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Greetings Foster Friends I owe you all a story. If you’re not interested in the story, just scroll down to the bottom. This does have some tough parts, but the ending is happy. January of this year, as many of you know, my wife and I were met with the unfortunate reality of having to rehome our two boys, Monty and Butterscotch. We were private with those reasons at the time, but it largely came down to the fact that our newborn baby daughter was showing pretty clear signs of cat allergies. This wasn’t a surprise as both my wife and I are pretty drat allergic to cats. But, while we can tolerate it, it was not advisable from our daughter’s doctor to continue to have a newborn exist in an environment with breathing concerns. This was a fear of ours, but it finally became realized when the symptoms worsened and we had to follow through on what felt like an impossibly difficult action: rehoming our boys. Butterscotch was the easier to rehome. He was more social and we knew people, personally, who were interested. We also hoped that perhaps only rehoming one cat a time would clear the other as not being an allergic problem. But, after he left, it was clear that it was still not optimal. So we rehomed Monty through the SPCA we fostered so many kittens through. They were phenomenal with us and I have confidence that Monty found a good home. They do good work. That is where Monty’s story ends for us. We wish him well, and I still think about him. Turns out though, the cat gods had a different plan for Butterscotch. He went to one of my wife’s former coworkers. A person who we came to like who only gave us reason to believe that she would be a good owner for Butterscotch. Everything seemed perfect: She already had adopted a fat cat that she was helping make weight and she was always friendly at work to both my wife and myself when I visited. So, Butterscotch went to her. She sent us a couple of pictures here and there for a couple of weeks, but communication slowly phased out. I was expecting as much. My wife left her job to go back to school so they didn’t have as many opportunities to talk. We were hopeful, though, that Butterscotch was happy and healthy. Cut to one month ago. We get a call from our old vet, back in the town we relocated away from. They found Butterscotch. More specifically, Butterscotch turned up on the porch of an old couple. They brought him in, got a quick scan of his microchip and our name popped up. His new oner had not reregistered him. That wasn’t a surprise, people don’t think to do things. What was a surprise? Butterscotch weighed a little under 9 pounds. Yes, the cat who once clocked in over 30 pounds was below 9. We texted his owner, she responded that “Oh, yeah I had been letting him out, and he just didn’t come back one day. That was about a month ago. The last time that happened, he was crashing with a neighbor, so I figured he was ok. Where is he, I’ll go get him?" Ladies and gentlegoons, it’s hard for me to convey just how much rage built up in my heart when I read that text. And not just rage, disappointment. In both her and myself. It was devastating. She drat well knew that Butterscotch was not an outdoor cat. Not only did we tell her, but you only have to watch The Butter Mile once on youtube to get an idea of just how little interest Butters has in being out of a home. This wasn't a one time mistake, she was making a habit of putting him outside. We entrusted her with caring for our boy. By her failing us, we had failed him. loving painful. We didn’t respond to her text at the time, largely because life suddenly became very chaotic. After all of the dust settled, we realized that she hadn't followed up with us at all over the week of his intensive care. And, since then, she still hasn't followed up even once. I went and picked up Butters from the kind couple who found him. He had turned up a few days before, on their porch, and he was not in great shape. He was still his kind and smooshy buttery self, but not in great health. We took him back to our house, set him up in one of our bathrooms in quarantine, got rid of his fleas, and started feeding him, trying to get weight back on him. We also couldn’t quite stop our very eager 17-month old from discovering him in the bathroom. When she eventually managed to see him, she squealed and screamed and instantly fell in love. What’s more…. She wasn’t allergic. We had rehomed him first, so we couldn’t run that test, but she was hugging him and rubbing her face all over him... and no sniffles or anything. Turns out it was just Monty, which makes sense. They have very different coats. So it seemed like all was well. We were gonna keep this cat, because hey… he was still ours anyway. We hadn’t heard from his owner at this point for over a week, and she never bothered to re-register him. She also seemed to make a habit of having him be outside for some god drat reason. The next day, things took a turn for the worse. His breathing was very labored and he wasn’t eating. Big red flag for him. I’ll be brief about the details of this part because most of it is just hard, sad, and of course hilariously expensive. Suffice to say, after a lot of tears, nights in the hospital, medication, close calls, and mountains of money, Butterscotch is in good health and is acting like himself yet again. Being out in the elements for a month brought on congestive heart failure. Which, while not curable, is manageable, and the vets believe that, with proper meds, he has a good chance at living out the rest of his life as normal. The positive side of this is that the vets could not believe how quickly he recovered once he was on the medication he needed. They actually told me that they all would gather around his cage to watch him eat because it was like nothing they had ever seen before… that’s our Butters alright. He is in our care now, and he isn’t going loving anywhere. Sidenote is that, for the first time that we’ve known him, he’s actually at the weight he should be. Shame he didn’t get there the right way, and lord knows he’s already vying to get back to being a porker with how he’s eating. I held off on posting until now because I wanted to ensure that Butters's health stabilized so that when I came back to report I could give you all as much certainty as I could that we're in a good place. He's been steady for about three weeks now. Fingers all kinda crossed that it stays this way. So to those of you who scrolled down, past all of that, the takeaway here is… Butterscotch is Back.       
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Nov 9, 2019 07:38
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 15:41 |
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Aw, Butters! I'm so sorry that the rehoming ended so disastrously, but I'm glad he's back with you and your kid's doing well with him.
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Nov 9, 2019 07:52
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Good job Butters, you learned that one weird trick that doctors don't want you to know about!
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Nov 9, 2019 07:52
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This can't possibly be Butter- BUTTERSCOTCH! I'm so sorry Chili, that's absolutely monstrous of them and poor Butterscotch... I'm so glad he managed to find his way back to you. That chip saved his life. If anything happened to him we'd all be devastated.
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Nov 9, 2019 08:13
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Butters!!! I'm happy he's back with you and everything worked out. It's awful that it had to happen the way it did, though. gently caress his temporary "owner".
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Nov 9, 2019 08:18
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mistaya posted:This can't possibly be Butter- Yeah... I shudder to think about what would have happened if that person was suddenly responsible for all of the medical care he now needs. To say the least, it's a bit much. 4 different pills twice a day, probably for the rest of his life and some pretty frequent monitoring at the vet. I don't think she would've been up for getting him this far, let alone dealing with his new needs. This does raise a good point to make sure your pets are microchipped!
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Nov 9, 2019 08:20
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Oh, and posting in here felt too sad for me since we had to rehome our cats, but I have been quietly following along. And oh boy, Pumpkin just looks like a Butterscotch in the making.
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Nov 9, 2019 08:21
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If you want to see him moving about : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba0cwCpmTh8
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Nov 9, 2019 09:14
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Well we've missed you too, so hope to see you posting again! Have some Pumpkin pre-de-flea-ing, I finally managed to get him to sit still.  Pumpkin and Cinnamon have learned how to run up the back of my legs and flying leap off my shoulders onto the table where I was opening the food tins so I have now moved all food tins out of the room for everyone's safety. They did this in perfect sync at lunchtime, one off each shoulder, though I would have been more impressed if it wasn't for the stabbing trail of pain left in their wakes.
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Nov 9, 2019 09:30
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Chili posted:If you want to see him moving about : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba0cwCpmTh8
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Nov 9, 2019 10:42
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I'm so glad Butters is okay and I want to hurt his "owner" because christ
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Nov 9, 2019 11:50
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Yeah, I don't even have words about that, except to be grateful that she didn't bother to get the chip info changed. Bless the couple who brought him to the vet, though.
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Nov 9, 2019 12:31
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Welcome back!
Booger Presley fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Nov 9, 2019 |
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Nov 9, 2019 13:01
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baby loev butter
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Nov 9, 2019 15:07
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He’s back!! I hope Monty is well with his new owners. That is such an awful thing to have to go through once, let alone twice.
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Nov 9, 2019 18:15
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Still just as fun to take pictures of this cat. Portrait mode was made for Butterboy.  
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Nov 10, 2019 00:45
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Holy poo poo, please tell me you at least sent that person a very rude message or called them dirty names or something. Because jesus christ they need to be told exactly how much of an rear end in a top hat they are. But now at least your kiddo gets to grow up with a super affectionate kitty that they can love all over. Its really the bestest thing ever.
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Nov 10, 2019 01:37
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Oh poor dear sweet baby! I'm so glad he found his way back to you and that you can keep him.
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Nov 10, 2019 02:29
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Oh my gosh, that poor sweet Butterboy. I'm so glad he's back with you and is somewhere safe and warm. Welcome back Butters!
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Nov 10, 2019 03:11
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Poor fluffy child! I'm glad that story has a happy ending and that he's back where he clearly belongs.
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Nov 10, 2019 03:39
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Let me know if you need to kill some motherfuckers because I've got some spare time and a garden hose. There's no greater sin than abandoning a creature that depends on you. I'm just so glad you have so much room in your heart that you can save his life twice. His life is immeasurably improved by your entrance into it. You've already done more than anyone can reasonably ask.
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Nov 10, 2019 04:56
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Tendai posted:I got teary reading about what happened. I'm so happy he was found and that he's back with people who care about him. Welcome back, buddy. Exactly this. Makes me so angry even the day after reading this. Welcome home Butters.
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Nov 10, 2019 10:37
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I appreciate the good wishes, and even a little bit of the anger directed towards that owner. We haven't followed up with her and we don't want to. We're focusing on our family now, Butters included, and she doesn't deserve any more of our consideration. I have far too much to think/worry about on a daily basis. I live with a breakfast bandit, after all. 
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Nov 10, 2019 15:56
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It belongs in a museum. 
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Nov 10, 2019 16:00
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Surely it belongs on a cathedral ceiling?
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Nov 10, 2019 16:16
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Chili posted:I appreciate the good wishes, and even a little bit of the anger directed towards that owner. We haven't followed up with her and we don't want to. We're focusing on our family now, Butters included, and she doesn't deserve any more of our consideration. I have far too much to think/worry about on a daily basis. I like how Chili Jr is all "Just you try it, cat. I dare you. I DARE you."
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Nov 10, 2019 18:27
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Butters means business, he's rolled his sleeve up. 
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Nov 10, 2019 18:46
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You're good people Chili. Butters is a blessing to us all!
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Nov 10, 2019 19:09
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I love his little bow tie. 
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Nov 10, 2019 19:18
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What a saga! I'm glad things have worked out* and your family is reunited. And yeah, you're good people. * Except for the whole thing of Butters needing medication for the rest of this life.  He's looking so comfy and photogenic again though. 
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Nov 10, 2019 20:25
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Bathsheba status: cute. She's started hanging out with us for at least half the time we're around, beginning to get comfortable being up on furniture, and even jumps up on the bed with us sometimes. Turns out she's a toe biter, so we generally shut her out of our room when we sleep. She also really loves wrestling violently with our faux fur rug in the bedroom. She's still a bit leary of hands, but will let us pet her now quite often, especially around feeding times. Oh, and she's pretty photogenic now that she'll let us get close enough with a camera:    
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Nov 10, 2019 20:31
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This pictuer makes her look very small. I want to very delicately pet her.
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Nov 10, 2019 21:14
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Safari Disco Lion posted:This pictuer makes her look very small. I want to very delicately pet her. Indeed, those are some good stubby gams.
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Nov 11, 2019 02:25
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Seriously, how did that cat have nine kittens? She's so tiny!
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Nov 11, 2019 02:39
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Chili posted:Still just as fun to take pictures of this cat. Portrait mode was made for Butterboy. Although I am furious at the people you re-homed Butters with (mostly for the abandonment, swiftly followed by not being loving honest with you. How hard is it to say "you know what, we aren't a great match, do you want to take him back and re-home him or would you prefer a foster do this?") I am mostly relieved that he got help and is back to being himself. Poor guy had the worst weight loss program possible. Welcome home, Butters.
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Nov 11, 2019 02:40
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I'm happy Butterscotch is home with his family. If only every lost kitty had a happy ending.
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Nov 11, 2019 03:14
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Antivehicular posted:Seriously, how did that cat have nine kittens? She's so tiny! It is a mystery. I dunno, one theory I have is that she picked up another mother's brood and took care of them on top of her own. But apparently cats can have really big litters. I think the most recorded was 15 or something. Remember to spay or neuter your animals folks.
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Nov 11, 2019 09:23
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Hi, I just lurk but I'm really glad Butter's is safe at home again. You're all such good people here.
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Nov 11, 2019 15:58
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oh drat, I've had this queued up to be posted for a week now, totally forgot about it:me never posted:so what's butterscotch been up to these days anyway? thread title needs to stay relevant dagnabbit. now I'm happy to have gotten any news, but also incredibly sad to hear all that. poor butters, thank you for taking care of him.
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Nov 11, 2019 16:21
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 15:41 |
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I swear these little furballs just went from needing one hand to pick them up to two hands overnight. 
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Nov 14, 2019 09:25
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