Happy Almost-Spring, FeLVie Fans!

It’s time for another update on our crew. Are you ready for some wonderful news? We had not one, not two, but THREE FeLVie adoptions last month! Sylvia, Piper, and Malawi all found homes, and we couldn’t be more delighted.

The adoptions of Sylvia and Piper mean that there are only two residents of Suite H now: Hoopla Green and Puff. Hoopla Green is doing nicely, and I can go into the solarium and sit and talk quietly to her for a little while now without her becoming too frightened. We know she’s becoming more accustomed to us, but it’s a very slow process.

Puff was having consistently loose stools, so we are transitioning that suite to a different gastrointestinal diet. We also decreased Puff’s steroid dose and started a different medication to help her gut health. Her most recent bloodwork showed improvement, and she’ll be checked again in three weeks.

Sammy continues to hold her own with the boys in Suite G. She was treated for a mild upper respiratory infection and responded nicely to the antibiotics we gave her, and she’ll soon have a dental exam.

The boys are having a different problem. During the most recent weights-and-nail-trim session, it was noted that Charles, Oram, and Tucker are all too chunky.

It would be a simple matter to put the entire suite on a diet, but Sammy isn’t overweight, so we’re still trying to figure out how to restrict food for the boys without Sammy’s intake being affected. Everyone in that suite is accustomed to kibble available constantly and some wet food/treats as well, so finding a solution might be a bit tricky.

Excess weight aside, the boys are all doing well, though a good deal of cooler, rainy weather means that they’re spending less time than usual in their solarium of late. That’s to be expected for this time of year, though.

You’ll recall that we lost Durin quite recently and that he had become infected with ringworm before he passed. We are still grieving him, and we have had to put the suite where he and Trifecta lived under ringworm quarantine watch. So far, Trifecta has remained free of this fungus, but ringworm can be very tricky. We have a disinfecting footbath outside of Trifecta’s suite, and people who want to visit “Tri” are being told to do so as the last thing before they leave Tabby’s Place for the day. This is to prevent any potential spread of ringworm to the other cats or suites.

We know that Trifecta is lonely without a suitemate, but we have good reason to believe that we’ll be able to remedy that soon. Our vet team has taken multiple sets of cultures from all of the FeLV+ cats; all have been negative for ringworm. Hopefully, by the time you read this, a final round of cultures will prove negative. When that happens, Quinn’s Corner will be declared free of ringworm, we’ll be able to introduce two cats currently “waiting in the wings” into the double positive suite, and Trifecta will once again have company.

We know that many people still regard FeLV+ cats as unadoptable. But even in the brief time that Quinn’s Corner has been open, we have proved that it just isn’t so. Your big heart is the reason we can nurture these felines and show the world that feline leukemia cats deserve love, care, and “furever” homes. Thank you!

Your correspondent,
Stephanie