April Newsletter Article – Feline Rescue, Inc.

An Unusual Year: Looking Back at Feline Rescue in 2020

By Catherine B, Feline Rescue Volunteer

As the pandemic continues on, it’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the shelter had closed its doors to the public. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago since that frenzy last March as we closed up shop and frantically found foster homes for all of our cats. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday we were all still here – feeding, cleaning, and of course, having fun with the cats and one another.

Regardless of how we perceived time passing this last year, the time did pass. While many things may have changed in our lives in that time, as a community, it’s probably safe to say we’ve all continued to care for, help, and love cats all in our own ways. For some of us that has meant staying home with our own cats. For some it’s meant sharing cat memes and videos with friends to keep our spirits up. Or becoming foster caregivers for the first time. Or continuing to work and volunteer onsite at Feline Rescue to help navigate this challenge.

With some small amount of hope that the public health crisis will begin to abate, we look forward to reopening our doors this spring to the public and volunteers, who have all graciously waited for updates. As our COVID Planning Committee and Veterinary Director continue to develop new safety procedures required for reopening, the tentative plan is to welcome the public back through limited scheduled appointments and potentially stagger volunteer shifts to help manage the amount of people in each building.

No matter what the plan ends up being, the first day back will likely feel strange after being away for so long. Many of us have probably wondered at one point during this past year, what has been happening at the shelter since we all left and what cats have come through. For a small look back on what it’s been like onsite at Feline Rescue, memorable moments from our staff and volunteers both onsite and at home, and to catch up on a few cat stories, read on!

At the Shelter and 600 Building

Just as with many other organizations, Feline Rescue became a much quieter place over the past year. The happy lunch and dinner-time choruses of “Meow Meow Meow!” are noticeably missing when you open doors in either building. The few staff and volunteers who continue to work onsite operate mostly out of the 600 building.

Without having to worry about startling cats in the building, Mark F, Feline Rescue’s first employee, has been hard at work, tackling plenty of building maintenance projects over the past year from fresh paint jobs to repairs in both buildings. This past winter, he also helped his son rescue a sweet, energetic stray cat named Tobasco. Julie D, Volunteer Coordinator and Robin B, Cat Movement Manager, have continued to work onsite and off to ensure cats are placed as quickly as possible into foster homes. Oftentimes, they’ve been able to place cats within a day of the cat’s arrival to the shelter. Julie herself has stepped in to foster several mothers and their litters throughout the past year when no other homes were available.

For cats who might take a little longer to find foster homes, Robin, the Veterinary Team, and Supply Managers who regularly come onsite, are around to care for them and keep them company. Robin has fond memories of spending the winter in-office with Big Mike, a large, onyx-colored domestic shorthair who came to us needing help with managing his weight. Staying positive about the change in environment, she says, “[the shelter has become] a nice, quiet, relaxed place to think and focus.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Lisa M, Veterinary Director, continues to lead our Vet Team onsite in fielding healthcare appointments for cats in foster care, conducting intake exams for all of our new arrivals, and even undertaking surgeries, including spay/neuters to help mitigate the backlog we’ve seen across all of our spay/neuter partners in the Twin Cities due to COVID. The surgeries would not have been possible without Cosmia W, who had joined the staff last fall as a Veterinarian Technician. While she has now embarked on a new career path, we are grateful for her much-needed help during the time she was with us. Virtually, Rebecca HD, former full-time Veterinary Assistant, has continued on with us as a part-time coordinator and has been integral in working with fosters, our animal hospital partners, and many others in coordinating healthcare for our cats.

We were not able to take in as many cats last year as with previous years, but the cats we were able to take in were given the highest level of healthcare possible. While we continued to take in cats with medical conditions ranging from missing eyes to skin conditions to chronic illnesses, kitten season also seemed never-ending with litter after litter arriving in varying conditions. Jeanette B, a volunteer Veterinarian Assistant and Caregiver, recalls the joy of helping a group of ringworm kittens become fungus-free: “Their foster caregiver did an excellent job and every week they looked better and better. But it still took a couple of months for them to no longer have any ringworm on their tests. However, kittens don’t know what ringworm is and they wanted to cuddle so much. But we couldn’t! Not until they were finally good to go and I was able to give them a bit of a snuggle.”

As many of us know in working closely with rescued cats, joy and sorrow can often be experienced in the same place. Another memorable moment for the team was caring for a senior cat called Bubby. “A striking senior with leafy-green eyes and a gorgeous ash-colored coat” according to her foster caregiver, Bubby was with us from August 2020 until February of this year. She charmed the Vet Team during her health appointments with her squawky voice and love for Temptations treats. Dr. M lovingly referred to her as our “crabby little grandma cat.” Sadly, during the time she was with us, her health continued to deteriorate in spite of medications administered and constant monitoring of her condition. Finally, in February when her appetite and enjoyment of life completely waned, Dr. M, along with Bubby’s foster caregiver, were forced to make the difficult decision to put an end to her suffering. While there are charts and quality-of-life scales to help make the decision, what can’t ever be measured is the reality and heart-breaking loneliness of the moment itself. Even given how quiet the shelter had been all year, it was even quieter on Bubby’s last day. Dr. M says, “I’m glad we gave her several happy months before her worsening liver disease led to her euthanasia….but as always, the emotional burden of euthanasia [is one of the most challenging parts of my role as a vet].”

In a bittersweet contrast, as Bubby was fading away in a warm pile of blankets, next door Boomba, a young orange tabby with a rare genetic disorder, was recovering from surgery and would soon be adopted into his forever home.

Feline Rescuers at Home

While work continues on at the shelter, many volunteers at home have found different ways to continue caring for cats and more importantly, themselves during a very stressful year when communication has been difficult and social distancing has easily slid into a feeling of isolation for many people. Sara P, Enrichment Lead, has spun her volunteer work into a profession as a cat behavior consultant. Our volunteer Adoption Specialists have continued dedicating large amounts of their time to finding homes for our cats as they had done prior to the pandemic. The job is even tougher now with all of the complications of communicating in the midst of social distancing. Yet they continue admirably answering adoption inquiries, coordinating between staff, fosters, and potential adopters, as well as arranging virtual and in-person visits to ensure all of our cats find homes. Christine G, one of our regular Adoption Specialists, has even taken up additional roles, including that of co-lead of the Indeed We Can event, the first in-person Feline Rescue event since last March, as well as serving as a foster caregiver herself.

Many of our shelter volunteers became foster caregivers during this time and discovered that as much as they were helping to rescue these cats, they were also being rescued. When the shelter first closed, Rachel and Satish R, who have played a plethora of volunteer roles at Feline Rescue, were asked to foster Baby Panini. Some of you might remember her from the shelter as the petite girl with a challenging condition called eosinophilic granuloma complex (EGC) which results in skin lesions due to allergic reactions. It was a challenging case to manage, but Rachel and Satish took it on with grace and kindness. And before she knew it, Baby Panini became a statistic – she joined the ranks of other foster-fails and officially settled into her life as Baby Pea. Her foster-adopters say, “Her sweet presence in our lives has kept us functioning despite the sense of isolation over the past year!” She continues to keep them company as they plan out this year’s vegetable garden, Rachel reads, and Satish deep dives into understanding the complexities of Einsteinian relativity. Michelle G, Board Member and Foster Caregiver, shared a similar sentiment about one of her foster kittens. “[Zika] saved my mental health during the winter of COVID…. I may have provided love and sustenance to her, but she saved me from the winter of COVID Crazies.”

More than ever, especially since so many of us tend to be caregivers in one way or another, it’s been important to remember we need to “put the oxygen mask on ourselves first.” Gail F, one of our longstanding shelter caregivers, made a point of that last September by safely spending three days at a cabin near Grand Marais, taking “beautiful, long hikes.” But the caretaker in her didn’t rest for long. She soon returned home to her own cat, Oreo, as well as returning to her role as a regular supplier of fresh catnip to her next-door-neighbor’s cat, Fredericka.

Diane M, another longstanding volunteer and frequent cat food donor, has faced her own challenges this past year when her mom was diagnosed with early dementia last spring and one of her cats, Jana, was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in December. In spite of this, Diane continues to keep her chin up and maintain equilibrium by keeping up with everyday activities such as, “walking around the neighborhood and petting the local dogs when they’re out with their people…[and reading, sewing, and reorganizing around the house.]” She’s also excited to report that she and her 87-year-old parents have all been vaccinated and will be able to take a reprieve from the social distancing to spend Easter dinner together.

A Few Last Words

Thank you to the volunteers and paid staff who contributed their time and experiences to the article. While we haven’t scratched the surface on all that’s happened this past year, and there are so many more stories out there in our community, we’re excited to hear them when we welcome everyone back and can’t wait to see what the future holds.