diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 04d4418aa2..0c9df23ecc 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2.2.905 (2023-11-08)
+====================
+
+- Fixed loss of a QUIC connection due to an inappropriate check in ``conn.is_connected``.
+- Separate saturated (multiplexed) connections from the main pool to a distinct one.
+
 2.2.904 (2023-11-06)
 ====================
 
diff --git a/src/urllib3/_version.py b/src/urllib3/_version.py
index dc53ef1ee0..b0a0dd5315 100644
--- a/src/urllib3/_version.py
+++ b/src/urllib3/_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # This file is protected via CODEOWNERS
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__version__ = "2.2.904"
+__version__ = "2.2.905"
diff --git a/src/urllib3/connection.py b/src/urllib3/connection.py
index 6bdfe8b92f..0ba3162b85 100644
--- a/src/urllib3/connection.py
+++ b/src/urllib3/connection.py
@@ -250,6 +250,9 @@ def is_connected(self) -> bool:
         # wait_for_read: not functional with multiplexed connection!
         if self._promises or self._pending_responses:
             return True
+        # wait_for_read: not functional w/ UDP!
+        if self._svn == HttpVersion.h3:
+            return self._protocol is not None and self._protocol.has_expired() is False
         return not wait_for_read(self.sock, timeout=0.0)
 
     @property
diff --git a/src/urllib3/connectionpool.py b/src/urllib3/connectionpool.py
index ce9f04a2c2..ef3ef81029 100644
--- a/src/urllib3/connectionpool.py
+++ b/src/urllib3/connectionpool.py
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         self._maxsize = maxsize
         self.pool: queue.LifoQueue[typing.Any] | None = self.QueueCls(maxsize)
+        self.saturated_pool: queue.LifoQueue[typing.Any] = self.QueueCls(maxsize)
         self.block = block
 
         self.proxy = _proxy
@@ -291,11 +292,6 @@ def _get_conn(
         if conn and is_connection_dropped(conn):
             log.debug("Resetting dropped connection: %s", self.host)
             conn.close()
-        elif conn and conn.is_saturated is True and no_new is False:
-            try:
-                return self._get_conn(timeout=timeout, no_new=no_new)
-            finally:
-                self._put_conn(conn)
 
         return conn or self._new_conn()
 
@@ -313,7 +309,27 @@ def _put_conn(self, conn: HTTPConnection | None) -> None:
 
         If the pool is closed, then the connection will be closed and discarded.
         """
+
         if self.pool is not None:
+            if conn:
+                if conn.is_multiplexed and conn.is_saturated:
+                    try:
+                        self.saturated_pool.put(conn, block=False)
+                    except queue.Full:
+                        self.num_connections -= 1
+                        conn.close()
+                    return
+                elif (
+                    conn.is_multiplexed
+                    and conn.is_idle
+                    and self.pool.maxsize > self._maxsize
+                ):
+                    print("???")
+                    self.num_connections -= 1
+                    self.pool.maxsize -= 1
+                    conn.close()
+                    return
+
             try:
                 self.pool.put(conn, block=False)
                 return  # Everything is dandy, done.
@@ -344,7 +360,6 @@ def _put_conn(self, conn: HTTPConnection | None) -> None:
                         )
 
                         self.pool.maxsize += 1
-
                         return self._put_conn(conn)
 
                 log.warning(
@@ -352,10 +367,13 @@ def _put_conn(self, conn: HTTPConnection | None) -> None:
                     self.host,
                     self.pool.qsize(),
                 )
+                self.num_connections -= 1
+                return
 
         # Connection never got put back into the pool, close it.
         if conn:
             conn.close()
+            self.num_connections -= 1
 
     def _validate_conn(self, conn: HTTPConnection) -> None:
         """
@@ -408,16 +426,28 @@ def get_response(
         If none available, return None.
         """
         connections = []
-        response = None
+        response: HTTPResponse | None = None
 
         while True:
             try:
-                conn = self._get_conn(no_new=True)
-            except ValueError:
+                conn = self.saturated_pool.get(self.block)
+                connections.append(conn)
+            except queue.Empty:
                 break
 
-            connections.append(conn)
+        if not connections:
+            while True:
+                try:
+                    conn = self._get_conn(no_new=True)
+                except ValueError:
+                    break
+
+                connections.append(conn)
 
+        if not connections:
+            return None
+
+        for conn in connections:
             if promise:
                 if promise in conn:
                     response = conn.getresponse(promise=promise)
@@ -430,24 +460,8 @@ def get_response(
                     continue
             break
 
-        forget_about_connections = []
-
-        # we exceptionally increased the size (block=False + multiplexed enabled)
-        if len(connections) > self._maxsize:
-            expect_drop_count = len(connections) - self._maxsize
-
-            for conn in connections:
-                if conn.is_idle:
-                    forget_about_connections.append(conn)
-                if len(forget_about_connections) >= expect_drop_count:
-                    break
-
         for conn in connections:
-            if conn not in forget_about_connections:
-                self._put_conn(conn)
-
-        for conn in forget_about_connections:
-            conn.close()
+            self._put_conn(conn)
 
         if promise is not None and response is None:
             raise ValueError(
diff --git a/src/urllib3/contrib/hface/protocols/http2/_h2.py b/src/urllib3/contrib/hface/protocols/http2/_h2.py
index fc8e7ccb7a..b52d4afe64 100644
--- a/src/urllib3/contrib/hface/protocols/http2/_h2.py
+++ b/src/urllib3/contrib/hface/protocols/http2/_h2.py
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ def exceptions() -> tuple[type[BaseException], ...]:
 
     def is_available(self) -> bool:
         max_streams = self._connection.remote_settings.max_concurrent_streams
-        return self._terminated is False and max_streams > len(self._connection.streams)
+        return (
+            self._terminated is False
+            and max_streams > self._connection.open_outbound_streams
+        )
 
     def has_expired(self) -> bool:
         return self._terminated
diff --git a/test/test_connectionpool.py b/test/test_connectionpool.py
index c7ca45a39a..5672f9d017 100644
--- a/test/test_connectionpool.py
+++ b/test/test_connectionpool.py
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ def test_put_conn_when_pool_is_full_nonblocking(
             assert conn1 == pool._get_conn()
             assert conn2 != pool._get_conn()
 
-            assert pool.num_connections == 3
+            assert pool.num_connections == 2
             assert "Connection pool is full, discarding connection" in caplog.text
             assert "Connection pool size: 1" in caplog.text
 
diff --git a/test/with_traefik/test_connectionpool_multiplexed.py b/test/with_traefik/test_connectionpool_multiplexed.py
index c800450819..0da40bbc5e 100644
--- a/test/with_traefik/test_connectionpool_multiplexed.py
+++ b/test/with_traefik/test_connectionpool_multiplexed.py
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ def test_multiplexing_stream_saturation(self) -> None:
                 promises.append(promise)
 
             assert len(promises) == 300
+            assert pool.num_connections == 2
 
             for i in range(300):
                 response = pool.get_response()
@@ -103,4 +104,4 @@ def test_multiplexing_stream_saturation(self) -> None:
                 assert "/delay/1" in response.json()["url"]
 
             assert pool.get_response() is None
-            assert pool.pool is not None and pool.pool.qsize() == 2
+            assert pool.pool is not None and pool.num_connections == 2