My little Megs... maybe it was meant to be?

Update: There is a small outbreak of Panleukopenia at the shelter. All cats and kittens presently at the shelter are in quarantine to make sure it doesn't spread any further. "Panleuk" is the feline equivalent of canine parvo virus - very serious and often deadly. Megs, however, is still at the vet in Campbellville. She hasn't been exposed and she isn't under quarantine. If all goes well I should be moving into an apartment this week, which means my baby is coming home!

I know, I know! I made the heart-wrenching decision to take her back to the shelter. And I did. It was the right thing to do and she was made available for adoption. But it turns out that most members of the public don't appreciate her uh, spunk as much as I do because she hasn't been adopted yet. So off to the vet she went to be spayed and at the vet she remains because there isn't enough space in the shelter for all of the cats we have. As it happens, if all goes according to plan I will be moving into my own apartment in less than two weeks... I haven't said anything to Punkin, I don't want to get his hopes up ;P I have some pictures of Megs on my camera that I took the week I brought her back to the shelter. I'll try to remember to post them soon.

Megs

I've thought long and hard and gone back and forth about what to do about Megs. Today I decided the best thing to do for Megs is bring her back to the shelter to go up for adoption. With my current living situation she's confined to a small cage when I can't be home to supervise her and it just isn't fair to her. I'm planning to move in the fall but I can't her live like that for another two months. My other foster kittens all had run of the apartment by this age. They'd be in the bunny cage overnight but that's about it. Megs is getting bigger every day and she's active and really needs freedom to explore and play and develop her kitty skills. She's not going to have that here. I do need to talk to the Animal Care Manager to make sure she'll go straight up for adoption... I don't want to bring her back just to have her sit in a "sick room". If AB agrees she can go right up for adoption I'll be taking her back early next week (The shelter is closed Monday).

I won't lie, this hurts a lot. I've absolutely fallen in love with her and so has Punkin, but I have to think about what's best for Megs. Spending 20 hours a day in a small cage for the next two months isn't what is best for her. Bringing her back will be the hardest thing I've had to do since Humphrey. But Humphrey found a wonderful home and is truly a "success story".

I hate asking for help, or making any admission of weakness for that matter, but if someone can come with me when it's time to bring Megs back and remind me I'm doing the right thing I'd really appreciate the moral support.

What to do about Megs?

My housemate and I have (finally) come to the conclusion that this living arrangement isn't working out. The constant tension is... well, tense. And she's not really loving living with a zoo. Buster almost never comes out which makes me sad, and Punkin is pretty high on her shit list which makes me defensive of him (he's a spaz but he's my spaz). My foster kitten Megs is still sneezing so she can't go up for adoption yet (can't risk her passing something on to the cats at the shelter). I hadn't considered adopting her because I knew my roomie was at her furry limit, but now that we're going to be going our separate ways...

I love Megs and she's been with us for over two months now. She's older than a lot of the kittens at the shelter but she's really beautiful and she has a great purr so there's no question that she's still very adoptable. On the other hand she fits in really well with the zoo. She and Punkin have really bonded and it's so great to see him have a companion to play with, plus I love her spunk. I'll probably decide the right thing to do is let her go up for adoption, and bring home another foster kitten for Punkin to play with. It will suck to see her at the shelter and I know Punkin will miss her, but short term pain for long term gain, right?