Hmm, I don't know if there's one on Long Island.
Terri in NJ
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: Emilio and Frito
I was wondering about Tabby's Place, but couldn't remember the
name. Isn't
there one one on Long Island too? Again, can't remember the name!
Gloria
At 06:40 PM 10/26/2005, you wrote:
>Hi Chrissy,
>
>Wow. What a big heart you have.
>
>There are no FeLV+ shelters in this area (I'm in Bordentown, right
around
>the corner from you). Taffy's Place in the Flemington area is full I
>think. Any shelter you take them to will PTS. I think Nikki's FeLV
>Rescue is full too. She's way up in the Sparta, NJ area.
>
>No doubt you've got your hands full. I'm full myself (in a 1 bedroom
>apartment), and all the cats are FeLV free at the moment. I
mostly lurk
>on the list nowadays -- I've been with the group since 1999.
>
>Since we're so close (geographically), maybe give me a call
sometime and
>we can chat. If nothing else, at least I can be a sounding board
for you.
>
>324-1604
>
>Terri in Bordentown, NJ
>
>=^..^= Terri, Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, Travis,
and 6
>furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth, Alec & Salome'
=^..^=
>
>Furkid Photos!
><http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7sgqa/>http://mysite.verizon.net/
vze7sgqa/
>My Personal Page:
><http://www.geocities.com/ruthiegirl1/terrispage.html?
1083970447350>http://www.geocities.com/ruthiegirl1/terrispage.html?
1083970447350
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Christine Ott
>To: <mailto:Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
>Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 9:43 PM
>Subject: Emilio and Frito
>
>Hi everyone,
>
>I'm brand new here, and am so happy to have found you! How
wonderful to
>have found such a group! Of course, it's sad news in my life that
>brings me here, though, but it's good to know there are other people
>out there doing what they can.
>
>We moved to Trenton, NJ, last year with a dog, Lacey, and two young,
>(felv - ) cats, Monkey and Simon, and within a day, acquired a new
cat,
>Angus, whom we kept in seclusion for months until we could
determine if
>he had any of the feline nasties (he was tested twice, several months
>apart). Of course, we didn't seek to get another cat, but cats
have the
>ability to acquire us. He came up negative for FIV and Leukemia,
and we
>were so thankful. Monkey and Simon may not feel the same way, since
>he's much bigger than they are, but we're working out the issues!
>
>Four months later, I heard a terrible crying sound coming from the
>hedges, and honestly had no idea what it was -- despite the growing
>number of cats in my household, they're all pretty young; I didn't
have
>a cat until I was 31, so I was not well versed in the wide range of
>noises they're capable of making. I went to check it out, and
>discovered Platooski, a kitten about 4 weeks old, in the bushes.
>
>We figured three cats was enough; since Platooski was a kitten, we
>thought it would be easy enough to get him adopted. And as luck would
>have it, THREE people said they'd take him. We offered him to the
first
>person who asked, and of course, she fell through, but not before the
>other two women got other kittens. So, we figured, "What's one more?"
>And then came Crabcake, another kitten. And again, we figured we
could
>adopt her out, and planned to take her to adoption day at
PetSmart, but
>she developed a horrible eye infection. Despite her hideous oozing
>face, all of my cats fell in love with her while she was healing, and
>by the time she got better, we couldn't bear to give her up.
>
>Platooski and Crabcake also came up negative for FIV and FeLv. All of
>my cats are indoors only. Angus, by the way, the bully, adores the
>kittens, though he still gets a scary blank stare when he looks at
>Simon and Monkey...
>
>So, last month, on our one year anniversary in the house, a mommy cat
>and two young kittens show up, smelling a sucker, I guess. The
>neighborhood has a bad cat problem, and we've been talking about a
>trap-neuter-release program, but of course, every time a cat shows
up,
>circumstances go weird, and we're not able to do the TNR thing. I
>volunteered at the shelter for a bit to get a sense what was going on
>with that, and while I admire so much of what the volunteers do, I
will
>do my best to never surrender an animal to them, since it's a kill
>facility, and the city is so hard pressed for resources. So we
figured
>we'd do our best to "take care of our backyard," so to speak. We fed
>Mommy and babies (whom we named Emilio and Frito), and they stayed on
>the back porch. I asked around again to see if we could find a taker
>for these cats, and again, we got lucky and found someone who'd take
>Emilio and Frito, if they came up negative for FIV and FeLv.
>
>Because we live in a city with a stray cat problem, as well as a
number
>of other problems, I brought the crew inside and put them in the
spare
>room, so nothing would happen to them before we could get them to
their
>new home. We let them adjust for a week or so, and then we separated
>the mom from the babies -- we figured they were at least 8 weeks old.
>They were still nursing, but were also eating solid food. Called the
>vet, who makes housecalls, and she
>came by last Monday, and tested Mommy, who's staying in my office:
>negative. Tested Emilio: Positive. My heart sank, but my vet tried to
>reassure me that sometimes they get false positives; she'd send the
>blood out for a more definitive test. Frito was flipping out, so the
>vet couldn't draw blood. We put the kittens in a large cage in the
>spare room, so they couldn't hide from us (they were avoiding us) and
>Emilio began to deteriorate rapidly. Lethargic, snotted up.
>Heartbreaking. Frito seemed fine, in her not-very-outgoing way.
Mommy,
>too, once she got over the initial separation, seemed fine. Again, I
>have a lot of cats, but not that much experience, and until the other
>day, I knew very little about this disease, and when Emilio got
sick, I
>thought the worst.
>
>While Emilio was lethargic, he didn't fight me: I could pick him
up. I
>cleaned him up and fed him tuna, and he perked up a bit. But only a
>little bit. The next day, I let them out of the cage, and he improved
>100%.
>
>I'd been bracing myself for the worst, and I suppose it didn't help.
>The lab results came back and he's positive. The woman who said she'd
>take the kittens now (understandably) doesn't want them. And I'm just
>sick to death about the whole thing, I have been for the whole week,
>even before I had the official news. They are sweet little babies,
and
>if I didn't have 5 other healthy cats, I'd keep them, as painful
as it
>would be to know their futures were so uncertain. I can't bring
myself
>to put them down, knowing, in the brief time I've been reading up
about
>this, that they can have still have decent lives.
>
>My vet told me about The Best Little Cat House in Pennsylvania, a
>hospice in Harrisburg, PA, a few hours from here, where I could bring
>them. I contacted them -- will have to talk to the woman who runs the
>shelter tomorrow, though -- and off the bat, they said they have too
>many cats right now, though they said they might be able to take them
>in about a month. Which is not ideal, but doable.
>
>I'm exploring other options in case that doesn't work out, except, I
>really don't know of any other options. To make things more
>distressing, my healthy gang getting even more curious about what's
>going on in the spare room: last week, after the first FeLv
screening,
>we put some old wood down in front of the door to prevent little paws
>from poking at each other (maybe too late??), and I'm terrified
that my
>cats are already at risk, even though I HOPE I'm just being overly
>paranoid (Emilio kicked a toy out from under the door and Platooski
>kicked it back in, etc. etc. etc.). We're committed to hanging on to
>the Mom until we get her spayed and retested in a few months,
though I
>fear she's a sitting duck, since she was a very good mommy: she
nursed
>them and doted on them, groomed them and shared food. She is a
>beautiful, sweet animal, we think about two years old, and we
would be
>happy to keep her if she's healthy (or didn't have healthy cats in
the
>house). They waiting will stink.
>
>I'm at a complete loss. Anyone have any advice? Know of any place
I can
>place the kittens? I know how hard it is to find homes for healthy
>cats, and I just don't know what to do. Any personal experience on
>exactly how contagious this disease is? I keep reading things like
>"moist contact," "prolonged physical contact," and "highly contagious
>and lethal" and I have not gotten much in the way of reassurance from
>the vet, either -- and I suppose, if that's the way it is, I'll
have to
>accept it, but hearing some firsthand stories would be helpful.
>
>In the meantime, two more cats have appeared on the back porch, and
>after this experience with Emilio and Frito, I'm not sure if I'm
strong
>enough to keep doing this. I feel so weak, drained. They need us
>though, and I know no one else in my neighborhood helps them.
>
>Thank you so much in advance for reading this, and anything thoughts
>you may have -
>Chrissy
>
