on it Annie and Rocket are characters' from Little Einsteins. Mason quickly chose Leo, also from Little Einsteins. Abby took a little longer before she settled on Moses.

Notice how aggressive my kids are with the kittens
I'm still a little upset about that.

They had their own dish but prefered Samalis.

I believe Leo is the one sitting and Moses is laying down.
They were never too far from eachother.

So there we were, Samali, Moses and Leo. They all got along well and it was not too long after before the kittens started to work out who was the alpha male in the house. Leo took that role on and Samali and Moses quickly obeyed.

This next bit is sad and I'm crying right now just knowing what I'm going to write.

The kittens were five months old and it was thanksgiving weekend. Me and Jonny were going away for 2 nights for the first time since we had Mason, it was looong over due. We scattered our 3 kids. Mason and Samali went with my father in law for the weekend. Abigail went with my parent's and Madelyn went with my sister and her husband. My parent's had gone to check on the kittens who we had left plenty of food and water for, and you have to understand the huge amount of guilt I felt and kinda still do and that my mom felt being that she was the one who had checked on them. So we left Friday afternoon and coming home on Sunday we stopped to get Samali and Mason and headed to my parent's for dinner. From there Jonny went to work for night shift and I headed home with the kids and Samali. When I walked in the door and first saw Leo I knew instantly that something was VERY wrong with him.

He looked like he was deflated. His fleshy hip part was sunk in, his chest would sink in with every breath, his face was grey and he would open his mouth as if to meow and there would be no sound. I called my parent's and asked them to come over. One to stay with the kids and one to come with me to the vet. I wrapped Leo in a towel, he was shivering and smelled of urine. Thankfully my vet is open 24/7 and they could take him immediately. My mom drove while I held our dying kitten.

When we got there they took an x-ray of his chest to see why his breathing was so laboured. His chest cavity was filling with fluid and crushing his lungs. He had FIP Feline Infectious Peritonitis and there was nothing they could do. They told me that they could operate and release the fluid but he was so sick that just prepping him for the surgery would kill him. They suggested that it would be best for him to be put to sleep. I didn't want to be the one to make this decision alone so I called Jonny at work at midnight. I stood in the reception area of the vet sobbing my eyes out explaining to him what was going on and what they recommended doing. Now as irrational as it was I was upset with Jonny for agreeing that we should put him down.

So I went back into the room, held and stroked that poor little kitten who was in so much pain just from trying to breath and was basically suffocating trying. And I watched him slip away after they gave him the needle. He went limp in my hands and I just sat there sobbing and thinking how am I going to explain to my 3 and 4 year old that Leo was dead.

On the drive home my mom tried to comfort me and I stopped crying briefly. I did not sleep that night. I was so lost as to what to tell the kids about Leo. They were familiar with The Rainbow Bridge Poem from when my father in laws dog passed away. I don't believe that animals go to heaven so I knew I could not tell my kids that they would see them in heaven but I felt I could tell them that when they do go to heaven they will go over the rainbow bridge and get to see them one more time.

I also wrote them a letter from Leo. In the letter Leo tells them that he was sick but feeling much better now that he was on the rainbow bridge with Papa's dog. How he wished that they not cry too much for him because they still have Moses and Samali to take care of and love. How he loved his time with them and how kind they were to him and how he loved playing with them.

Honestly it really sucked! I was all cried out and must have scared them because I looked like crap after a night of crying and not sleeping. We cried together and Abby asked questions and Mason was very quiet. Madelyn obviously had no idea what was happening, being that she was just a baby, so she was all smiles and giggles that day which upset Mason. He was upset that his sister could laugh and clap her hands when his kitten had just died. How was he to know that a baby couldn't understand?

Shortly after that Moses, who was intended to be an indoor cat, started escaping the house. The first time this happened it really scared us. But he came home and was fine. He was still a kitten and with the loss of his brother still a fresh wound for us it worried us while he was gone for a day or so at a time. After a year of this and a trip to the vet for a bite Moses got on one of his excursions. The picture to the right is when he got the bite on his tail and needed antibiotics for it and had to wear a cone for 2 weeks. After that the vet suggested that he might be looking for his brother. I'm not kidding when I say these kittens were close. They did everything, it seemed, together. The vet also suggested getting another cat.

I had researched FIP and knew that one cat could potentially be a carrier and cause a new cat to die of FIP. Did we want to chance this or pay the big $$$$ for a test? After finding out how much it would cost and the fact that he got out so much and none of the neighbourhood cat's seemed to be ill we found another kitten. Again from kijiji. We went one evening to get our new kitten.

Mason named him Pretzel and him and Moses became fast friends. They played together and slept together and, grossing us all out, baithed eachother. Maybe they're a little too close!
Pretzel took a little while to warm up to Samali completely. She would sniff him and he would swat at her and send her running back to her bed, poor timid thing. But after a year or so of this they started playing together one day and have now accepted eachother. Or I should say Pretzel is now accepting of Samali.

We still talk about Leo and the fond memories we have of him. But Pretzel has made himself a part of our family and wouldn't you know it, he's the alpha male. Yes our 17lb cat Moses, the vet says he's a big boy, he's thick and she wonders if he may have mancoon in his family line. We have no way of knowing as he was a barn cat, all I know is his mom was bitty, so yes this 17lb beast of a cat is submissive to the little 7lb, full grown mind you, younger cat.




As far as Sequin is concerned I'm sure both cat's would have gone on just fine without her. Moses is hot and cold with her. He will be fine with her one moment, even playing with her, but the next moment he will wack her. She comes right back to him though and he kinda surrenders to her and let's her sniff him. Pretzel is not as open to Sequin. He hisses and does that deep growl when he see's her. She ofcourse thinks this means let's play and charges Pretzel. It's funny though because he will watch her and when she's sleeping he will sneak up and sniff her. I'll find him sleeping in the same spot Sequin recently vacated. At first I thought it was cute, like he wanted to be near her without actually being near her, but now I think he's trying to cover her scent with his own as if that will erase her and the scent she has. I don't know but we'll figure this out as we go. It took Pretzel a while to warm up to Samali so I imagine it will be the same with Sequin.

And that is the happy/sad story of how we came to have our cats.