12/23/2025
This is a topic i feel very passionately about.
This is not the first rescuer to completely ignore a potential illness outbreak. I strongly agree that people should make an attempt to visit & learn who they are truly supporting BEFORE working with them, sending donations, or helping them.
It’s very easy to get wrapped up in all the calls for help & all the financial stress & responsibilities.
It’s relatively easy to become a rescue.
Make a page for free, pay like 40$ for a website, throw on a few free Google reviews & you could also pay the under 300 app fee for a 501c3.
Nobody visits the facilities first. Nobody randomly checks on you. If you call a humane officer on someone, they can just not answer the door!
Having the mindset of “doing nothing until a cat is actively sick” is signing a death sentence.
KNOWING a cat is sick & refusing to do anything is the exact same thing as killing a cat yourself. The outcome Is the same.
And especially if you IGNORE symptoms or refuse to look at the bigger picture. It’s possible to have sudden unexplained deaths. Congenital issues are very common, especially in young litters. But if one kitten passes, then two… something should click in your brain saying something isnt rifht here & actively do something about it.
You can run bloodwork, snap tests, start ruling things out. Yes thats usually a few hindred dollars to start… i cant even recall how mych we spent on the L litter. We lost the first boy, then leo got sick and my gut told me its related to his brother. I IMMEDIATELY got the surviving brother in for bloodwork & we confirmed the litter suffered from renal failure… BUT because we acted quickly, BEFORE SERIOUS SYMPTOMS APPEARED, Landon is still with us today & hes a happy & sweet boy! If i had done nothing its guaranteed he wouldve suffered the same fate as his brothers. And yes i wish we had found out sooner, but i acted the minute things seemed strange & even saving the one life was worth the insane vet bills.
I don’t play about the health of our cats. I quarantine longer than most protocols. We run multiple fecals if that’s what’s needed before any cat is leaving quarantine. If there’s even a potential concern for calicivirus, panleuk, coccidia, Giardia, ANYTHING, immediate quarantine until I’m proven otherwise.
I dont enjoy the constant unexpected 500$+ vet bills. But i would rather panic & be WRONG, than do nothing and hope for the best.
When youre dealing with a living being, such as cats, & even dogs, it’s so important that you act as quickly as possible.
I also understand that confirming a vet diagnosis also makes it very real for the rescuer, and it’s not fun panicking until the doctor comes back and tells you otherwise. And a huge punch in the face when they come back with bad news.
But thats part of this work.
It’s not fun to shut down for 30 days. I was in an absolute hell state of mind. I was scared to do anything because one wrong move could have killed a cat. We made it thru panleuk with only the death of one kitten, and that was the original who tested positive. I had to do it on my own since volunteers couldnt help!
I’m very lucky to be able to say that because that’s very usually not the case! We since keep panleuk snap tests on hand at all times.
The symptoms are often very sudden, but if you take action the minute you suspect something, it’s possible they will survive. Even if they dont, you HAVE to try to save them!
I also know that congenital issues are often undetected until its too late. Sometimes there are no symptoms prior to a sudden passing. Sometimes by the time they seem off, they stopped eating breakfast, they pass before lunch. Sometimes things happen & nobody is at fault. Sometimes you dont even realize something was a symptom until after the fact. I learned pale ears is a sign of anemia after cosmo suddenly passed out of the blue. I wouldnt have known to look for that prior. I do now tho.
I also know that things take a toll on cats bodies. Prolonged dehydration, starvation, exposure to elements for long periods is all it takes for them to lose their battle on earth.
But if they fought hard & long enough to make it to my rescue, im gonna do my best to save them, or help them pass over peacefully.
Im not saying it’s not possible to miss any signs, or if you have an unexplained sudden death that it automatically means caretaker error. We are all human and cant be perfect all the time. But anytimes i have lacked in any way, missed a red flag or symptom, i do my best to learn from it. Sometimes human action isnt enough & sometimes it’s just Mother Nature taking its course.
I also know we are all understaffed & for us especially, i cant be multiple places at once, and we do have cats in multiple locations. I cant monitor all cats at all locations every minute. I also cant handle more than one emergency at once & sometimes have to prioritize things over others. I do my best for doing the jobs of 15 people everyday. I also rely a lot on what im told & what i witness when im at these extra locations.
No matter what, the health, happiness, & wellbeing of our kitties is & will always take priority.
I make sure to really watch out for over drinking, extra full litter boxes, eating habits, personality changes, to this day we dont know what happened to a few of our kitties who passed suddenly. But i did learn ways to monitor & things to look for moving forward, which will probably save lives of other kitties.
But if you’re a rescue who ignores things or takes action only after symptoms are screaming in your face, then i strongly encourage you to leave rescue completely or learn from your mistakes and do better.
And for as long as the public continues supporting rescues like this one mentioned, cats will continue to suffer.
And something people don’t realize also, is how many other cats were exposed. Whether at a spay clinic, vet office, adopters house, meet & greets, transporters.
So if rescues continue operating this way, someone who is taking their beloved pet to get fixed or volunteering to transport a sweet rescue kitty, has now put their own animals at risk.
There trully needs to be more accountability for rescuers. Visit their place. Meet the cats. Ask them questions. Ask for proof. It’s okay to ask someone what their protocols are. A solid rescuer will answer without hesitation because we all should have protocols we follow.
I know that we have dozens of local rescues because we all do things differently & in our own way. “Fully vetted” to one rescue is a complete different meaning to another. Hence why adoption process & adoption fees vary.
But if you take anything from this, I encourage everyone to ask questions, the care of the cats speaks volumes.
Especially if you’re a trapper, adopter, fellow rescue teaming up on a hoarder case / you work with rescuers to take your kitties, I hope this makes you think about who you work with, adopt from.
Visit the location. Ask a million questions. If your gut tells you something isn’t right, it isn’t.
We all know how u can clean a kennel and 5 mins later it’s destroyed. We also know how quickly litter boxes fill up, especially after meds & wet food😂 and how easy it is for all hell to break lose, especially in the playroom.
Our cats have flooded, mudded, and tore up our playroom multiple times on accident & it’s impossible to keep most kennels clean 24/7. I have literally cried dozens of times & have to collect my sanity or call in reinforcements to handle a mess here & there. Thats just part of rescue sometimes. I wish i had a few hours before everyone makes a mess😂 but if youre in cat care, u know exactly what i mean😂😂 it’s the most time consuming part of my day. I re-clean the same messes over and over for hours everyday. Some days are far worse than others. But its what happens when a cat is confined to a kennel or many teens get together & cause shenanigans😂
But theres a difference between all hell broke lose messes & letting them sit in literal s**t. Ive definitely visited places that were concerning & youd never know just by looking at their facebook.
There’s a difference between a hoarder, cat flipper, & a rescue. It’s important to know who you’re supporting.
