Confession of a Foster Flunkee

Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network (CPCRN) is run by many wonderful volunteers who fulfill many diverse tasks. Since all of our "kids" must be evaluated before they find their "furever" home, Foster parents are critical to our success. Private homes across the States and Canada temporarily house our cairns, and usually send them off, as told in the happy-ever-after stories on this blog. But sometimes, the kids never leave the foster home. We lovingly call these families "foster flunkees". What follows is one families "confession". Or is it simply a Love Story? You decide.

This is my confession speech. I'm here in front of all you other Cairn lovers/adoptees/ fosters/flunkees to proclaim my guilt. First, I do have to say, it wasn't my fault. And really, we weren't looking to increase our pack. (I can hear you all laughing at me and chiding me with yeah, right!) I never thought it would be a redhead that wormed her way into our hearts as I'm a sucker for those little black faces!

This little girl chose us - I think from the first time she saw us at the auction in that cage where she sat at the back, cowering in fear, her little moon-slit eyes giving me "that look". (Juneau has his momma's eyes, for sure, so be careful Julie.) She came up to my fingers and licked them furiously, telling me she wanted out of there - PLEASE! Then, she's giving my chin licks as I'm squeezing her belly trying to determine if she's full of puppies as she'd been in heat the previous month and had been put with the male - just another I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER if you just help me!

Then out on the enclosed carport, we didn't even put her in an ex pen - she followed at my heels, her little wet nose touching my calves to remind me she was there. Every time I would sit in the lawn chair, she would put her feet up on my leg wanting up, this little scared mill momma with no tail.

I knew on her second day in Freedom I was fighting a losing battle, and I confessed to Barney that I really hadn't been looking to adopt another, but Sitka was telling me she'd already chosen US as her Forever Family. And Barney said he'd already seen the signals she was giving and knew what it meant.

Then my Auntie came to see the new kids, and she took one look at Sitka and how she acted and looked at me, and she made the statement "that little girl ain't goin' nowhere - she's already found who she wants for her Forever home". I knew I was toast - my Auntie is rarely wrong about anything. I confessed my dilemma to Valerie before the kids were even out of the vet's office from their "spa" treatments. And a week after she arrived, I had my application in to adopt her.

So I'll blame my flunking on FATE - you know the guy - he's part of the Intakes Team, and he's the one that showed me the flier from the auction house listing those cairns and had me report it to Valerie. He's also the guy that told the BOD they needed to budget the money for us to go and try to get those kids out of that lifestyle.

And then his partner DESTINY took over. Destiny had me tell Valerie that I wanted to foster one of the girls if we got her. He also told Valerie to let me name them, and Sitka was my favorite port city on our Alaskan cruise this summer - it was just a beautiful little town.

I thank Destiny because he must have known about how hard a time she was going to have with her spay - she was allergic to the dissolvable stitches and had to have a second surgery 4 days after her spay to remove what was left of them after her body was destroying them and she was about to open back up - they removed a bunch of necrotic tissue and then used the old style sutures that had to be removed in 10 days. She was one sick little girl, on meds and not wanting to eat for a week and piddling all over. I can't imagine what shape she would have been in if she'd had a two day transport somewhere. She and I spent nights on the couch together during all this because I was afraid to leave her alone in her crate for fear of what I might find in the morning. Ellie the Belly's story kept coming to mind.

We fretted over Sitka's constipation and her incontinence and her oozing belly and not wanting to eat anything. But one week after her second unplanned tummy tuck, she decided to eat. And then she had a quick moment of zoom. She finally got to feeling better to where I could have a meet and greet with the other kids in the house. And everyone's accepting the new kid in the house!

We've received the official notice that she's ours. I've just filled out the info for the contract. Funny, it would have taken an Act of Congress to have moved her out of here! I'm just giggly at having this girl officially as part of our family.

She's wanting to shed her fears, but she's still scared of just about everything that moves or makes a sudden noise. But she has picked up toys and carried them around - she has a little red bird she especially likes, and a nylabone fish. And outside, she spends less time sitting by herself on the patio and mingling with the other kids. She even has little fits of zooming :-) And the River Birch has low limbs that the others like grabbing and tugging on, and she's jumped up at them with the others now, playing tug.

Sitka and Randall and Stray have also had small play moments. Sitka is at my feet right now in a bed, and when I move to the family room, she'll follow me in and either come put her little feet up on me wanting up, or she'll find her way to the steps and come up on the couch on her own. She's my little shadow, and I love her to pieces.

She's still leaking a little pee, but we're hoping that will clear up once she's totally healed inside. She's a pudgy little thing from laying around nursing puppies most of her 3 years of life, having had her last litter in April. I think once she's zoomed around with this pack, she'll trim up with time and be a svelt 12 pounds instead of a pudgy dozen :-)

So that's the story - yes, I've joined the ranks of all you other members of Foster Flunkees out there. It's funny how these things happen when you don't expect it. I've been sitting here quietly the last couple of weeks secretly laughing at all you foster homes that are flunking over these sweet kids, and I think it's reaching epidemic proportions :-)

And I'll just warn you others out there laughing because you don't think it will ever happen to you - you just don't know when that Intakes Team of FATE and DESTINY are going to work their magic on YOU! Hehehehehe!

Kathy H in MO