Adventures With The Felv Fosters

[Norachan]

More beautiful pictures Sheri! Thank you for letting us see more of your foster cats.

I think it's really important to spread the word that FeLV and FIV aren't a death sentence and that cats can live happily even if they have the disease. Shelters in Japan have told me before that they will have to euthanise any cats surrendered to them that test positive. This is especially sad when you think that younger cats may shake off the disease and test negative a month later.

I love that big calico girl, DuckDuck. She is so pretty!

Here are some pictures of my FIV positive cat, Happy. I found her in a supermarket car park and managed to bundle her into a cardboard box and take her to my vet.

When I first got her home.

After a few months of TLC.

She's tiny, but like most calicos she is full of attitude. She's the Queen around here.

 

[SheriB]

More beautiful pictures Sheri! Thank you for letting us see more of your foster cats.

I think it's really important to spread the word that FeLV and FIV aren't a death sentence and that cats can live happily even if they have the disease. Shelters in Japan have told me before that they will have to euthanise any cats surrendered to them that test positive. This is especially sad when you think that younger cats may shake off the disease and test negative a month later.

I love that big calico girl, DuckDuck. She is so pretty!

Here are some pictures of my FIV positive cat, Happy. I found her in a supermarket car park and managed to bundle her into a cardboard box and take her to my vet.

When I first got her home.

View attachment 214249
After a few months of TLC.
View attachment 214250

She's tiny, but like most calicos she is full of attitude. She's the Queen around here.

Wow, look at that turnaround! She’s beautiful and, yes, I’m sure she runs things! It’s such a privilege to care for these babies. We get far fewer cats with FIV at the shelter. They are usually very sick by the time they come to us, but your beautiful girl gives me hope.

 

[SheriB]

More beautiful pictures Sheri! Thank you for letting us see more of your foster cats.

I think it's really important to spread the word that FeLV and FIV aren't a death sentence and that cats can live happily even if they have the disease. Shelters in Japan have told me before that they will have to euthanise any cats surrendered to them that test positive. This is especially sad when you think that younger cats may shake off the disease and test negative a month later.

I completely agree, it’s important for people to understand that these cats can have a good and healthy life!

This summer a litter of six kittens were fostered by one of our awesome volunteers until they were old enough for spay/neuter. At that time five of the six tested positive for FeLV. They came to me to wait out their month before being re-tested. Two recovered (Yay!) and, along with the one who was negative, were subsequently adopted out. That’s when Fino, Aggie, and Bette joined our crew. They are now known as The Teenagers. They are delightful, healthy kitties and keep everybody playing. Their first foster did a great job socializing them because they are all extremely affectionate.

 

[SheriB]

Here’s Fino...

 

[SheriB]

Aggie...

 

[SheriB]

And Bette. Sorry for the cage photos, the lighting in the basement isn’t good enough for good photos so I like these outdoor ones much better. That’s one of the many improvements I want to make in their space.

 

[Norachan]

Bette has such beautiful orange eyes!

 

[Feral Cat Mom]

Hi! I want to thank you for helping these poor kitties out. I had a stray that showed up a couple years ago that I wanted to keep so bad but we already had two indoor cats and my dad didn't want another one. I had her for the summer as a outdoor cat but when it started getting cold outside she started wanting inside and would cry at the door. I couldn't handle it. She was breaking my heart so I did what I felt was best for her and sent her to our local no kill humane society. I cried my eyes out when I said goodbye to her. Later after I got home I received a call from the humane society saying that she had feline leukemia or aids can't remember which. Anyway they had a foster program like you do and a few months later she was adopted out. I really appreciate what you are doing. Will post a picture of her.

 

[SheriB]

Feral Cat Mom Aw, she’s beautiful! I know how you felt, I can’t leave a crying cat out in the cold. And even though it hurt, you did the best you could for her, that’s love. And she got adopted! Thank you so much for your comment, and for doing what you can!

 

[SheriB]

View attachment 214653 Yesterday I finally got around to hanging these cat shelves that I made out of inexpensive crates from the craft section at Walmart. I glued carpet to the sides which would be the top and inside, and reinforced some key areas with glue and screws. This was my solution after considering the shocking price of wood and the ugliness of metal shelf hangers. The one on the left looks more crooked in the photo than it is in life.

 

[Shane Kent]

SheriB God Bless you. If I was in the same room as you, you would have to pry me off from trying to kiss you. I first learned of FELV and FIV when I went to the Ottawa Humane Society to get another cat to have with Taz. They had me get Taz tested and he came back negative so they made me pick from cats that had tested negative. It was heart breaking going to the Humane Society. I leave there in tears, I want to take them all home.

 

[daisyd]

More beautiful pictures Sheri! Thank you for letting us see more of your foster cats.

I think it's really important to spread the word that FeLV and FIV aren't a death sentence and that cats can live happily even if they have the disease. Shelters in Japan have told me before that they will have to euthanise any cats surrendered to them that test positive. This is especially sad when you think that younger cats may shake off the disease and test negative a month later.

I love that big calico girl, DuckDuck. She is so pretty!

Here are some pictures of my FIV positive cat, Happy. I found her in a supermarket car park and managed to bundle her into a cardboard box and take her to my vet.

When I first got her home.

View attachment 214249
After a few months of TLC.
View attachment 214250

She's tiny, but like most calicos she is full of attitude. She's the Queen around here.

I love happy ! I remember the thread and her with your other fur babies

 

[SheriB]

SheriB God Bless you. If I was in the same room as you, you would have to pry me off from trying to kiss you. I first learned of FELV and FIV when I went to the Ottawa Humane Society to get another cat to have with Taz. They had me get Taz tested and he came back negative so they made me pick from cats that had tested negative. It was heart breaking going to the Humane Society. I leave there in tears, I want to take them all home.

Haha, Gentleman Kent. Instead I think we might be having to pry the cats off of you! They know when someone loves them!
The approach of the Ottawa Humane is brilliant! It makes so much sense to get that test done to see if the home cat has FeLV/FIV, but I have never heard of it before.
I know what you mean about it being painful to go to the humane Society, when I first started at the shelter I was overwhelmed with the need I found there, I did cry, for days. Like you I want to bring every cat home and make everything okay for them. Now that I have been involved for a while I can see how much good is happening there and how dedicated the team is. It is a place where love reigns, I am honored to be involved.
Thank you for your sweet comment!

 

[Norachan]

Those are really good cat shelves SheriB What a great idea! I wonder if I have any spare wall shelf around here that I could attach some more shelves to........

 

[trudy1]

Just love the cat pictures, especially duckduck! Wow, what a change. I’m learning more about these diseases as well.

Oops that sun spot that’s hit the kids is on me now and I’m getting as sleepy as they are.

Thanks again for all you do for these babies! And for the great thread, really enjoyed it.

 

[SheriB]

View attachment 214861 Just love the cat pictures, especially duckduck! Wow, what a change. I’m learning more about these diseases as well.

Oops that sun spot that’s hit the kids is on me now and I’m getting as sleepy as they are.

Thanks again for all you do for these babies! And for the great thread, really enjoyed it.

Thanks trudy1! What a comfy looking sleeper you have there. I would be tempted to join her. “Naps with Cats” should be a Thing. I do it regularly!

 

[SheriB]

Well, I guess I was being too optimistic with Goose, his eyes have flared up again. He was on amoxicillin and eye ointment for 10 days, with steroid pills, and seemed all cleared up. Now, a few days later, the eye inflammation is back. I don’t think I will put him back on the amoxicillin, but will go back to the eye ointment. Another option is eye drops that the Shelter gave me to use as nose drops on one of the permanently stuffy cats. I’ll hold on steroids until I see what the ointment does.
Goose has only been here about six weeks and sometimes it takes longer than that to get them healthy.
I’m troubled by the amount of antibiotics we sometimes have to use with Shelter cats, concerned about breeding antibiotic resistant bugs, but there’s no other option when so many of them come in sick or get sick within a few days of arriving. Sometimes they get better right away and sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of doses of antibiotics.

 

[SheriB]

I posted this on the megapawsitive thread because I’m just so thrilled, but I think I need it here too. Nanny came up on the other end of the couch and curled up and went to sleep! She’s the one I have never touched.

 

[SheriB]

Today’s introduction is Cupcake, a very special story. When the shelter asked if I would take her of course I said yes, not knowing anything about her. When I went to pick her up I was taken aback, she was the saddest looking thing I had ever seen! She had been at the shelter for seven years (!) and they said she had always been puny. Lately she had become sicker and they re-tested and found leukemia. She looked so bad but I brought her home and isolated her in the bathroom. This scrawny, dirty little thing wanted nothing but loves and climbed all over us when we went to sit with her. I got her a cat tree and she joyfully ran over and clawed it thoroughly then ran to the very top. That began a long period of trying to clear up her health; antibiotics and steroids and my oh my did she fight the ringworm baths. She was one who had slipped through the cracks at the shelter, always snuggled up to the other cats and not drawing any attention. I took her to my vet to get her ears cleaned and for a consultation. They discovered that she needed a dental. The visiting Vet at the shelter ended up pulling all of her teeth and her jaw broke. The shelter director was horrified. Cupcake developed a large lesion on her tongue, probably from calicivirus. It was a dark and painful time for us all.
She is a strong fighter and she pulled through. Finally she was doing pretty well but for one goopy eye and her constantly runny nose. Her fur began to improve as she became able to groom herself, and she discovered that she liked brushing, so much so that she throws herself on the brush. She learned to meow, which she had never done at the shelter. Her full throated efforts sound more like a parrot squawk than a cat (she is part Siamese).
Cupcake discovered the outdoor enclosure and began to spend her days basking in the summer sun. This lead to the happy accident that finally cleared up her goopy eye. She began to develop brown spots on her ears and nobody knew what they were so the shelter’s Vet recommended a round of amoxicillin. Turned out that the spots were freckles from being in the sun for the first time in her life, but the amoxicillin cleared up her eye infection. Her nose will always be runny, because of the calicivirus, but she is free from infection.
Cupcake has good days and bad days, sometimes I don’t see her get up from her heated bed, but other days she trots around with her funny little high stepping gait and even jumps in at play time. She doesn’t see very well but is very good with sound, I’ve actually seen her grab flies out of the air.
She’s been here since last summer, doing well enough. The other day the Shelter assistant mentioned to me that the cats who come to stay with me live much longer than they would at the shelter. She off handedly mentioned Cupcake, and that they had expected her to die within weeks of when they asked me to take her. I hadn’t realized that, but I appreciate what they are saying, that a home, with individual care and a comfortable place to be, gives cats like Cupcake a second chance. And for the most part, she’s lovin’ it!

 

[Norachan]

What a sad story, but how uplifting to hear how well Cupcake is doing now. She looks like she is enjoying basking in the sun.

Happy had to have all of her teeth removed too, but she's obviously a lot more comfortable now they're gone.

Thank you for giving Cupcake a second chance.