Here We Grow Again!

It wasn't planned--honest! Yes, I've done it again--not another dog though. The newest junior Team Zero Gravity team member is Brody, a 10 week old kitten adopted from Floyd County Animal Control (FCAC) in Rome, GA. This is actually the same shelter that Daisy was pulled from by rescue.

FCAC is an animal control shelter in a rural county in northwest Georgia. They don't get many people coming through to adopt. They have LOTS of people coming in with strays and even more owner surrenders. It's very sad. They are overrun with cats and kittens right now. There are a couple of rescues who have been pulling cats & kittens from FCAC. They have pulled so many over the last few weeks that they really couldn't take many this past week. That means LOTS of cats & kittens would likely be killed.

All animals "redlined" (meaning time is up) must be out of the shelter by 5pm Tuesdays. The shelter is closed on Wednesdays because that's the day the kill the redlined animals. Sorry, I am no longer using the words "put to sleep" when talking about animals killed at shelters.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, a photo came across my facebook feed from an awesome page called Urgents Cats of Floyd County Animal Control. This page was started and is maintained by a dedicated small group of volunteers who try their hardest to get photos and pleas out there for the cats & kittens at FCAC. The photo that came across was of a young kitten who looked EXACTLY like my PJ was he was a kitten.

Kitten at FCAC

 

PJ as a baby

My heart overruled my head. I called FCAC to see if he was still available. He was but they don't hold animals for anyone. I headed out the door for the 1:15 drive to Rome, GA. Wouldn't you know it, but a rescue group pulled him 30 mins before I got there.

Ok, so I'm already there and there's kittens everywhere. There were 3 adorable white kittens screaming and climbing all over each other trying to reach me through the bars. I held them and all they wanted was love.

There was an adorable bobtail tabby right next to them who tried squeezing through the cage bars to get me. Fortunately for me, none of these kittens was available yet for adoption. They had just come in. Some of them are available for adoption NOW as I write this. One of the white kittens got adopted and the bobtail got adopted. The other 2 white ones and plenty of others still needing saving--either through a rescue group or by direct adoption.

Anyway, back to my story. So I saw a little black paw coming out between the cage bars. I walked over the the cage and saw an adorable black kitten.

Brody at FCAC

I opened the cage door and he practically jumped into my arms. The girl at the shelter told me he was redlined and on the list to be killed Wednesday. I promptly replied I would take him. Once the paperwork was completed and I was on my way home, I started trying to come up with a name. Out of nowhere pops the name Brody. So Brody it is. I took him straight to my vet as it was obvious he had an upper respiratory infection (feline URI).

Once home, I moved him into the guest bathroom for his quarantine. I want him to get well AND I don't want PJ to get sick. I did not realize that feline URI was a type of herpes virus (not transferable to humans or dogs, but highly contagious to other cats). Once a cat is infected, they are a carrier for life. An outbreak can be set off by stress or other illness. My vet gave me Viralys which is L-Lysine for cats and helps with feline URI.

Brody has been a resident of the guest bathroom for several days now.

His URI symptoms seem gone. PJ walks by that door several times a day and either is oblivious (which is possible since he is 18) or doesn't care (which is my hope). He absolutely doesn't like other adults cats. I honestly don't know how he'll feel about a kitten which is why I HAD held off on getting any cats/kittens. That is up until now...

Now, the DOGS know he's here. They are dying to get to him. I don't trust them though right now with a little kitten. Even when Brody comes out of quarantine, he'll be moving into a large cat condo cage I have for his own safety and PJ's sanity.

The next several months should be interesting! I really am done now :) Sigh, what can I say.