Welcome to Rough Life. What a week it has been.
If you're new here, hi, welcome. I'm Katie Keaton,
the Transport Coordinator turned Interim Foster
Coordinator. This is my podcast where I spend
about 10 minutes telling you the stories of the
animals on the van and the other 20 minutes telling
you about my life. So feel free to pass forward
to the stories that won't hurt my feelings, but
for those of you who are sticking around Holy
moly, let me tell you about this week first of
all We were pretty much all set to cancel this
transport because this is the absolute busiest
week of the year ever of our lives for me and
Dr. Burton. Honestly, I don't even know what
all she has going on up there. Y 'all probably
know more than I do, but I do know it's like
eight puppy therapy events in three days. One
of those events is a huge, super big deal. It's
the Stanley pup that they film for ESPN and Disney
Plus. And then she also has like four or five
people spending the weekend with her and we have
intake on Sunday morning. So much going on. But
enough about her. Let's talk about me. We closed
on our new house last Wednesday. So exciting.
So Monday and Tuesday were spent frantically
running around, making sure everything was ready
for that. Then on Wednesday we had the final
walkthrough and the closing and then we just
hung out there at the new house. No TV, no internet,
no furniture. We ate dinner on the floor in our
huge empty house with all the doors wide open
and the quiet country breeze blowing through
while the baby just crawled around and the dogs
ran and explored. It was... So wonderful, so
peaceful, so calming, and then boom, hit the
ground running. Thursday morning, at it again.
So my stage four breast cancer mother is throwing
my stage four prostate cancer stepfather a surprise
70th birthday party, the day of transport. Oh
my gosh. So if you are new here or you just didn't
know, I have two. helpers down here two one two
Jessica is one and my mother is the other why
My mother picked transport day to host a surprise
party that she needed so much help with from
me. I will never know. So not only have I been
helping her get ready for that all week, I had
to spend all day Saturday baking and cooking
and getting ready for it, driving to it, staying
there for a few hours. And then I had to go pick
up my mom's foster puppies, fly to the doghouse
for transport, load them all up in the van, send
them off and then fly back to the party venue.
and help her clean everything up and get everything
back home and on top of all this I have become
the foster coordinator what is going on so apparently
apparently Tatiana just dipped after submitting
her two -week notice without like a single word
to anyone other than me the last thing she said
to me was yeah I'll be in tomorrow to do those
foster calls So, not sure what happened there
and not sure why she didn't respond to my scathing
text message that I sent her. I was livid. But
regardless, because of this, I'm actually super
excited because I was able to hire two quote
-unquote assistants. They're not assistants.
I mean like they are, I like more or less assist
them. You may know them and if you don't, you
soon will. It is Chandler and Melissa and they
have been actual literal godsends who have single
-handedly or double -handedly, since it's two
of them, kept transport from being canceled this
week. Like, I'm not even kidding. Melissa has
been a rock star, jumping right in and calling
anyone who needed to be called and finalizing
everything we needed and just checking off the
to -do list one by one. Chandler, I'm pretty
sure Chandler can read my mind. and I guess I
should be freaked out by that but it is so insanely
helpful. I don't even care if she can read my
mind. Like I will be thinking of something that
I need to get done or you know that we've got
to focus on next and Chandler will text me literally
right then and be like hey so I went ahead and
did this this and this with the robots. I'm like
uh well okay I was just sitting down to get that
done but I guess I can focus on the next thing
on the list or we'll be talking to Melissa in
our group. Chat and we will send like the same
message at the same time. I just I love them
both They are so incredible and both of them
have made my life so much better this week alone
so the tentative plan as of right now, which
I mean after intake tomorrow they may both run
for the hills and I'll be introducing you to
my new foster team in the next episode, but For
right now at least the plan for May is for all
three of us to just like do everything like everyone
pitch in everyone figure out like What you're
good at what you like which parts you don't like
so I'll be talking to the fosters and confirming
them one day and then like Melissa will be calling
them another and Chandler will be tacking him
periodically We're just gonna do all the jobs
and figure out which one of us is the best at
what and who hates what like I already told them
I will cut my arm off before I talk on the phone
to someone. I will cold text you all day long.
I will cold text anybody. You give me phone number,
I will cold text you, I will hook you up with
a foster dog. But the second my phone rings it's
like it's on fire in my hand and I can't throw
it across the room fast enough. and Chandler
is like part robot like she can whip these robots
into shape so fast it has taken me months to
get them where they were and she came in and
like completely leveled them up already Melissa
is still working part -time for the month of
May and so that's why like the tentative plan
is if she even wants to come on board full -time
with us by the end of May like maybe in June
we I don't know, reconfigure. But I'm just really
hoping that we don't scare her off first. So
I think the dynamic will change again and she'll
be doing more of like the reassignments and I'll
be focusing more on the fosters needed for transport
and we'll just fight over Chandler. I don't know.
I keep telling everyone it's a very fluid situation.
It's changing all the time. So who knows how
we're even going to have it worked out by the
next episode. Anyways, now that you know how
insanely crazy my life has been this week, let's
talk about this transport. The theme is Star
Wars. Oh, OK, wait. So that is another funny
story about Chandler. So intake is on May 4th,
and I guess that's Star Wars Day. But so she
asked if we could do a Star Wars theme for the
names and volunteer to come up with the names
for them. And Chandler is an OG. So she knows
we have had several Star Wars themes before.
So she and her husband said to send them the
list of all of the Star Wars names that we have
ever done across all the transport. And she would
weed through them and compile a list of new names
for this week. The next day. So I sent her the
list. The next day, I had over 70 names to choose
from. I could not believe it. Chandler also said
that her husband was gonna put a column next
to the names and list when the character appears
in the saga or the trilogy or whatever it is.
But Chandler was like, I think that's too much.
they are the literal best. I usually don't even
have names done or even know what my theme is
until the night before transport because like
we don't even know who's going or like how many
are going and which ones are going to get cut
so I can't do names until we have a more finalized
picture. Well because of Melissa hawking everyone
down and making all the confirmation calls to
finalize everything and Chandler handling all
the names and answering everyone's questions
and getting everything organized We were completely
done with transport on Wednesday. We had like
four more people just to like circle back with
and finish calls with, but we knew who was going.
We knew what their names were. I knew what crates
they were going in three full days before transport.
In the history of Wolf Trap, that has never happened.
Like I have rolled up to transport before and
we didn't even have names done or know who was
going. Three full days is insane. okay okay okay
the stories. younglings is an owner surrender.
The owner's neighbor, who is the guy who brought
Rachel to transport last month, the Love on the
Spectrum transport. So when he saw what great
care that our dogs get, he asked his neighbor
if he wanted him to reach out to us on his behalf
and see if we would take his puppy. The neighbor's
older and he has a ton of farmland and cattle
and he uses great Pyrenees to protect the farm.
So when the female ended up pregnant, he gave
away the ones that he could, but no one wanted
this one. And it's a purebred great Pyrenees,
so I don't know why nobody wanted him. He told
the neighbor that he could have him and the neighbor
went and got him that night so that he wouldn't
give him away and he just agreed to foster him.
He called Dr. Jamie the next morning to tell
her that he had the dog but unfortunately it
was completely feral. So he spent two weeks working
with this puppy and he's made great progress.
He was really sweet at transport. You could tell
he was definitely like on edge and like kept
his head on a swivel but he is so sweet and he
was so much better than he was. Paz Vizsla, who
is actually we think of Vizsla mix. So how stinking
perfect is that name? He showed up in someone's
house. Her dogs were all going crazy barking
and she found him curled up against the side
of the house on the other side of the fence,
shaking and terrified. He was super skinny, super,
super skinny and clearly in need of medical care.
But he was an immediate cuddle bug and she has
been working on fattening him up ever since.
The e litter of two are from our Alabama shelter
friends They were supposed to go on the love
is no not love is blind. That was a long time
ago They were supposed to go on the love on the
spectrum transport But they got super bad kennel
cough right before they were supposed to go so
we held them back so that they could be treated
They are doing much better and so stinking cute.
Oh my goodness. I love them They were brought
in as strays at the beginning of April The bee
litter of three are from our wonderful Dr. Jamie
for new listeners. She was Dr. Burton's student
down here at Mississippi State. They ended up
becoming lifelong best friends. Dr. Jamie does
a ton of vet care for us, super cheap, and in
return we help her with animals that get dumped
on her. Case in point, the bee litter of three.
She got a call back in November from somebody
on their county's shelter board. there were apartments
close to where she lived and she said for years
she has watched a mama dog just have litter after
litter after litter at these apartments twice
a year every year. She said she couldn't take
it anymore and she was sick of seeing these puppies
getting run over all the time so she asked Dr.
Jamie if she would help with them. Dr. Jamie
said bring the mom and all the puppies to the
clinic. So she spayed the mom and then the woman
who called her took her back to foster her until
a rescue was found. She was gonna send her to
the northern rescue with the puppies but the
mom kept escaping every single day and going
back to the apartments where she had lived for
so long so eventually they just let her stay
there because at least she spayed. Dr. Jamie
spayed and neutered all six of the puppies and
kept them at her clinic for weeks. They even
ended up doing a big fundraiser and she took
the puppies with her to the fundraiser and got
three of them adopted locally which we know how
I feel about that. But so these three did not
get adopted they came back to the clinic with
her and have been with her ever since. This was
last year that this happened. Um, so then a couple
weeks ago, she needed their kennel for paying
clients over spring break So she brought them
to her house and they have had a ball. They are
so well behaved They've had the best time playing
with her daughter her cattle her cats and her
six personal dogs She said they're going to be
the best dogs for someone someday Also, dr. Jamie
was working with it. So these dogs are like almost
six months old Dr. Jamie's had them since they
were like six weeks old The reason she had them
so long was because she was working with another
northern rescue who kept saying, oh, yeah, we'll
take them. Oh, yeah, we'll take them. Oh, yeah,
we'll take them. And then like every single transport
would be like, oh, sorry, we can't get them.
And like, don't get me wrong, I've definitely
done that, too, where I'm like, oh, yeah, I literally
did this to Dr. Jamie this way. I'm like, oh,
yeah, we can get that letter of six on. And then
like I forget and I'm like, oh, my gosh, like,
I forgot to circle back with you. You forgot
to circle back with me. But like. they're going
on the next transport like if they're the only
litter on there they're going so like worst case
scenario if i forget about you i'm getting you
on two weeks later period or like I even told
her like I've got a foster home open we can take
them and she was like no they're fine with the
foster that they're at now like he'll keep them
two more weeks so for someone to be putting you
off for five and a half months she eventually
was like I don't I'm not even trusting them anymore
I'm not working with them I want Wolf Trap to
take them I'm almost like okay we'll get them
on next week the eight litter of three were being
given away for free in the parking lot of just
a grocery store Fortunately for us, our bottle
feeder foster and her family have no willpower,
so they stopped as soon as they saw it and they
got all three of them. And then my mom took over
fostering them since they don't need bottles.
The F letter of three were found in the road
just down from one of Jessica's friend's homes
The lady pulled over and they all ran into the
ditch where it looked like they had probably
been living for quite a while There were some
scraps of food in there with them and everything
and we couldn't take them immediately We were
so completely overrun. So she put them in a teeny
tiny little pen with her goats and I don't know
that it was much better than living in the ditch
but they at least had consistent food and didn't
get run over until we were able to get them on
transport. The G litter of five, our owner surrenders.
The mom was a stray dog dumped at someone's house
that is friends with my mom. She ended up being
pregnant. The dog, not my mom. And they let her
stay and have her puppies there. She has been
such a fantastic dog though that they asked if
they could keep her instead of sending her with
her puppies. And we were like, yeah, we will
even spay her for free for you. The C litter
of 9 were originally a litter of 11. They belonged
to a mama that showed up to someone's house.
The lady had called a shelter to get her scheduled
for a spay. but the mom was so skittish and the
lady couldn't get her hands on her and then a
few days later she realized she was pregnant
anyways so the mom had 11 puppies and this family
owns two dogs of their own they have a huge big
old mean doberman and then a teeny teeny tiny
little jack russell and the doberman just loved
these puppies and was so sweet and so gentle
with them and the little jack russell killed
two of the puppies. Can you even believe that?
So they eventually just made the Jack Russell
stay away from them so he would stop killing
them one by one. They have since gotten really
attached to the mom and they will be keeping
her as well and they are very happy to be getting
her spayed for free. The D litter for are from
our Alabama shelter friends and she said that
they were an uh -oh litter and That the owner
had already gotten both of the parents spayed
and neutered, but he needed help finding homes
for the puppies Okay on to the cats Olga I guess
is how you say that I actually had a typed in
as Olga, but thankfully Google corrected me Oga
actually has a really sad and heartbreaking story.
She is from our Alabama shelter friends, but
I actually pulled her before the last transport
when I heard her story, so she's been staying
with our bottle feeder foster for the last few
weeks. The shelter made a really long post as
like a PSA to stop this from happening in the
future, but basically... This mom was brought
in as a stray that was found after we had some
really rough storms and tornadoes come through
our area. They could tell right away that she
was a nursing mama because she was so full of
milk. So they sent some of their workers to the
area where the person said that they had found
her to look for the kittens, but they never found
any. They didn't hear them. They didn't see them.
Seven full days later, someone else came into
the shelter with four super emaciated, super
pitiful, super tiny kittens. And they said the
way the mom reacted to seeing them brought them
to tears. They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt
that those were her kittens. Unfortunately, because
it had been a minimum of seven full days by then
without nursing any kittens, all of her milk
had dried up, so the shelter workers were taking
turns bottle feeding the four kittens around
the clock. They refused to take the kittens away
from the mom for longer than just a few minutes
though, so they would just feed them and give
them back. After everything she had been through
she just wanted to be with them non -stop and
it makes me so mad when people suggest taking
babies away from the moms just because they don't
have enough milk for them. Food is not the only
thing that moms provide for their babies just
because she didn't have milk anymore, didn't
mean that she couldn't keep them warm, she couldn't
stimulate them to go to the bathroom and just
honestly hold them after everything the five
of them had been through the last week. so when
i heard about this family i immediately reached
out to our rock star bottle feeder foster and
she instantly agreed to take them. we were so
sad but not very surprised the next morning when
the shelter only gave us the mom and two kittens
because the other two kittens had passed away.
despite everyone's best efforts round the clock
care and attention and literal honestly minute
by minute care multiple that visits the other
two kittens that ended up passing away I think
it was four days later and then five days later
for the other one so we are very sad that all
four kittens died but honestly I still count
it as a success and Maybe. It's still these new
mom hormones that have made me so soft lately,
but I cannot even imagine what this mom went
through to survive a tornado, possibly have your
home destroyed, be separated from your kittens,
but be desperately trying to find them and get
back to them, only to be ripped away by some
probably well -meaning human and then stuck in
a metal cage at the shelter. I just, I can't
even imagine not knowing are your babies alive,
where they are, if they're all right, and I know
like animals don't have the same emotions as
us and they don't have like the long -term memories
that we do, but you cannot tell me that this
mom wasn't grieving for her kittens and heartbroken
not knowing where they were. The fact that she
was able to reunite with all of them and be with
all of them as they died i don't even care what
you say. i know that this brought her peace.
so anyways the shelter made a post and the post
was just like stop snatching cats up especially
ones that are full of milk and then just dumping
them at the shelter. like the moms are out foraging,
the moms are are looking for their babies and
i'm i am certain that this was a very well -meaning
person who just didn't want something bad to
happen to this cat after the tornadoes but still
like leave her alone just follow her until she
leads you to her kittens or call the shelter
and they'll monitor the situation these these
kittens did not have to die newt gunray and the
j litter of four are from the same home but not
the same litter. So the mother of the J litter
showed up very pregnant at these people's barn.
She ended up having four kitchen - four kitchens.
She didn't have any kitchens. She ended up having
four kittens in the attic of their garage. They
just left them there until it got too hot and
then they brought them all down and put them
in a super big Great Dane sized crate. in their
garage so they've handled them a lot and they've
took really good care of them but they have lived
their entire life in a crate. And then Newt showed
up in the neighborhood one day a couple weeks
later and someone called this lady thinking it
was one of her kittens. and it wasn't but she
brought it home anyways and she kept it separate
for a few days but then added it in with the
other kittens and the mama just accepted it no
problem. They have the mama scheduled to be spayed
in a couple weeks and are super glad that we're
going to pay for it and super glad that they
now have a barn cat. The J litter of four are
actually two litters of two that were just a
few days apart. Two different people showed up
at our vet with these two litters of two on separate
days. The unspoken protocol when this happens
at our vet. So when someone shows up at the vet
with newborn kittens, the vet calls our bottle
feeder foster. Our bottle feeder foster says,
yes, absolutely. And then goes and gets them
and then calls us. schedule them on the transport
list once they're weaned. And they usually call
Jessica once all the kittens are eating on their
own so that they can focus on the next batch
of bottle babies. So Jessica has had these for
quite a while. All the rest of the kittens are
from our Alabama shelter friends. And though
we love them dearly and are so thankful for the
wonderful care they give the animals, they never
have a lot of information or background stories.
She said that all the cats on the van today were
brought in as strays. That's all. That's all
she gave me. So our litter of four were strays.
T litter of three were strays. The M mama and
her three M kittens all came in S strays, S mama
and her five S kittens actually kind of have
a little bit of a story. So mom was brought in
as a stray and she was pregnant. So she had her
three biological kittens in the shelter. Then
someone brought in an orphan kitten. They had
found it and couldn't find a mom so they gave
it to the shelter. This mama took it right in.
Her babies were just a few days old then and
then the day before transport yesterday someone
else came in with a super young kitten that they
had found abandoned and they gave it to this
mama too and she took it right in. That is all
the stories this week. Thank you, thank you so
much for listening, thank you even more for fostering.
If you are one of the fosters in this group Thank
you for your patience and your understanding
Chandler Melissa and I are just Figuring this
out as we go flying by the seat of our pants
Every single one of you have been so wonderful
to work with and we are just so appreciative
of your willingness to foster these critters
for us If you have a minute, please rate review
and subscribe to the podcast I always say my
dream is to one day make enough money from this
podcast that I can quit my job So that I can
do it for free so that I can do my job for free
and not take money away from wolf trap and the
animals If you are not fostering this round go
ahead and sign up for a spot on the next transport
May 17th You may even get a text from my new
robot if you do I'm working on it It's a rough
life, but it's better with two assistants. No,
I'm kidding It's a rough life, but someone's
got to do it