Found cat/kittens update - ADOPTED!

Around 4pm on Friday April 4th, I told Karel that I wanted to spin my legs. Typically Friday’s are my swim-only days but it was warm and sunny outside and I was itching to be outside. I rarely ride my bike on a Friday afternoon but when I do an easy spin by myself, I typically ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. However, something was pulling me to ride up and over Paris Mountain so I told Karel I was going to ride my bike on our Paris Mountain loop. I left a little after 4pm and headed up the mountain.

After 1.6 miles, I was nearing the top of the 2-mile climb and I was looking forward to a fast descent to the other side of the mountain. As I was climbing, I was shocked to see a small cat and two kittens in a muddy ditch on the side of the mountain. The cats didn’t move when I stopped as they all seemed to be in shock by the situation.

I quickly called Karel and told him the situation. He was planning to go for a swim that evening but he stopped what he was doing at home and drove the car with a cat carrier and food and water. Of note, this is not the first time that I have found and rescued cats on the side of the road so Karel knows the drill.

I sat on the side of the road while I waited for Karel and told the cats that they would soon be safe. Around ten minutes later, Karel arrived with the carrier. Another older man stopped and offered help when Karel arrived.

We were worried about catching the momma and kittens but they were so tired and in shock that they didn’t move. It was very easy to scoop each of them up and put them in the carrier in the car.

It was nearing 5:30pm and our vet closed early on this day so we stopped by a vet in Traveler’s Rest to see if the momma cat had a chip. She was scanned and no chip registered. We noticed that the momma cat had an indentation around her neck which appeared to be from a tight collar or flea collar. At this point, we made the assumption that the momma cat and her two kittens were dumped on the side of Paris Mountain.

We made a stop at the store for kitten food and while Karel was in the store, the kittens started to nurse on momma. My heart hurt for what the kittens and momma had gone through but I assured them that they would be safe, loved and well-taken care of for the rest of their life. 

We took the cats back to our house and quickly cleaned out our upstairs workout room and turned it into the “cats room.” We didn’t let our cats interact with the new cats. Momma and kittens now had blankets, a scratch post, beds, toys, water, food and a litter box and a safe room. We gave them time to decompress (and eat). 

Over the next few days we had a good routine going with our 4 cats, Sunny and our three new fosters. The fosters ate three times a day. We played with them several times throughout the day. We tried to introduce them to different people so that they would become more social. Momma cat was an exceptional mom and taught them how to use the litter box and how to behave. They were pooping and peeing machines - all with healthy digestive systems and no worms. Momma cat was very accepting of pets and enjoyed the company whereas the kittens were a bit timid, but very playful. We would often hear the kittens playing while we were downstairs and it was amazing how two tiny kittens could make so much noise. 

A week later we had an appointment at the Humane Society to get the kittens and momma vaccinated. However, when we arrived, we were told that we couldn’t get them vaccinated because we didn’t have them for 10-days, which is the time that they would be ‘officially’ my cats. We were upset that we couldn’t get them vaccinated because we were eager to start the process of trying to get them homes. We did, however, get their ears cleaned as they were filled with ear mites. The kittens were approximately 8 weeks of age and 1.8-2 lbs. Momma was predicted to be between 10-12 months old (very young for a momma!) and 5 lbs. Otherwise, all three kitties were healthy. We were also told that the two kittens were girls - a family of strong, determined females who fought hard to live. Anytime the kittens were in the carrier with momma (to and from the Humane Society), they tried to nurse for comfort. Momma wasn’t letting them nurse back in their room at home. 

Knowing that we couldn’t keep these three adorable cats, we started the process of trying to find them homes. We posted on social media and passed the word around to friends. If needed, my next steps were to post on websites like Petfinder or Adoptapet. My hope was that I could find people that I knew well to adopt the cats (instead of strangers).

A friend reached out to me and mentioned that her husband owns a vet (Oasis Animal Hospital) and they offer kitten vaccinations and spay/neuter specials on Wednesdays. On April 23rd, we took in the kittens for their vaccinations and momma got spayed. They did a great job taking care of everyone.

Thankfully, the word was passed around and I was able to find homes for all three of our kitties.

After three weeks of taking care of the two kittens and the momma, they went off to their forever homes. I cried as it was hard for me to say goodbye but I knew it was the right thing to do. And I am comforted by the fact that all of these kitties are getting spoiled by their new owners and will live a healthy and happy life without a worry in the world.

                                                                                -----------

Momma (who is now named Clementine or Clemmy) was adopted by my friend/athlete Ruthanne who recently said goodbye to her 18-year old cat. Clemmy loves watching the birds, playing with her fuzz ball and cuddling in the lap of her new mommy. 

Kitten 1 (who is now named Kismet) was adopted by Karen in Pennsylvania. 

A big thank you to my friend Allison who connected me with Karen (a friend of a friend) and drove Kitten 1 up to Pennsylvania to hand deliver to Karen. Karen said goodbye to her 18-year old cat a few months ago and has been actively looking for a boy kitten but fell in love with kitten 1. Kismet is now getting more rubs than she could ever imagine and loves playing with her toys. 

Kitten 2 (who is now named Tele) was adapted by Rachael, who lives outside of Greenville. Leslie (who runs the Greenville Splash) teaches Rachael’s son and Rachael grew up with cats and has been wanting a kitten over the past few years and now was the right time to bring one in. Tele is the queen of the house and loves exploring new places. She demands treats and gets lots of attention from her new furever family. 

Thank you to everyone who reached out and spread the word about momma and kittens. 

Please consider making a donation to a local animal rescue or shelter as it is “kitten season.” From March until October, shelters and rescues experience a significant increase in the number of kittens entering their care. And do your part by spaying and neutering your animals to help with the ever-increasing number of dogs and cats entering shelters. If you have a stray/feral/outdoor cat roaming around your property, consider a local TNR program.

The newest addition: Meet Asher

 

On the morning of August 12th, 2021, I found myself with a ton of anxiety. Campy was scheduled for his teeth cleaning, which meant he would be anesthetized. As a 14-year old senior dog, we weighed all the pros and cons and decided this was the best option for Campy as it may also be the last time we could safely put him under. I was so nervous and could hardly sleep the night prior. 

Around 7:15am, Campy and I left the house to drive ten minutes down the road to our vet (Poinsett Animal Hospital). After turning on to Poinsett Hwy and approaching the main campus to Furman, I noticed a small black ball of fur on the shoulder of the road near the median. I didn't think too much of it as my mind was so worried about Campy and it looked to be too small to be an animal. 

After dropping Campy off, I had almost forgotten about the black ball of fur until I saw it again on the other side of the road (in the same place) as I was driving home. As I approached the light to make a left turn on to Roe Ford, something in my gut told me to go check it out. When the light showed a green arrow, I made a quick u-turn and drove in the left lane (closest to the median) until I got close to the black ball of fur. 

The kitten was curled in a ball by the yellow line. 

I pulled over to the side of the road and put on my flashers. Since I was somewhat blocking traffic, I quickly got out of the car and approached the ball of fur. Before I even had a moment to see what it was, I scooped it up and immediately felt it moving in my hands. 

It was a kitten!

The kitten started crying and I told it everything would be ok. Once I got back into my car, another girl stopped as she must have also saw it on the side of the road. She checked to see if there were any other kittens (or a mom cat) and sadly, this kitten was all alone. 

I called Karel on my way home and told him the situation. I held the kitten close to my chest to keep it warm and kept telling it that everything was ok and that it was safe. The kitten kept crying during our quick ride home. 

When I pulled up in our driveway, Karel came out and he couldn't believe how tiny the kitten was in my hands. Our neighbor was outside and she came over (she used to be a vet tech) to help us out. I called the vet and asked if it was possible to bring in a kitten that I just found when it was time to pick up Campy. They said absolutely. I felt like this kitten was the perfect distraction for me as Campy got his teeth cleaned. Thankfully all went well and Campy did great during his procedure. 

During the checkup, the kitten got a clean bill of health. His eyes were still developing so he couldn't see that well and his ears were still folded. Little did we know all that we needed to do to take care of this little guy. 

We needed to bottle feed him formula in a bottle every few hours for the next two weeks and also simulate this genital region so he would pee and poop. Thankfully we didn't have any trips planned for the next few weeks so we were able to give this kitten the attention he needed. 

While we didn't plan on getting another kitten, we fell in love with him immediately. Although Madison and Ella were not very happy with this new kitten in the house, they both quickly welcomed him into our furry family. 

Surprisingly, this kitten had no health issues and really took to the bottle. It took some time for him to learn how to use the right muscles to poop but Sylvi, being such a great big bro, taught him how to use the liter box and was the first one to show him love. 

We named this kitten Asher which in Hebrew means happy and blessed. 

Asher was no more than two weeks old when he came into our life. It was incredible to see him grow, develop and learn over the first few weeks with us. He had the most beautiful blue eyes. He has been a lot of fun and he loves Ella and Sylvi. They both take such good care of him and they all love to play (and snuggle) together. He recently got neutered and he is such a fun, wild, playful and happy kitten. 

He loves to play and he has the most adorable squeak that he makes when he gets excited. He recently learned how to jump on to tables and counters, how to drink from the faucet (Madison taught him this) and he loves kneading and sleeping in Campy's bed. Campy isn't comfortable with any of the cats (except Ella) so anytime Sylvi comes close to Campy, Campy gets up and walks away. Maybe one day Asher will win over Campy's heart. Asher does not like wet food (only dry food) and loves to talk to us in his own sweet language of crying and squeaking. 

We are so lucky that all of our cats get along and that we have the means (and help) to take care of our furry family of five. 

The story of Sylvi

 

It was Friday morning, September 18th, 2020. With my swimsuit on under my clothes at home, it was nearing 7:30 and I was ready for our morning swim. But Karel suggested that we run instead of swimming. Since we had a 2.4 mile open water swim event the next day, I welcomed this change in our normal routine. 

I changed into my run gear and did a mobility routine before heading outside. Karel left around 30 minutes before I did so I had no idea what route he was planning to run (although we both had a similar interval workout). 

Without a clear idea of which route I would run, I started running on one of my go-to run routes before heading on to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Typically I stay on the road (for the terrain changes) but for some reason, my legs took my on the Swamp Rabbit Trail towards Traveler's Rest. I hardly ever run that way but something told me to go in that direction. 

As I started my main set of intervals, I noticed in the distance that a few people were looking into the bushes on the right of the trail (near the main road). As I got closer, I saw a small white-ish kitten in the bushes. I stopped briefly but didn't want to scare it so I kept on running. For the next few minutes, I couldn't stop thinking about this kitten. 

The pile of bushes/limbs where the kitten was hiding. 

I turned around at the next intersection (the light by the post office in TR) and told myself that if the people were gone, I would try to get the kitten. For some reason, I felt in my heart that I really needed this kitten. I had mentioned to Karel several times that we should consider getting Ella a playmate (since Madison is 12 years old than Ella). I guess putting that thought into the universe brought me to this kitten. 

Another family was there trying to get the kitten but after no luck, they walked away. By the time I returned to the spot, there was no one around. I had never caught a kitten in a pile of bushes and limbs before so I wasn't sure what to do. All I knew was that I didn't want to scare it and have it run towards the road. 

After nearly 20-minutes of sitting quietly, listening to the kitten cry and trying to get the kitten to earn my trust, I had no luck catching it. I figured I needed some help so I called Karel. 

The phone rang a few times and as soon as Karel picked up - before I said a word - he said "did you get the kitten???"

Apparently, he ran the exact same route as me and saw the kitten a good 20-minutes before me. He was actually getting ready to head back out on the trail on his bike to see if he could catch the kitten with some food. I told Karel to drive to the nearest parking lot and to come find me. I told him that we are bringing this kitten home and not leaving until we catch him. 

Almost 10 minutes later (and nearly 30 minutes sitting with this kitten), Karel arrived with a paper plate and wet food. Karel sat the food down and the kitten immediately went toward the plate. Karel tried to grab it but missed. We both thought that would be our last chance to get the kitten. But the kitten was starving and couldn't resist the food. Karel kept his hand close to the plate and with one more attempt, he grabbed the kitten and was able to pick it up. However, the kitten was so scared that it bit Karel and stuck all his nails into his skin. Karel said it felt like his nails hit his bones. But Karel wasn't going to let go. Before we left, we made sure there were no other kittens or a momma cat around. 

I took off my run top and wrapped up the kitten in Karel's arms and we walked as fast as we could back to the car. We then drove home and safely put the kitten in our master bath. 

The kitten was so scared and it quickly climbed up the back of my dresser and into my clothes. Seeing how frail and boney he was, we knew he needed more food. We gave him more food in one of my drawers (where he was hiding) and he ate it so quickly...and then fell asleep. 

He looked to be only a few months old but very malnourished and scraped up from being in the bushes. We turned our master bath into a "kitten" room and kept the kitten there for a few days until we could make a vet appointment. We were a bit nervous to introduce this kitten to Madison (our oldest cat) but we were even more nervous about Ella and whether or not she would accept this new kitten. 

When Sylvi first met Ella. 

After a few days, this kitten finally had a name (and a gender). His name is Sylvi. 

Sylvilagus aquaticus is another name for The Swamp Rabbit (which is where we found him - on the Swamp Rabbit Trail). We call him Sylvi (which is short for Sylvester). 

After Sylvi got the OK from the vet that he was in good health and received his first set of vaccines, it was time for Ella and Sylvi to meet. It was an instant connection and they have been best buds every since. We love Sylvi's left arm - we call it his tattoo sleeve. 

Sylvi is the sweetest, most loving cat. He has the most expressive eyes. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body and he has never hit, hissed or bitten us (well except for Karel when he caught Sylvi). Sylvi has so much love to give but he is extremely timid and scared of strangers. He is always on alert and his ears are either up or down when he is scared. He likes to be up high on the cat post or on the top of the stairs (or staircase) or he likes to be under the bed or under a blanket. He loves to play with his toys (and strings) and he is perfectly happy playing with himself. We still remember when he was in the master bath and we would be going to sleep listening to him play with his toys all by himself. He loves to knead on us (and on soft blankets) and he does the cutest thing with his head where he will rub it on my leg as he curls into a ball. Ella loves snuggling and playing with Sylvi - they are the best of friends. His only downside is that he is obsessed with food. He is constantly hungry and treats every meal like it's his last meal. He has so much love to give and he is very special to us. 

It was the perfect series of events that brought us to Sylvi and we are forever grateful that he came into our lives. We love him so much and we thought our furry family was complete.......until I found Asher a year later. 

Here are a few of the many pics that I have of our sweet Sylvi. 

Ella, welcome to the family.

On August 25th, 2019, we added a new furry member to our family. However, technically our new kitten did not yet belong to us. Here's the emotional story of our sweet Ella.

On April 30th, 2019, we said good-bye to our 16-year cat named Smudla. Karel had a really difficult time moving on from the loss of his long-time companion but the sight of any kitten would quickly bring a smile to his face. While nothing could replace the love that he had for Smudla, it was in early July when Karel brought up the idea of getting a new feline family member. I was a bit hesitant as I wasn't sure how Campy and Madison (the seniors in the house) would feel about this new addition.

One day in mid August, I was texting with an athlete/friend of ours who lives outside of Atlanta Georgia and fosters kittens. I mentioned to her that when we get back from Kona, we would like to adopt one of her rescue kittens. Karel was interested in a grey kitten and when I mentioned this to our friend, she replied back that she has a grey female kitten right now. Of course, we needed a picture immediately.

At that moment, we fell in love. Although she was 2 months old, she was only the size of a 4 week old. She was found outside with her litter mates, without her mother. Our friend said that her and her simblings were so sick when she got them that she didn't know if they would make it.

Of course, that story made us love her even more. It wasn't until a few days later that we named her Ella.

We were told that she was not up for adoption until she was older and heavier - at that point she could get spayed and could then be placed up for adoption. With strict adoption rules from the foster organization, we were so sad that we couldn't adopt her right away. Ella was being fostered with five or six other kittens and she was certainly the runt of the group. She was struggling to put on weight because she was so active and lively. She would nap hard and play hard.

After another week or two of getting regular updates on Ella, we had a phone discussion with the lady in charge of the foster organization and she agreed that we could take home Ella under two conditions.

1) She was not officially ours until we got her spayed. In other words, we were only fostering her.
2) We had to foster two kittens - Ella and another kitten - so that they could both interact and learn from one another.

While we were only interested in Ella, we quickly fell in love with the orange kitten that our friend was also fostering. We named him Felix and decided to welcome them both into our family.

When the fostering paperwork was complete and the medication/vaccine protocol list was put together, Karel made the 3.5 hour drive on Sunday August 27th to pick up our new "not yet official" family members. I was unable to go with Karel as I was finishing the manuscript of my third book with my final deadline on Monday the 28th.

While Karel was making his 6+ hour round trip, I fixed up our spare room to be a safe and welcoming "kitten" room. When Karel returned to our house with two adorable and tiny kittens, I was a bit overwhelmed with the love that I had for both of them.  Ella was extremely tiny and looked so fragile whereas Felix was vibrant and healthy. Ella was still a bit sick so we had to put medication in her squinty eyes. Feline herpesvirus is a very common viral infection in orphaned and immunocompromised kittens. During a flare up, the kitten may experience an upper respiratory infection including sneezing, nasal discharge and decreased appetite. Other signs include eye discharge, swelling and squinting. Most kittens can recover from this infection in 1-2 weeks.

At the time, we didn't know any of these symptoms but just assumed she had a little eye infection. Our friend was taking exceptionally great care of these kittens and as she mentioned to us before, they were all very sick when she received the kittens (she fosters the most scary/difficult rescues).

In the morning of our first full day with Ella and Felix, I received a call from my mom that my Grandpa Joe passed away at the age of 96. I was very sad that my grandpa was no longer just a phone call away but also grateful that my grandpa could live such a long and happy life. Later that evening, I booked a flight to travel to Ft. Wayne Indiana for a memorial service with close friends and family. I traveld to Indiana on Tues afternoon, stayed there all day Wednesday and traveled home very early on Thursday. Althugh it was a very emotional time for me, I new that I had two adorable kittens to warm my heart when I returned home from my trip. I also had plenty of photos of Felix and Ella as Karel could not stop sending me pictures of his two new loves (don't worry, our senior citizens Campy and Madison were still getting a lot of attention).

Thursday was a very busy day for me. I squeezed in a lot of work and workouts and our weekly educational FB live chat with our team and I was so ready to relax with the kittens at 8:00pm. I noticed that Felix was acting a bit lethargic when we brought them downstairs from their room. He was also showing signs of labored breathing. I texted our close friend Joey (cat mom) and after Facetiming with her to show her Felix, she suggested that we take him to the Animal Emergency Clinic. We left Ella alone in her room and took Felix to the emergency clinic. As soon as we arrived, the tech at the desk took Felix from us to start a nebulizing treatment on him since he was open mouth breathing. At this point, I was so exhausted from everything. Karel and I stayed positive and hoped that it was nothing serious. When we finally saw the doctor, she told us that he has an upper respiratory infection and that they will give him some medication and we can take him home. We were relieved that we were able to take him home as we felt like this was a sign that he would be ok.

Ella was happy to see her buddy when we returned home around 11:30pm. We had a restless night of sleep as we were worried about Felix and when we woke up in the morning, we went right to the kitten room to check on Felix. Of course, Ella sprints out of the room full of energy and ready to eat but Felix was still very lethargic on his bed, still struggling to breathe. At this point, we were scared. So we rushed him to our local vet (5 miles away) and they quickly put him back on the neubulizing therapy. They wanted to keep Felix all day to see how he was tolerating the therapy and if he wasn't showing signs of improvement, we would need to take him back to the Emergency Clinic. Around 4:30pm, we received a call from the vet that Felix was doing worse than before and he needed to go to the Emergency Clinic. We picked up Ella and took them both to the clinic so that Ella didn't have to be alone. Felix was rushed back into the neubulizing area and we waited and waited and waited. They asked if we were ok to take xrays as it would be risky on such a sick little kitten but they also explained the pros and cons of the situation. We agreed to the xrays and it showed pneumonia. We kept Feliex at the Emergency Clinic over night and just hoped and prayed that he would be ok.

We had scheduled a long bike ride with three out of town friends and we barely made 90 minutes into the ride before we had to turn around as we couldn't think straight and we had no mental energy to be on the bike. We played with Ella when we returned home (I asked my mom to watch Ella while we were biking) and texted back and forth to the organizer of the foster group to explain about Felix's situation (we had kept her in the loop through it all). Although Ella was our biggest worry when we brought her home, our strong, vibrant and playful Felix was struggling. On Saturday, just 6 days after we brought home Ella and Felix, we received a phone call that Felix was not going to make it. The foster organizer gave the doctor permission to humanely put Felix out of his discomfort.

We were heart broken. And still are. Did we do something wrong? Should we have waited until they were older? But what about Ella - if we didn't take her in, would she have survived? We ask ourselves questions over and over as we are still so heartbroken about the situation. But Ella has shown us that she is a fighter. She is a fantastic eater, sleeper and pooper and all around fun and entertaining kitten.

As for the rest of September, what was suppose to be an exciting time of peaking for the 2019 Ironman World Championship, we spent at least one day a week for the next 4 weeks at the vet for Ella. We were so close to cancelling our trip to Kona as we had no desire to race in what was suppose to be a fun event for us with so much heartache, drama and stress. Anytime Ella would sneeze or cough, we got scared that something was going to happen to her. If Ella was unusually tired, we started to freak out. She received more medications and vaccines in the month of September and we were on high alert for the next few weeks. We even decided to fly in Karel's mom to watch over Ella to make sure nothing happened to her while we were in Kona for two weeks. The vet staff was falling in love with Ella as they saw her regularly for the month of September. Ella had a few more health complications but everything was treatable.

I hesitated to write this blog for many reasons and we are still so sad about Felix. We also didn't want to talk much about Ella until we knew she was officially ours. At the age of 16 weeks and just tipping the scales at 4 lbs, Ella was spayed on 11/21 and now we can finally officially say that Ella is part of our family.

Although we were expecting a happy and joyful experience of adopting a new kitten, this doesn't change my feelings about rescue animals. It all started with the kindness of our friend who was fostering Ella (and Felix) - which is not an easy job. Every foster/rescue organization relies on donations and animal lovers to help feed, medicate and provide for deserving animals in need of a forever home. She gave Ella a second chance at life and now Ella is living the life with us and big brother (Campy) and sister (Madison). There is an overpopulation of cats and dogs and we must break the cycle. In order to do so, I encourage you to adopt don't shop.

Ella loves her crinkle toys with feathers, boxes, tissue paper, strings and anything loose that she can toss around. She is curious about water, naps all afternoon, loves to go into rooms that she is not suppose to (workout room), loves to eat, likes to play with Madison and Campy (neither of them are overly enthusiastic about the situation but are accepting), loves to chase her tail and is always on the hunt to attack moving objects. She is loves to jump and discover new things. She sleeps in our bed at night - usually on top of one of us.

Thank you for reading her story.