Meow's owner has gone downhill and has been moved into a nursing home. Some quick, difficult decisions had to be made with very short notice, and unfortunately we still had not found placement for Meow, so she was euthanized this afternoon.

I have to say that...with only a few exceptions...the lack of support or even basic civility I received from the rescue community has been a real eye-opener...and a real let down. I contacted over 50 rescues asking for help, and I heard back from about 20. Most of them were just "Sorry, can't help ya" emails, a couple of them were really nice, one lady chatted with me for days giving me ideas for keeping Meow happy and teaching her to accept the fluids better. Then there were a bunch of really nasty folks. People telling me I was out of line looking for placement for her when the owner was *technically* still able to care for her. People saying I should just take her in myself, otherwise it would be my fault if she were PTS. People implying that my friend is a bad person for knowing her limits, for knowing that she couldn't do the fluids herself, for even considering rehoming, nevermind euthanasia. Apparently suddenly developing a health problem and realizing that you're in over your head with your pets makes you a bad pet owner!

I have never come across so many rude, judgmental, hurtful comments in one conversation. One email I received just said "Well, that's her decision. Sad." I think that sometimes, those of us who do rescue work are our own worst enemies. I know that I will definitely think twice in the future about opening myself and my friends up to that kind of judgmental commentary. Today I am feeling worn out and beaten, because I had to take my friend's cat to get PTS after weeks of having both of us judged and berated by a rescue community that I think I contribute rather a lot to by fostering, donating, and volunteering. Thank goodness the folks at my local Humane Society are very kind and non-judgmental...they listened to my breakdown as I explained the journey we've been on and took very good care of both Meow and me. Since Meow hated me I opted to wait outside while two very kind men helped her along her journey.


RIP Meow