Hello, dear sponsors.

We’re always sorry to alarm you with a “Special Update.” But, knowing your devotion to our FeLVies, we want you to be the first to know some worrisome news about gentle Checkers.

Last Thursday, our vet team examined Checkers, as he had lost some weight and was not eating well. What they found was not good: Checkers has an enlarged spleen, and his blood work shows a low white blood cell count, a low platelet count, and anemia.

Our vet team suspects lymphoma, a condition to which FeLV+ cats are highly susceptible. We are trying to support Checkers with steroids, fluids, and antibiotics. At this point, we don’t feel it’s appropriate to be aggressive with diagnostics, but we will monitor him closely.

Checkers had been moved to our hospital, as he was receiving IV fluids. He disapproved of this move and became quite talkative back in hospital!

As of this afternoon (Monday, 10/28), Checkers is responding well to the steroids and the broad spectrum antibiotics. He’s eating and seems brighter. He is no longer anemic, although his white blood cell counts are still not good.

We’re going to return Checkers to his suite, as we know he’ll be much more comfortable there. We’ll crate him at night so we can monitor his appetite and administer his medications more easily. If he continues to respond well in a week, we’ll decide what our next steps are going to be, if any.

I’m saddened to note that, despite these promising signs, Checkers is quite a sick cat. Our devoted vet, Dr. C, notes that the likelihood of his recovery is very slim. We will all be lavishing him with love every day we have with him.

We’ll keep you updated as we have more news. Please keep a good thought for this sweet boy, and thank you for being such generous, loving friends to all our FeLV+ cats.

Your Correspondent,
Stephanie