Well, it is official, we have our first foster fail. We thought we could be so strong after sending our first foster family into new homes. And then Archer, a.k.a. Archie the Foster Fail happened. We love him so. We also took in two feral kittens, more about them in a bit.





It is a long story, but I had asked other fosters families if they had any standout kittens for a family member. Lucy told me about Archie and we made arrangements for him to come foster/bridge with us. Well….Archie insisted that he belonged with us and all the resident cats agreed. In the end the arrangements to transport him fell apart the next day anyway. You can follow Archie the Foster Fail on Facebook.
Our kitten foster room was vacant when a request came out searching for a home for a pair of feral kittens that needed some extra loving in hopes of a home placement. I was nearby so I zipped over to Williamson County Animal Center to pick up a pair of 7 week old kittens. They had a long way to go to trust humans so we named them after great cats of our past to inspire them. We named the tuxedo kitten Star and the calico Sadie.

We worked hard to ease the nerves of this spicy pair and were making some progress with the Sadie. Star had a harder time even allowing us to touch her. After two weeks it was time to take them in for their booster shots. That is where things went South. I’ve picked up a whole lot of scared cats and kittens in my day, but none went as poorly as this.
I caught Sadie quickly and put her in the cage. She shot me dirty looks and hissed a bit. And then I went to pick up Star. I had a blanket and picked her up by the scruff carefully. She turned her entire body onto my wrist and sunk her teeth and claws in. I walked to the cage firmly embedded in my skin. She let go only long enough to attempt a new bite as I got her into the cage.
I quickly poured alcohol over my wounds, cleaned it up further, and bandaged it to stop the bleeding. I figured I would wait and see while I took the kittens in for their boosters. It took several people to give them the boosters and it was determined that barn placement was the best next step. I brought them back home for a 10 day bite quarantine.
By the time I had them settled back in my hand and arm was swollen and the wounds were angry and red. I headed to Urgent Care to get my tetanus shot updated. Once it got it the wound was showing signs of infection so I also got a heavy dose of two antibiotics. That did the trick. A few days later it just looked like an average wound and was well on the way to healing.
I won’t be risking my arm again to capture them when they finish quarantine. Don’t worry. They remain hissy and angry even when I come in with treats and dinner. Poor babies.
When they go to barn placement we will sanitize the kitten foster room so that we are ready for the next foster family. Maybe not feral kittens on the next go around.
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