:whispering - sorry for interrupting (and for borrowing light's writing style which is so enjoyable to read!):
WRITE - don't know if you were planning to go to a local shelter - just wanted to warn you to be careful. 2 weeks ago, my daughters convinced us to get them some kitties (still not sure how this happened other than there was some talk of wanting rodents of some sort). We went to the local shelter, and they picked out 2 beautiful babies.
Turns out those 2 little kitties were very, very sick. Almost lost them. First they vet prescribed some disgusting pink liquid medicine that I had to squirt in their mouths, which caused them to foam at the mouth and leave copious amounts of pink-tinged kitty spit all over the floor, so they switched them to the pill form of this medicine, which I had to toss down their throats all the while holding their mouths open (poor kitties), then they needed eye medicine, then they got sick on the first medicine and we had to switch to another medicine, one of them refused to eat so we had to get prescription food that I had to force her to eat every 2 hours or so (and if you have ever tried to coat the roof of a cat's mouth with smelly, slimy cat food - you will know it has not been an easy couple of weeks for me or the poor kitty).....in total, those 2 little kitties cost us almost $1000.00 in 2 weeks (and we still need to have them inoculated and fixed).
They are now doing great, which is a miracle as the vet thought that they were not going to make it.
It wasn’t the shelter’s fault, they are doing the best they can, but they have no money for routine vet checks. They also keep all the cats together, so disease is rampant (found that out a little late).
I don’t know if you have any PetSmart pet stores where you are, but they sponsor pet adoptions. The cats are vet checked, inoculated, fixed, and fostered in homes (rather than a shelter) so the risk of disease is far less, and you can get an idea of the temperament of the cat before you bring it home.
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Lighter – I am so glad (for you and your kids) that you are able to find those happy moments and can count your blessings in the midst of the Nmadness (not an easy thing to do).
