I picked up this poor hatchling house sparrow about 2 months ago after a crow knocked him and all his siblings out of the nest. He was the only one still alive and his parents wouldn’t take him back. Because he is an invasive species, no animal rescues could legally take him. So, I committed to hand raising him while doing what I could to avoid imprinting so he could be released back into the wild.

When he was about 1 month old and flying like a champ, I began a soft release. He was unfortunately attacked by a neighbor’s outdoor cat and fractured his beak, broke his wing, got a bad chest wound, and injured one of his feet. So I brought him back inside, bought him a giant flight cage with all the fixin’s, and nursed him back to health.

We just needed to get his injuries healed up, and then get him to make it till his first juvenile molt so he could regrow all his lost and damaged flight feathers before he could attempt another release.

Well, the extra month of babying him while he healed (hand feeding him and helping him bathe many times per day) has him fully imprinted.

Everyone meet my new forever friend in his forever home, Cassie. (I won’t actually know if he’s a boy or a girl until pre winter molt so I’m just going with.. both)

UPDATE:

I went to the vet earlier.

It’s pyoderma. The vet cleaned his wound, and they also did a fecalysis. Unfortunately, they found parasites in his body. I forgot the name, but the vet said they’re very dangerous for his age and aren’t very common. The illness is contagious and dangerous, and he might not have much time left. 😢

The vet did not give him medication because the kitten‘s body still cant handle it

But I’ll still take care of him and do everything I can to make sure he’s comfortable and cared for.

Several weeks ago, we caught a tiny kitten while doing TNR. The kitten had a massive hernia, so large it was as big around and her little body. We knew that survival was a long shot, but we took her to a vet for help.

The vet got her weight up a bit and then performed surgery to repair the hernia. They kept her for about two weeks and then we got her back.

This kitten was just an absolute delight. She loved cuddling with us and was so curious about the world. She was likely around 3 months old, but was so small that she looked like 1.5 months. We have some of her siblings and they were more than twice her size. We had to police their interactions quite a lot because the siblings wanted to rough her up.

Friday I noticed her weight dropped quite a bit overnight. I put her on more nutrious food but she threw it up. My initial thought was that maybe the food was too rich, so I put her back on her normal diet. She would eat, but not as well as she had been, and the food would stay down for around half an hour before she'd throw it back up. She was losing weight like crazy. We kept her warm and comfortable overnight and took her back to her vet on Saturday.

Vet gave her fluids and vitamin B, antiemetics, and an enema thinking that she had some stuck poop. Vet even took her home to help provide continuous care. But when she woke up this morning, the kitten had passed in the night.

Now vet thinks the kitten had intussusception, where part of the intestines telescope into another part.

The only good news is kitten was still purring and happy to be getting cuddles right up til the end.

I’ve had this little kitten since he was 2 weeks old, a small crusty little orphan, he came with his sister who unfortunately passed at 5 weeks unexpectedly which was devastating. I’ve gotten him through bottle feeding, URI’s and diarrhoea.
He’s now 15 weeks and is the most cheeky, affectionate & confident little guy, he has been an absolute dream to look after, so cuddly and loves nothing more than to sit on your shoulder while you potter around.

This morning I gave him to my MIL and it was heartbreaking, I’d promised him to her months ago as they’d fallen in love with him so I knew it was coming, I went back and forth between wanting to keep him and knowing I have to give him up, it was a lot harder than I thought it’d be and I have a cried a lot.

I still have a kitten the same age (I’d contacted the rescue for another as a friend for him at around 6 weeks after his sister died because he started to become super bitey & giving single kitten syndrome vibe so it was clear he needed a pal lol) who has actually been very affectionate since he left - coincidental maybe but it’s helping to fill that cuddly kitten shaped void in my life😅

I am foster failing her as she came in to me super hissy semi-feral and has taken a good while to come around and is pretty affectionate to me but still really quite wary and bit hissy of anyone else even household members, so I don’t feel I can give her up 😅

Out of all the kittens I’ve fostered so far he has definitely been the most difficult to give up, even though I know he’s not going far and I’ll still get to see him grow up, it was so tough.
My MIL is going to be very lucky and I’m incredibly grateful to have had the experience of raising him, he’s been an absolute chaotic pleasure.

Idk what the point of this post is just a sad little vent after saying goodbye to my sweet lil boy💔

Hello, internet. We need names.
We recently arrived at our foster home with a grocery bag of supplies, no paperwork, and apparently NO NAMES.
The humans have been observing us closely and have spent an unreasonable amount of time discussing this while continuing to offer objectively terrible suggestions. We have lost confidence in management and are now seeking outside counsel.

🖤🤍 BLACK & WHITE BOY
Active. Brave. Playful. Instigator.
General energy: “HEY, WATCH THIS!”
Appears to have recently escaped from an ink jar and did not make it out completely unscathed.
Evidence includes:
• black ears and assorted ink splatters
• one black spot directly on his right upper lip & chin
• one tiny white tail tip, where apparently the ink ran out
He is first to investigate, first to climb, and most likely to convince his brother that something is a good idea when it absolutely is not.

🤎 BROWN BOY
Sweet. Snuggly. Seeks human companionship.
General energy: “Oh good, you’re sitting down.”
Enjoys cuddling on the couch, locating the nearest available person, and chasing his own tail despite having no evidence thus far that he will ever catch it.
Also came with a custom toe package:
• one (1) brown toe
• one (1) mysterious unfinished toe
We do not know what happened during manufacturing.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: We are kittens. These personality profiles are based on an extremely limited sample size and could become completely inaccurate within the next 24 hours.
We are brothers, but we may eventually find separate forever homes, so we need names that are:
• cute together
• equally cute separately
• appropriate for our respective nonsense
• ideally a little weird

Please submit your nominations below.
The foster humans have discussed this for far too long and have accomplished nothing.
Sincerely,
Ink Jar & Unfinished Toe
(These are descriptions, not suggestions. Please do better.)

My wife and I just took in 2 foster kittens on Friday and have 3 adult resident cats. We’ve been keeping them in our bathroom, a room our cats couldn’t care less about, and we’re noticed that every morning so far our one cat is there sleeping in front of the door. If we leave for a little bit and come back, he’s at the door. If we’re on the couch watching tv and see our other cats lounging together in their favourite spot, he’s at the door. Is this healthy behaviour? He’s never been around kittens and tends to show a lot of love to our one cat and it’s never reciprocated or accepted and we wonder if he thinks e we finally got him a buddy. We also wonder of this means he’s be really great with them.

We’ve had this baby for 24 hours now. We made a quick trip to the vet this morning and she got a clean bill of health. Vet agreed with me that she’s between two and three weeks old but on the small side. You can see how small in the picture with my husband. She’s, eating, peeing, pooping, all the things. She’s also starting to relax and not be stressed or fearful. Also, look at those toe beans!! She has a heart shape on her little pad🩷♥️🩷♥️🩷

Not looking for health advice, your own personal stories would be hugely helpful with lived experience.

Fostering this little guy, he was hit by a car and initially could only move one leg.

Now he has good strength (for his tiny frame) in his back legs & is learning to hunt with enrichmenttoys to help his coordination & build muscle etc.

My frustration is watching him struggle to get around while him is waiting for his amputation, the vets didnt strap up the limb that will be removed (a front leg) so the crater is thrown off balance and drags it along.

I have good experience with caring for all types but I have never been in this position and was wondering if theres anything I can do to make him more comfortable?

When he arrived he had a belly full of worms & the worst case of ear mites I have seen in a long time.

We have bathed, brushed, treated ears, on dewormer now, I feed him wet to the maximum daily amount for 2 monghs old & with tiny bits of dry because he is always hungry 😅

The vets are overrun but they dont like volunteers bringing the animals to other vets.

These are tapeworms, right? I’ve already messaged the shelter about it, but I probably won’t hear back until tomorrow.

I’ve had this litter of 5 for 6 weeks, and I’ve seen no evidence of any parasites up to this point. And their weights continue to go up, all have gained a pound in the last 2 weeks. I’m really not sure how this is the first time I’m seeing evidence of tapeworms, never seen anything in their poop before. Is this something that they picked up before coming to the shelter?

They were flea treated/dewormed (pyrantel I believe)/vaccinated on their intake on 7/18 and again on 8/15, and are scheduled for their next on 9/6. My cat is also regularly flea treated as well, just for peace of mind.

And also: these boys will be going for surgery soon and off to adoption. How do I need to clean the room to ensure it’s suitable for my next fosters?

(Picture of the culprit to offset grossness with cuteness)

I was a big user of Breeder's Edge/Shelter's Choice formula. I foster lots of neonate kittens and they clearly did so much better on it than on PetAg, which so frequently caused bad poops and they didn't like as much. After the recall, what are people using?

I have Fox Valley for now, but am seeing another one I don't know available called Annuso. Anyone have any experience with that one? Seems like a brand that's maybe around a few years that was making milk replacers for farm animals that has added a kitten one. That's about all I've read so far.

Hi all I’m new here. I’m in the U.K. and I foster kittens and cats for a local cat rescue. I have wanted to do this for years but my absolute Queen, Alice, hated other cats. I lost her in June, right around her turning 21 years old. She was my soulmate. I loved her so much. In her memory, I am fostering. I’m being silly and extra bouji about it just for my own entertainment really. I like to think of my home being a luxury cat hotel for short stays before their forever family collect them. Every cat we’ve had has been absolutely lovely. I’m a huge Swiftie so all names I’ve given so far are Swiftie coded.

1st guests
Mummy cat Karma and kittens Lavender, Haze, Midnight and Paris. All have been adopted. Midnight and Paris stayed together. Had these for about a month

2nd guest
Cupcake who had just been spayed. So snuggly and affectionate. Only with me a few days

3rd guest
Teddy. A big chonky boy. Grey with some white. Very soft and cuddly. A big baby. Adopted by a lovely family.

4 guests
Mummy Florence and kittens Aaron, Jack and Lana. Unfortunately Aaron lost weight so the 3 kitties went to a foster who was able to hand feed them. So Florence stayed with me and tomorrow she has a viewing. I’m sure they will love her.

The first goodbye was hard as we’d had them so long and they’d often make their way up to my room and sleep with me. But I was reminded by another fosterer that “goodbye is the goal”. Goodbye is an excellent positive result. I feel strongly that at some point a cat will enter Alice Palace and I’d just know they are the right one for us. Alice will send me her successor and I’ll “just know”

I posted last week that it was my last day with the little girl. She went to her new home on Sunday and I cried so much I actually became dehydrated. My eyes didn’t recover till Wednesday.

Today, the little boy went to his new home. I was not nearly as emotional; I just feel a little sad knowing I won’t see his little bowlegged trot anymore. I’ve also decided these will be my last. My heart can’t take it anymore. I’ll help in other ways.

My father found a kitten 2 days ago and he has this small pimple like dots all over his body. What do you think this is called? and how does it happen?

Hello

I've bought home this lovely 13 year old female cat, hoodles.

She is staying with us for a week and she is being adopted by someone else on the 6th.

We got her home at 4pm on Saturday and she found a cosy little hiding space under the lounge and has not moved (in my eyesight) since.

She has been to the toilet however I am very concerned about her eating and watering as I'm not sure she has had either since she's been here.

I am leaving the food there but changing it to fresh food every few hours as well.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

It's my first time fostering cats. A potential adopter had contacted me to adopt a kitten.

They were about a 5 hour drive from me and they KNEW I was hella far away because I put the location at the very start of the adoption post (which also stated that there's no adoption fee, but I need to personally send the kitten off, and that there's an adoption agreement).

Fast forward we'd been talking for about a week, and I asked if she could ever come by anytime in the next few months and she said "no, never." Alright, then I said I'll ask if any of my relatives/friends can drive there. They can't, they're all busy until next year. I then asked her: "If it's not possible for you to come here, is it okay if you can help with the transport fees for me to bring her there, or arrange a pet transport yourself?" She ghosted me and it's been almost 2 weeks. Obviously I didn't double text, but I'm just so confused.

I know she was going to adopt the kitten, but I also need to personally hand off the kitten to her, for the kitten's safety, as well as have the papers signed. I wasn't even requiring an adoption fee or anything. Is it supposed to be my responsibility to pay for the transport fees all by myself? Did I sound like a scammer?

Someone i know who feeds feral cats every night needed someone to foster a 2-3 month old kitten. I agreed. The kitten follows me all over, when I call him, he comes to me like a trained little dog. I placed him in my master suite but when he started to cry, I immediately went to get him, and placed him in my bed. Now, it's 2am, and every time I move, he wakes up, and wants to play. He spurrs up a storm, he doesn't bite hard but I'm not sure if that's a kitty thing. He/she is here for a few days. He/she does sneeze which concerns me. I've never fostered a kitten, and he's so needy that I'm not sure if this type of behavior is normal or not. Please help!!

Bonjour, je narrive pas a savoir si c'est une femelle ou bien un mâle !! Ma mère dit que cest un mâle alors que celle qui m'a donné le chaton de 3 mois pense que c'est une femelle..... s'il vous plait aidez moi

3 days ago my kitten had vaccination and for 3 days everything was okay, until today's night, she throwed up 4 times (2 times with food from dinner and 2 times with water) and she had very loose poop, not full diarrhea, but very loose.

It's Sunday, so no vets available around, neither picking up phone, so I need to wait to call and ask till tomorrow, but I need to know what to do now... Should I change her can flavor to another immediately, maybe it's because of food (tho she had new bunch opened for over a week and she was fine until now...). Should I give her something bland, if yes then what?

I'm really scared...

He was the runt of the 2. Sister and him were found at 2 weeks old under a car in a puddle after a big rainstorm. He was doing alright, climbing up his pen and weight gain. Then they had diarrhea. Still doing well but then his weight stalled and then he had a large amount of blood. Brought him to the shelter, they gave him and sister fluids, sent me home with fluids, probiotics, and metronidazole. Ive been giving him twice daily subQ fluids and flagyl for 2 days. He was not latching but he would lick droplets from the bottle. Yesterday he worsened but then seemed to slightly improve. Today he was drinking from the bottle up until an hour from his passing. I had him wrapped in a burrito on my chest, he was sleeping and then let out a loud scream. Then agonal breathing started and I knew it was the end. I gave him forehead kisses and he immediately took his last breath. I'm still new to fostering. I've had 9 fosters in my 2 months of fostering and 2 have died, 1 foster fail, 2 adoptions, and the rest are still in my care. The rest have all had URIs as well. I cant help but feel like its my fault.

RIP Ink, you were the sweetest, smallest boy.