Dilemma Part 2

After phoning several times yesterday morning, Cat Action called back. It was the weekend this happened of course; WHY, oh WHY, does everything have to happen on the bloody weekend???  She said there were no Vets available that the Society works with so she called round and got back to me with a clinic that was open - on a Saturday - and I got the cat in this morning. 

Having just got home in the early afternoon, the phone was ringing. It was Cat Action. Because of this cats symptoms they did a FeLV test which turned out to be positive. So this kitty is in cat heaven now and no longer suffering the way he was. 

Feline leukemia virus is a retrovirus that is species-specific to cats and does not infect other animals, such as dogs. Humans are also immune but other pet cats and colony cats are a high risk. FeLV can be transmitted between infected cats through the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions. Transmission is mainly through saliva and friendly behaviors such as sharing feeding bowls and mutual grooming (this is distinct from fighting and biting). If not defeated by the animal’s immune system the virus is lethal. The disease caused by this virus is a form of cancer of the blood cells called lymphocytes; a leukemia.

Go here for more information  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/news/

The symptoms of FeLV are diverse: The signs of infection with feline leukemia virus are quite varied; they include loss of appetite, poor coat condition, infections of the skin, bladder and respiratory tract, oral disease, seizures, lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes), skin lesions, fatigue, fever, weight loss, stomatitis, gingivitis, litter box avoidance, pancytopenia, poor grooming, recurring bacterial and viral illnesses, anemia, diarrhea, and jaundice.

This one year old cat must have been in the early stages and it progressed fast because we only noticed he had a fever about the middle of last week and Friday he was given some oral penicillin that seemed to help at first, but by evening he was having issues with breathing and it worsened overnight. He was eating very little just because he was sick and sleeping a lot so he'd lost weight. He could walk but stumbled at times and when he jumped down from anything, he'd not be able to catch himself and would usually fall flat on his face. I am not too concerned about our four because they are fixed and have all their shots up to date but the other colony cats are at risk. 

I spent part of Saturday dumping the litter boxes, washing and bleaching them; did the same with their water/ food bowls and treat pan. I even wiped down the places where he spent most of his time while being in the house over the past two days. In this one instance, it is ironically fortunate that my cats don't take to having the colony cats anywhere near them. My biggest concern, once I learnt what he had, was to sanitize the food dishes and litter pans. I have to let the colony owner know so she can do the same and be on the watch for any sign that the other colony cats may have the same symptoms. 

I urge everyone who reads this blog to learn more about FeLV; enough to recognize the symptoms and take immediate action for the sake of your pets and your neighbors animals. This episode ended badly for this very friendly, darling of a cat and he was way too young to die this horrific way. The only consolation we have is that his suffering has ended along with his life.  

He had no name, being just a colony cat but he had the sweetest deposition and wanted desperately to belong ~ to be a house pet. I fulfilled that wish as much as I could.

Don't ever believe that colony cats, strays, homeless animals and the ones we so readily abandon because they become 'inconvenient' ~ 

Don't believe that they lead charmed lives of freedom. They don't! They lead lives filled with pain, sickness, suffering, desperate loneliness and death; a lot of times without the benefits of a single human kindness. I did what I could for him and offered a temporary home and all the love and affection he deserved to have, while he was around.

I have to give credit where its due! Cat Action Colony Coordinator, Diane Minick found the vet clinic that took him in and she paid for the vet services out of her own pocket.You don't find many people like her anymore!

http://cats-pei.ca/index.html

Catspaw

Update For ~ Kijiji Ad # 392154507

I really must celebrate my readers and visitors!!

This sad looking fella, who hails from Nova Scotia, has a NEW HOME on Prince Edward Island thanks to a Blog, a Kijiji Ad, three people who care and a family who wants him!

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Can you believe, I was out shopping but my husband answered the phone for a brand new home for this cat!!!

As of Sunday, July 1st ~ he has a FOREVER HOME.

Thank you, to absolutely everyone, who took the time to read the Kijiji Ad and/or my Blog about him.

I and my contact in Nova Scotia, are EXTREMELY GRATEFUL to all of you. My contact and her friend will be on the lookout for him to bring him to the island and to his new home.

Most especially, a SPECIAL THANK YOU to the happy family who has adopted him and offered him a loving home.

Catspaw

Kijiji Ad # 392154507

Good Morning

I have a very unhappy story to share with you today.

This cat lives in Nova Scotia. I doubt very much the place he lives is a cat colony, most of them are registered. He lives on a property that has too many cats and that number is constantly growing because the females are constantly pregnant. A couple of the kittens have been rescued and some of the cats the neighbors have either taken in or at the least, offer food, shelter, a place to heal from their wounds and some love and attention. That is the case with this young adult male. He lives his life alone, wandering from neighbor to neighbor. When he's at the house where he was born he is picked on and abused by the other cats so he is low on the scrapping ladder because he is not a fighter. He will make noises to try and scare other cats away but usually he is the one who gets hurt and driven off. He's had a very hard life and has been injured many times; the neighbor who offers help to him can't afford to take him to a vet, so instead offers him a place to rest and heal as best he can each time he's hurt. He's been an outdoor cat all his life but again, this neighbor brings him inside as often as she can to try and get him used to it. I have had cats exactly like that on the cat colony where I live and have tamed them to the point that they adapt well to being indoors. Abandoned to live out of doors year round, he is driven by loneliness and pain when he's hurt, to visit this neighbor for the only kindness he's ever known.

In spite of the cruel hardship and the abuse from the other cats he gets along with kids and adults; he tries to please so he won't be hurt. He tends to be very timid but warms to people kindness and loves any attention humans can spare for him. He's very affectionate with a gentle personality and although he tries to get along with other cats; he won't fight. He seems to get on well with dogs but will hiss at them if a dog gets too close for comfort.  He has a gorgeous coat and seems to be in good health, he'd adapt well to being an indoor/outdoor cat since he's been an outdoors all his life. One of his known injuries was he had a claw or something stuck around his tail area that must have festered and ruptured. By the time he got to the neighbors, he had a hole about the size of a nickel by his tail. She couldn't afford the vet so gave him children's aspirin for the acute pain he was in and put healing cream on the injury and it finally healed.  He has never been to a vet and has had no vaccinations, nor is he neutered but he looks healthy.  He likely suffers the added torment of ear mites as most of these unwanted, abandoned throw-aways do and he digs, painfully, at his ears. 

I first learned about this cat with the last Kijiji ad I placed to re-home a kitten that had started coming round again since last winter. Since then my contact and I have been emailing back and forth about this abandoned and thrown away animal. She tells me that ' He is just an awesome cat, plain and simple, who deserves to take it easier from now and be loved.  That's all I want to see for him.  If you ever met him, I am confident you or anyone would fall for him. He's never been hit as far as I know, just left alone and without 'the neighbor', he would be completely alone.'

 

My contact lives on PEI and visits friends in Nova Scotia, she says 'I can bring him home (to PEI) anytime I come back from Nova Scotia as long as he's there. Because the cat is not used to being indoors I really do not want to bring him here unless it is to go to his forever home. It would likely be too much for him going from home to home and trying to adapt to being an indoor cat for the first time in his life.'

 

In the place he stays now there is very little chance of finding enough food to sustain his life for much longer. The person only feeds the multitude of cats there by dumping some leftovers and some dry cat food but very likely there is not nearly enough for all of them; the cats that don't fight for dominance and control over the territory and food get pushed out along with the kittens. As is the case with this cat. My contact adds the following, 'He's super sweet, loving, very gentle and loves attention. He's been picked on by many other cats but he doesn't want to fight himself. His fur is super soft and thick; he's an average size.'

Together we decided to place an ad on Kijiji to try and re-home him from Nova Scotia to PEI. I placed an ad for him early this morning: Kijiji Ad # 392154507

'I told my friend about the possibly of finding this cat a home and like me, she's over the moon happy. We put up fliers before but no one wanted a full grown male cat it seemed, especially one who he isn't fixed. Maybe we could put an ad on Kijiji explaining things and if or when we got someone who wanted him, I could go get him within a week or two.' 

Well dear readers, what can I tell you. Between the two of us we are desperately trying to find a 'forever' home for this lost and hurting cat; the only people now who hold his fate in their hands is you. This is what my blog is really all about ~ to get the word out and to help the unwanted and cast aside in our society. The Forgotten. Will someone of you answer my ad and give this animal a new home and a new start in life? Really, is it asking that much to make room in someone's life for him?

I sure hope not. I would take him in a heartbeat but I already have four and live on a registered cat colony. My contact has cats and a dog of her own...  So, we are asking you to give this unfortunate a forever home. 

P~L~E~A~S~E --- go read the ad at Kijiji Ad # 392154507 and contact me, either through Kijiji or through the email address on the upper right of my blog; here it is again:

catspaw04@gmail.com

Catspaw

I have checked the status of the ad, it has been delayed but I am contacting Kijiji concerning it.

Do You Have Feral Cats Where You Live?

Believe it or not, cats are not native to all parts of the world and in many parts of the world, feral cats are the descendants of domestic cats that have been left behind or simply abandoned by travelers and visitors to a particular country. As a result, these feral cats can and probably do cause harm to foreign environments by preying on local species in the same way as they do in our back yards. This may be especially true on isolated islands where ferals have sometimes had a substantial and deleterious effect on the local fauna such as damaging trees and other plants that the native species use.

A clowder of feral cats and kittens

"Feral" is the word we use to refer to an animal that is not friendly when approached by us but it can also be applied to any domesticated animal that has been without human contact for anywhere from a long period of time to its lifetime. Hissing and growling are their self-defensive behaviors which, over time may change as the animal, whether "feral" or "stray", begins their journey towards a mutual trust between the humans that choose to provide food, water and care and the feral cat(s). 


Feral cats and strays differ only slightly in their behaviors especially if the stray cat has not been completely cut off from human interaction. Feral cats, born and living outdoors without any contact or care by people have been tamed to the point of being adoptable provided they are completely removed from their wild environment before their truly feral behaviors have been established and set into their personalities. Such behaviors are set while the kittens are still being raised by their mother as she teaches them to avoid human contact and that people are something to fear.

Feral cats display defensive behaviors and postures towards any person who ventures to come too close to them, then they run and hide.

Feral kitten eating a rabbit

Lifespans of ferals are difficult to determine with any kind of accuracy. One study states a median age of 4.7 years with a possible range somewhere between 0 to 8.3 years; yet other sources claim a mean lifespan of a meager 2 to 8 years before death, rarely from natural causes. For contrast a people raised cat, at birth, has an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years for a male indoor cat with females living usually, a year maybe two longer. Some domesticated cats have lived until the grand old age of 25 years being well cared for by their human companions.

Ferals take their toll on native Australian Cockatoos

Throughout the Age of Discovery passing ships released a few rabbits onto islands with the idea of a future food source for other travelers that stopped there. Very generous but ill conceived as over time they multiplied out of control by eating through their habitats so cats were introduced to keep their numbers down along with the mice and rats. The cats tended to favor local species over the rabbits; they were both ecologically naive to the islands and much easier to hunt. Then their numbers began to increase dramatically and they colonized the islands themselves; the very people who introduced both rabbit and cat saw them as pests to be exterminated. A completely human caused problem with the animals losing on all sides! Do we not have the sense not to create situations like this? Or to resolve them without the usual cruelty that we inflict.


Our historical records date the arrival of ferals in Australia to be somewhere around 1824. In spite of this its been suggested that they have been in Australia long before the Europeans settled it; they may have arrived as a result of Dutch shipwrecks back in the 17 hundreds or years before that arriving from present day Indonesia on Macassan fisher ships and trepangers who frequented Australia's shores during the past century. However they arrived, anywhere in the world, feral cats have not lead a charmed life. Rather, its been a very difficult life with nothing but hardships and unkindness from their environments and, most often from human contact. 

They deserve better and its up to us, who claim we care, to rescue and tame them, to provide medical care and a safe home for these 'lost' cats to live out what is left of their lives in relative safety and comfort. Even the wildest feral can be tamed with enough time and commitment - I have managed, these years since, to tame a few; some of the barn cats on the farms and diaries I have lived on had feral cats that eventually came around to my gentle care of them. I have even managed to find homes for a few that finally realized they could have the life of a domesticated cat. Its worth pondering on the next time you see a cat in need, whether a feral, a stray or just lost and frightened. Remember, the responsibility is yours.

This feral won't go hungry today but what about tomorrow?

Catspaw

Cat Action Team of PEI

Thought I'd give you the web address of Cat Action Team PEI so anyone who has questions or perhaps has cats that need help, can go to the site to see where they can get the aid they need.


http://www.cats-pei.ca/  Click on Cat Action Team of PEI if the actual site doesn't come up immediately.


If we all work together, we can help all the destitute cats on the island. I have looked and I am sure there is one for dogs also but I haven't found it yet.


Catspaw

A Cat's Prayer

I am very sensitive to animals and I never have really understood the reason until today. Everything the Lord made in creation reflects His honor but because we don't recognize God in our lives we don't see His hand in creation. When we dishonor animals and creation we dishonor, not only our Creator and Savior but ourselves. When we debase any part of the earth, we debase ourselves. However there are some pockets of God's creation, like animals because of their innocence, that remain untarnished by us and its these that some of us are sensitive to.

The growing mind, filled with the love of Jesus, searches creation for the message: God the Creator be praised!  Because of our spiritual and natural gifts each of us is able to see and hear them in particular areas more than in others. For me, its animals. And we are enabled to take this creation material and identify it, shape it, reconfigure it or in other ways use it so that God is further glorified. The carpenter works with wood; the physician listens to the body; the musician shapes sounds; the educator trains youth; the researcher analyzes, innovates and implements with the elements of the universe. We develop our minds for these tasks and rejoice as we do them for all that God is revealing to us out of His loving and forgiving heart.

What is your toughest decision today?  Pray over it and search God's word for advice. Its there for the accepting.

Catspaw