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So, when we moved into our new (first) house a few months ago, we started fostering* kittens for Animal Friends, where my wife works.
This was sold to me as some sort of utopian access to unlimited kitten cuteness, available whenever I needed a pick-me-up. And, at first, it was. The first four kittens we had were wonderful, so much so that we ended up adopting one of them (yes, he only has one eye; he doesn't realize or care about that, though, and neither do we).
The next three were very young, and my wife spent weeks bottle-feeding them every 3 hours, around the clock. It seemed like they were going to make it, but then we lost them one-by-one over a week's time, due to a virus their little immune systems couldn't fend off. That was really hard. (I made a web site for them.)
At that point, I was ready to step back from this for a bit. However, my wife brought home three more, who, I was assured, were in fine health. Last night we lost one of them, though, again due to sudden illness.
This isn't what I signed up for. :(
I have a funny "bat in the house" story, but I'll save that for some other, less depressing time. Sorry to be so dreary.
-Matt
* - Why would a kitten need fostered? Animal Friends doesn't adopt out kittens until after they are spayed/neutered, and tested for feline leukemia and FIV (feline AIDS). They have to be a certain age/weight to do those things, so they stay at a foster house while they are growing, so as not to take shelter space away from adoptable animals.
