Preparing for Heartbreak

I try to be a pretty positive person, but tomorrow is going to suck.

After weeks of caring for two orphaned kittens, I will be returning them to my friend who will continue to foster them until he can find their forever home.Since I am house-sitting for the last couple weeks of January, I can't keep the kittens with me. So it is time to say good-bye.

Fostering animals is heartbreaking, but so necessary. I don't know how it works with children, but animals seem to quickly adjust to new surroundings, as long as they are given food and comfort. Even though I cry buckets every time I have to give one of my fur babies away, I know it is for the best.

With Addison's and Hashitmoto Diseases, there are lots of days where I just don't have the energy to get out of bed. I know there is no way I could keep up with caring for more than two dogs for too long. Fostering is my way to help, without long-tern commitments that I don't know if my body can keep.

The shelters where I live are always packed and can't accept animals that are still bottle-feeding. So that's where I come in. I bottle feed puppies and kittens and then do my best to place them in their forever homes. I've been contacted by local vets, shelters, and independent fosterers to help out with young animals.

It's always exciting when a new "baby" arrives. They are so tiny and cute and it's so fun to see their little personalities come out. I love watching them grow.

But then comes the day when they have to go to their "real" home and I cry buckets. The last night is always when I cry, that way I can usually hand them off without getting all teary-eyed. I know the animals don't have any idea what is going on, but I always explain it to them, just in case they somehow understand.

I have to remind myself that if an animal spends the first 6 weeks of their life with me, in just 6 more weeks, they will have been at their new home as long as they were with me. Then they still have their whole lives to live! So in the long run, it makes sense. But for the short term, it's heartbreaking.

Oh, well, It's about what is best for the animal, not what makes me cry the least.

Love,

an Addison alien

who will be crying enough tonight to warrant a stress dose