Transparency

“To be transparent is to show people what's behind the curtain and not just what's on stage.” -Dana L. Stringer

As a Ragdoll breeder of ten years and working with cat rescue for over 28, I have experienced a great deal. The cat breeder community relies a lot on each other when times get tough. We share our struggles and advice with each other, knowing that we have all been in similar situations. It has been refreshing to see many talking about transparency within their lives as a cat breeder and in their programs.  

We share the best (of many) photos online and many think breeding is cute kittens, snuggles, rainbows and sunshine. Much of the time it is, but the reality behind our programs is that one human being is trying to do the very best they can for their cats and kittens. Most of the time we get it right, sometimes we don’t. We don’t talk about the stress that comes along with the great responsibility that we’ve taken on as good breeders. We seldom see breeders sharing the difficult parts. The day to day, the fight for life, the losses, the heartbreak and the stress.

I am joining in the transparency movement, sharing situations that make me the breeder that I am today.

Let’s start this series off with the subject of weaning diarrhea.  When kittens are transitioning to solid food they can have bouts of diarrhea. As a responsible breeder, you must make sure that is exactly what it is.

You are sending out PCR testing and having fecal tests done because if it is something like coccidia and you let it go, it can be deadly within a short period of time. Once sent, you start the waiting game.

Meanwhile,

You are watching for dehydration, lethargy and loss of appetite.

You are frantically cleaning the litter boxes several times a day, scrubbing splattered feces off the boxes and your walls, bathing kittens with dirty behinds and filthy feet, sanitizing EVERYTHING, throwing soft surface items away, throwing litterboxes away, throwing toys, towels, blankets away.

You are staying awake or waking up several times a night to check on kittens.

You are giving fluids by mouth or through a syringe under the skin while holding them down.

You are contemplating when to go to the emergency vet in the middle of the night or on weekends. Then worrying about spreading the coccidia to other patients, not to mention the danger of picking up more bacteria or viruses.

You are giving highly palatable soft food to entice the kittens to eat and for hydration but then risking more diarrhea due to their sensitive GI tracts.

You are receiving the test results that confirm coccidia and you are then medicating kittens, mom and frantically watching your other cats for signs.

You are buying disposable litter boxes, well disposable everything.

You are quarantining affected cats and kittens.

You are steam cleaning and sanitizing EVERYTHING repeatedly until the risk is gone and the coccidia is eliminated.

You are replenishing all the items that had been thrown away.

Even if you do receive a negative test result, you still take precautions just in case the tests may not have been accurate.

You are, by that time, ready to throw in the towel.

Yours truly and in transparency,

Nicole