Welcome - so very glad you are here. Animal, Amele and Frack are very lucky to have you - may they grow strong. They know they are loved.
elizabeth On 12/28/06, JoJo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi All, New member, just an intro post – and a long one. I will tend to lurk more then comment, unless I feel compelled to do so. I'm here to learn and to share my experience and hear about others. I've been fostering kittens for a local shelter since 2003. Up until this year I've been lucky and all kittens I've fostered have been healthy, with the exception of a few orphans that passed from "failure to thrive". My home went from 3 cats to 8 (not to mention 4 dogs). This year, the very first litter of the season, I took in 7 kittens, about 5 weeks of age. Nobody is sure if they're all one big litter, or two or three litters – they were brought in from an animal control facility that has a tendency to just throw kittens into a cage. The fact they made it out of animal control – alive – is a small miracle in itself. Within the first two weeks, two died. They went down quickly. I had to force feed a few, all had URI's. When they were old/big enough to test, the shelter tested the biggest two of the remaining five (there were only two test kits left on the day I went in). Both tested negative. I assumed everyone else was negative so let my cats in to socialize with this group. They were named Ali, Frick, Frack, Animal & Amele. A week or two later, the remaining three were tested. Ali came back positive. I was devastated. I started researching what I could, and from what I read decided since she was already symptomatic that I would keep her until it was time. At the time, the shelter was going through some procedural changes – all FeLV + cats were to be PTS, symptomatic or not. I conveniently "hid" her – everyone knew I had her, but when it was time to get her siblings fixed, she stayed home. Two weeks later, I had Ali PTS, we had just come off a round of force feedings, to only start again five days later, and she had blood coming from her rectum. She was 10 weeks old. Her siblings were all still at the shelter and wouldn't go up for adoption until after they had been retested – three months later. All had URI's and one was sneezing uncontrollably. I brought them all back home with me. After two months, Frick was not improving to my satisfaction, so I insisted on retesting. He came back positive (IFA confirmed), the other three negative. So I kept them "hidden" again, with no trips to the shelter, just going in to get Interferon. I did take Frick in to get him neutered (at the original date of neuter he only had one testicle descended so they wanted to wait two weeks – I waited until he was well enough). What a surprise when the vet did the surgery to find no testicles at all! I felt guilty as hell, the poor guy had a five inch incision, and I put him through all that for nothing. The entire litter was then to go to a place called In Care of Cats – they are a hospice that takes in FeLV cats. By this time I'd had the kittens for about 8 months. I asked the shelter if I could hospice foster Frick, he'd have "off" days, and at the time I was asking, he was on his third "off" day. I didn't want to send him off to die in a strange place. I came home to discover he had not eaten at all that day, it continued into the next day, he had very little energy. I took him out to the shelter that night and had him PTS. It broke my heart to do so. And right after that I had four foster kittens die from panleukopenia – good week for me. Two weeks to the day after I had Frick PTS, the shelter called to tell me it was time for the remaining three to go to the hospice. I knew the call was coming and I was dreading it. I wanted to keep them, but at the same time, finances were strained. Foster coordinator was afraid I'd have a melt down if I lost any of these three to FeLV. But I WAS losing them anyway. That night I told her they could go to the hospice. I cried so hard I was hyperventilating, and had myself so upset I could not eat the next day. I called her after lunch and told her they weren't going anywhere, and adopted them for $10 each (normal fee is $75). So I am now the proud owner (or am I owned) of three 9 month old kittens that may or may not have FeLV. I am getting them and my 8 cats (they were vaccinated for FeLV) retested in February or March. All still sneeze, Amele more then the others. We have bouts of diarrhea, which clears up with flagyl. They're all very active, although Frack is more laid back then her siblings. Animal loves water, Amele chases his tail and shadows – those two are almost always together. Animal is more of a lover then Amele, and Frack prefers to keep to herself, but she does like to chase my feet under the covers. Many people have actually THANKED me for taking in these "special needs" kitties. To me they aren't special needs, they just got dealt a very bad hand. You wouldn't get rid of your child if it was born with some disease, I won't get rid of them. They deserve to live as much of a life as they can, and as long as they are enjoying life, then why not let them? Others have told me they can't go through the heartbreak – what's the difference of losing them to FeLV, old age or some other disease? So I guess I'm now one of the "rare" people that think FeLV cats deserve a chance and should not be treated like lepers. While mine have been exposed, I'll deal with the cards I was dealt. Who am I to argue with fate? I was given these kittens for a reason, and I guess that reason was to make sure they'd have a happy, good life for however long they may or may not have. So that's my LONG story and how I came to owning FeLV positive cats.
