animal rescue and customer service

                                                                                                                          a post by the mom

If you hang out in rescue long enough, you will eventually hear someone say "I get into animal rescue because I don't like people". And others will snicker or whatever.

But in fact the opposite it true - animal rescue is still a PEOPLE oriented service group. Very few aspects of rescue will keep you away from people, though some will allow you to avoid the general public (and maybe that is more what they mean when they say that).

However, I think with that general mindset, some forget that people - the general public - are our most important audience. They share our posts on social media, they are donors, they are adopters. I think sometimes rescues act like they are doing the public a favor. 

Of course, I've had people from the public act that way with me - as though I need to be even more grateful for their attention or ignore things on applications because "they are doing us a favor by adopting". Yeah - not how that works.

But recently I've seen a couple of instances where adoptions could have gone very wrong or not happened at all because of things that were handled badly. Rescues need to remember they can live or die by their reputation - and bad word of mouth spreads much farther and faster then good. I can't begin to tell you the number of people who have told me "bad" rescue stories. 

Don't get me wrong - rescue is hard and sometimes you are catching people on a bad day. I've had it happen. But I think we all need to step back and remember that we are ALL human and we ALL need to get along and take a breath.

So if you are in rescue remember the public sees cute animals not the work that got them ready for adoption. If you are the public remember that rescue is hard and heartbreaking. Let's meet somewhere in the middle.

Did you dilute that torbie?

 A post by the mom

OK, I admit I can get a little geeky about cat facts. While I don't understand all the science behind it, the colors fascinate me. 

So to start, to get an orange cat, the male had a red gene and the female doesn't. Male kittens from this pair end up being an orange tabby. You can get an female orange tabby about 25% of the time. 

For female cats, you get a calico, tortieshell or torbie (calico with tabby stripes). About 1 in 3,000 can be male so they are fairly rare (and due to genetics to get the color tend to be sterile). 

A "true" calico is orange, black and white. A "true" tortieshell is orange and black - no white.

Then you can get a dilute - a washed out version if you will. Dilute calicos will be peach, gray and cream while dilute torties will be gray and peach.

So then a torbie.....fiest let's talk about the name. I've heard this color variety called a callitabby, tabbico or torbie. Technically the first two would be more accurate as they are calicos with tabby stripes. A torbie would be a tortieshell with stripes - something I've never seen ( which doesn't mean it doesn't exist). However, the torbie term seems to be the one most commonly used though they are interchangeable. 

This is Ivy. She is truly a torbie: brown and black stripes, patches of orange stripes and white patches. 

I had a friend ask me about Chickpea and if you could get a dilute torbie. Which would make genetic sense, but I had to really think about it. Honestly before Chickpea, I dint think I had seen one. But she is peach and gray and white with stripes. Tada: dilute torbie. 

So there you go - my short geeky moment of calicos, tortieshells and torbies. 

In case you want to read more, there is a good article on Love Meow

Have you really thought about this

 *a post by the mom

Among the other things I do for the rescue, I process applications and contracts. Recently a juvenile (about 7 months old) male kitten was adopted, returned, adopted and returned. All no fault of his own - the first adopter was over 70 years old and after having him for a couple of weeks decided he had too much energy. The other couple own a restaurant and decided after a few days they didn't have enough time for a pet. 

It's hard not to be judgmental. I get that people want pets. I think pets enrich our lives. But I really wish more people would do a little research and put some thought into it. 

Thankfully we do not do same day adoptions, so we have taken the "spontaneous" adoption issue out of the picture. 

I honestly think that the whole "cats are an easy pet" myth is part of the issue. People seem to think that they adopt a cat and it will lay around their house all day and not be much work. We work very hard to mitigate that myth but yet it persists.

For whatever reason as well, people seem to think that the volunteers with our rescue don't seem to know what we are talking about. We will try to give them advice and point them in a direction and yet they will insist that they know best. If we truly believe the cat will be in danger, we can refuse the adoption, but sometimes we have to let them fail.

The best advice I give people coming in to adopt is to take your time and let the cat pick you. Have a seat and see who comes over and wants attention. See who catches your eye or who asks for pets. Don't base it on the picture on the website. Prepare to be surprised. 

The thing that I don't think people really take into consideration is that it takes time to adjust to change for these animals. It can take a few days up to a few months for ANY pet to adjust to a new home and new schedules. Plus it is can be so hard for cats to be adopted and then returned. They don't understand why their world has been turned upside down so many times. 

Things to consider:

1. Pets are a lifetime commitment.  This can be 15 to 20 years. Through weddings and dating and kids and moving....you make a commitment to that pet.

2. Kittens are nuts. There is just no way to get around that. Getting a pair can help and we will suggest that - at least they have each other to play and wear each other out. But they will get into things. They will test gravity. They will wake up in the middle of the night. 

3. All pets need work. Cats will need daily care. They need mental stimulation. They need annual medical care and vaccines.They get sick and may need emergency care and that can be expensive. 

4. They need love and affection. Life doesn't exist in a vacuum. The more you put into the relationship, the more you get out of it. 

That said, I certainly understand that life can be hard and pets need to be returned. All we ask is that you try to make it work, try to find that pet friendly apartment, try to take an allergy medication. And don't lie to us about why you are returning a pet....we've been doing this long enough to know better.

Before even sending in the application, think about these things: cost of supplies, cost of medical care, time during the day you have to commit to a pet. If you rent, have you checked with your landlord to be sure you can have a pet. Are the pets in your home up to date on wellness care and vaccines per your vet?

Before you bring them home: do you have supplies? Do you have a carrier? Do you have a safe space set up for them in your house with their things where they can spend at least the first few days? 

There is no rush. There are plenty of adoptable cats out there. Make sure you have your life and priorities ready and in place before adding to your family. Then reach out to your local rescue and be prepared to bring home some love.

too many balls in the air

 a post from the mom

There have been some changes at the rescue and I've been helping but geez I'm tired. Between work and kittens and paperwork and people texting me, I am developing a twitch.

Celtic kittens are still here until there are surgery openings. Between covid backups and kitten season, it is hard to get spots. 

Gordon is doing well and feisty as ever. It helps that he purrs while he chews on me - at least he is cute. He is set up in the living room in a pen with the clear Tespo panels and Chanel is baffled on a regular basis on why she can SEE the baby but she can't TOUCH the baby. 

The permanent residents are doing well. Ivy seems more comfortable so hopefully the dental bought us some time with her until she can get back in again. 

So other than I need a vacation or I'm going to throw my phone out the window, it's pretty good here. Well it's hot....but it's June. haha

Really Morrigan??

a post by the mom

I've talked before about the set up of the foster room. Due to just general space restrictions in 980 square feet of condo, I converted the dining room I never use into my foster space. To close it off I bought 3 screen doors and screwed them together. It works pretty well....most of the time. 

Wednesday night after my shift at the rescue, I came home and about an hour later heard growling near the door into the foster space. I looked over expecting to see one of my cats standing near the door. Oh no - Morrigan had managed to pull the door IN and got it open enough that she and all five kittens were standing in the airlock space created by the exercise pen. Everyone was herded back inside and I starting using the lock I put on the door when I was fostering Soda.

Morrigan decided to take the challenge and then started using the cubes to jump to the top of the doors. Seriously??? Fine - I moved the cubes to the other side of the room. That didn't stop her. Several times between 9pm and 11pm she jumped up. She came into the main house once but after that would jump back into the foster room with the kittens.

I did text the rescue asking if there was surgery space today thinking I could get her spayed and then up to the rescue for the weekend. No luck. There is an open spot on Tuesday. My plan Wednesday night in my frustration was to take her up to the rescue and she would have to stay there until Tuesday and then go to the adoption floor after being spayed.

Of course, if an effort to screw with me, she stopped jumping after a while last night and didn't do it on Thursday. She may still have to go back but for now she is good in the room (for those curious, my cats tend to be ok with foster cats, but I don't want to take the risks that either one of them or Morrigan will start something that results in someone getting hurt).

A tale of two panels

 *A post by the mom

Instagram is a great place for fosters. I've seen some really great ideas for care and for room set up. 

This spring I came across a post using clear click together panels. Easily cleaned and they can configure into different (right angle) shapes.

I got more info and found put they are Tespo panels. Yay! I wandered around Amazon and finally found them.

Now.... I don't have prime but our Fairy Cat Mother does and will let me use her account. Ordered and out for delivery. 

Well the box came and it seemed small but I opened it up. 

Turns out they come in two sizes. Square and rectangle. In my hurry, I ordered the short ones. Oops....

Fortunately they served the purpose I needed. I set them up for Huzzah and her kittens. She could get over and back but no escaping kittens.

 However, I set them up for Cranberry and Blueberry and discovered that despite being little they can still get over the short ones.

 Well I'm getting some vacation time paid out from work so the tall ones will be on order.

And this time I will actually read the description. For now they are set up in the foster room cutting the room in half for the Muffin kittens to give them more space to run around but still limit HOW much space they have. So far no escapees....

so you want to adopt a cat

**a post by the mom

With people being home more - for who knows how long - the rescue has noticed more people deciding to adopt. Some have experience, some do not. So I got thinking about what do you need to get started. The basics? The high end stuff?

 First is picking the cat. I always suggest going to a rescue and letting the cat pick you. Our rescue is still doing adoptions by appointment so people are seeing pictures. Which is great but may not tell you whether that cat likes you or not. Go in, sit down and play. See who decides you are their new person. And think about your lifestyle - are there kids, is there a lot of activity, is it fairly quiet? Ask questions - I promise that staff or volunteers will be happy to help you make a match.

Before you bring your new cat home, you need some basic supplies. Food, dishes, litter, litter box, scoop, scratcher and some toys. Start basic, see what you cat likes and go from there. There are good litter boxes, but I don't like the ones with the hoods. Think about odors getting trapped in there and your cat may stop using it. I actually use large storage containers with one end cut half out for entrance/exit. For dishes try to get ceramic or stainless steel. Some cats do react to plastics and end up with acne on their chins. A basic cardboard scratcher is a good place to start until you discover what your cat prefers.

 

make sure you have some good comfy beds too

(this is actually a baby bed)

 

There is a variety of cat furniture in this house. On the far left are Kitty Kasa boxes. Then a tall scratcher. There are now two here and they are both about 36 inches tall. The most important thing when I look at tall post scratching posts is the base - you have to make sure it is stable (see below). Some cats will run and hit it. Goldfish likes to hang off of ours. It has to be sturdy and heavy enough not to tip over. The stand that Goldfish is standing on above is made by Vesper. Of course there is also the ever popular cardboard box as well.

The ability to stand and scratch is an important feature for a post scratcher. Some have larger platforms on top for cats to sit on as well.

Another thing that I recommend is leaving your cat carrier out in your main room. I know - it may not go with your furniture. But...cats are pretty smart. If the only time the carrier comes out is when they go to the vet, they will disappear every time they see it. This creates stress for every vet visit plus if there is an emergency you will have to chase your cat. If it is out, they may actually use it as a den and it becomes comfortable. Our round Sleepypod is out on my coffee table all the time. There can be any cat in it at some point. While these carriers are expensive, they are crash tested and the great part with the round one is that the top zips off (which makes it great at the vet).

They do make shorter scratching posts. I use them for the kittens. My adults find them WAY too short. 

As for toys, start with a variety to see if you can find a favorite. Something round to be chased (Daiquiri loves foam balls), crinkly mylar toys (Goldfish loves these), spring toys to be bounced around, and a wand toy for chasing around (make sure these are put away when you aren't playing to avoid your cat chewing on the cord). There is a round trackball toy in the kitten room that I've seen Chanel play with as well. That one is more kitten sized but they do make larger ones. 

For home set up, I suggest kittens get their own room for at least a week. They have tiny brains and need a chance to learn where things are located and adjust to new surroundings and noises. As you let them have more space, just make sure you have "kitten proofed" your house. They can get into and under so many things. Keep doors closed if you don't want kittens in a space. 

Adults should adjust better but keep in mind their personality. If they are more shy, the new cat may appreciate a quiet space in while they adjust. Again make sure you check for escape or traps and keep doors closed for certain spaces. A TV or radio for noise will help too. But if you are home, leave their safe space available but let them out to explore as well.

I know it is exciting to get a new cat home, but also let them adjust at their own pace. Find some high value food or treats to make yourself more appealing. Some cats will walk into a new home and it will seem like they have always been there. Others will find a place to hide and come out on their own schedule. Have patience. 

More than anything, have fun. Enjoy your new companion. Make a life long commitment to their health with good food and vet care along with a safe space. You get back what you put into the relationship.

teach your children

**a post from the mom

Over the weekend, a cat that was adopted 3 years ago was returned. They got a new puppy and the cat "wasn't adjusting" so he was brought back. After 3 years....and being declawed.

While this is enough to frustrate me by itself, I went back and looked at his paperwork. At the time he was adopted, they listed a kid age of 10 years. Which means the kid is now 13 years old.

And it got me thinking...what kind of lesson are they teaching her??

When kids come in to the rescue to donate stuff or volunteer, I try to make sure they know they are appreciated. They are the future of rescue. Their knowledge and compassion will lead us forward.

I do the same thing with my niece (aka the kid). She has been going with me to volunteer since she was probably about 4 years old (we would put her in a room with all the kittens and let them wear each other out). She and I go on vacation every other year and volunteer at Best Friends in Utah. She has gone to vet appointments with me with foster kittens.

I hope that kid grows up and learns better.

In the mean time - I know I'm at least making a difference with the kid in my life. 

 

We need to learn that kids learn so much more from what they see than what they are told. We need to be the example of compassion and responsibility. We need to be the better example. 

in case of emergency

**a post from the mom

After a certain "incident" this spring involving Chanel, I got to thinking about plans in place for when I am out of town and the pet sitter is caring for the cats. I reached out to the owner of the pet sitting service that I use and asked her some questions about how they handle different situations. They just recently updated their policies and I updated all the cat info online with them as well.

Q: Do you have emergency plans in place for clients? 

We do have emergency plans in place for all clients including vet release/permission to treat forms, emergency contact information for each client, a section in our handbook and training manuals on how to handle various situations which include contacting myself or Jandi (her assistant) immediately. We also have various training classes in addition to the hands-on training and pet first aid classes each sitter takes upon being hired.

Q: How often do you review emergency plans?

As for how often we review those plans with clients, it is on an individual basis mostly. We do ask that clients make sure all information in the system is updated for all pets before traveling which is in our policies signed upon becoming a new client as well as asking for updates when we know a pet has a medical condition that we have already cared for. We do have our software set to where a client isn't able to schedule services if certain things in the pet info section has been left blank and I am able to filter accounts by things such as not having a current signed policy by client, not having a vet listed for a pet along with various other filters.

Q: How do you handle emergency situations?

Any emergency situation is really a case by case basis. In 12 years, there have thankfully only been 4 situations where we have needed to get a pet into one of the emergency hospitals immediately and we have had a couple of times where a sitter noticed a health issue that hadn't been caught yet including two cases of cancer where the pet got treatment and lived several years after.

Our policy is for the sitter to contact the office first unless it is an absolute emergent situation where we have them contact us on the way to MedVet or OSU. We have a couple of vet techs as sitters who have also helped determine the severity of something, including Lynn, who worked for MedVet for 16 years. We do try to reach the client before any decisions are made and if we know they will be unreachable/out of the country, we ask that they leave a signed release just to be on the safe side. Unfortunately both OSU and MedVet have policies now where they require speaking directly to the owners over the phone for permission to treat but most vets still accept a written release. We do suggest to all clients who will be traveling that they contact their vet ahead of time to leave permission. All of this is something we go over on a yearly basis to make sure we stay as informed as possible on changes from others. We do have a spot where clients can pre-approve emergency treatment up to a certain dollar amount if they are not able to be reached. We have clients who have written anything from zero to unlimited. I always prefer to talk to a client not only for permission but to let them know what is going on, what steps we are taking and anything else we need to know.

Q: Have you ever encountered anything strange?

You would be surprised at some situations we have walked into without being told ahead of time or being told after they have already left. The one that stands out the most is a clients’ new kitten who was several months old actually *ingested* part of a foam bathmat before they left town. They did take the kitty to their vet before they left that day but I did not learn about it until they had already gone. Their vet thought the kitty would be ok and it didn't seem like there was any blockage but there was. We ended up going to check on him shortly after learning about it and thank goodness we did. He was not shut up in a room as he was supposed to be and did have a blockage. It took Shiloh close to an hour to find him and he would not have survived the night without emergency care. This is also one of the reasons we don't accept every other day visits- so many things can happen in a short amount of time. Cats are especially adept at hiding illness until it's bad- very much a worry all of us have on our minds often.

Q: What is your policy for client contact?

Sitters are never supposed to handle an emergency without contacting myself or Jandi. If anything is out of the norm, even something simple like runny poo for more than one visit, they are to contact us. We want to be proactive vs reactive!! I would rather have 10 calls a day just being paranoid than not be informed and something happen. Our #1 priority is the health and safety of the pets in our care and we can't do that effectively without communication. This is why we have a FB group as well as a group text chat in addition to our phones and email.

~~~~~~~~~~

I feel pretty lucky to be using this business. Ingrid (the owner) fosters so she understands that my house can some days be a little bit of chaos and that I don't own your "typical" house cats. There was an incident where a sitter went to my place and found that a foster kitten had passed away unexpectedly. Ingrid called and we went over the next steps and they were great.

What she did express in her email to me was that she had no idea about the incident with Chanel and Bissell. Apparently the sitter broke their protocol (he is no longer with them as he took another job) and he never contacted her. Fortunately I was on my way home and it wasn't very serious at the time so there wasn't anything to be done, but she was glad she found out and advised me that this would be brought up in their next meeting.

The best advice we can give you - find a service that you trust. Have conversations with them about how your household runs, what to expect, your expectations of them, and any changes that come up over time. Know what their policies are for everything that might come up while you are gone. Make sure they have contact information and pet information - I actually have a sheet in one of my cabinets with cat names, descriptions, microchip numbers, last rabies date and my phone number and vet information.

Global Pet Expo

**a post by the mom

I took off most of last week and traveled to Global Pet Expo in Orlando. As a member of the Cat Writer's Association, I was able to send in my credentials and get in as a member of the press.

Let me say right now - it was HUGE!! I knew it was big, but I had no idea what I was in for. I don't wear a step tracker, but I can't imagine how far we walked in 3 days. I do kknow the exhibitors took up 355,000 square feet of space though.

I did see some interesting things, took some business cards and flyers that I have to follow up on and took a few pictures as well. What I forgot to do was take a picture of the item I found interesting and then a picture of the booth. Oh well....lesson learned.

These bowls are neat. They collapse, the covers close and when the cover is open, it creates a stand of sorts that helps keep it from tipping over. It came in pink and blue and 3 sizes (and this was one of those "I should have taken a picture of the booth" moments).

We of course had to stop at the hauspanter booth and visit with Kate. I love the designs they have and everything is very sleek and modern - you know, cat furniture without LOOKING like cat furniture.

The t-shirts here were cute and they give back to rescues. Plus they said with a large enough order they would work with a group to add a logo to shirts as well. hmmmmm

We also met the ladies from Faux Paw Petique that makes unique gifts with cute cats and dogs. They make a lot of different tote bags - mostly of a different material than this one which is a silky type. All easily cleanable with long handles.

There were all kinds of things to see - from food to treats to furniture. You name it, they had it. Heck - there was stuff I hadn't even thought about.

Thursday night Purina honored Dr Evan Antin and mom and Miss Dawn from Lola the Rescued Cat got their pictures taken with him.

It was a LONG three days and I'm not sure I will do it again, but it certainly was fun to see some cat ladies friends and talk to people who love animals. Plus we took Cupcake along Thursday and Friday and that always leads to entertaining conversations.

Dear applicant

*a post from the mom

Dear snippy denied applicant:

When you fill out the application, I ask for just one thing - be complete and honest with all of your answers.

I should not have to chase you to get your landlord's phone number if you rent (as an aside, I am amazed by the number of people who put that they own when in fact they don't). I shouldn't have to chase you to get a vet name and phone number if you currently have pets in the house.

But more importantly, please remember that as volunteers with a rescue organization, we feel like we are the last line of defense for these animals. We care about them and try to do everything in our power to make sure that they get loving FOREVER homes. Not "bring them back when they scratch the sofa homes" or "kick them out when we move homes". So, yes, we are going to ask questions and we expect answers.

That said, we don't reject many applications. But when they are rejected, we have done the work and have good reasons for our decisions. For the record, I just email applicants and let them know they have been denied. My thought is that if I give them an in depth explanation, I am just giving them a better tool to lie to the next group. (our organization has a database that does have our denied applications saved and we do search in case people try to come back again and change their answers)

If I think it is about education, I will certainly go that route.

But....if you have a cat and a dog and the dog sees the vet every year and the cat hasn't been to the vet in over 4 years, you don't get to be all ticked off when I reject your application for failure to provide vet care to your animal.

If you have a pet in the home that is not neutered (unless it is a medical issue I can verify with the vet), don't get ticked off when I tell you that you can't have another pet. Yes - all of OUR animals are already spayed and neutered. But we are trying to reduce the population and I am not going to encourage you to have an animal that isn't fixed.

I am tired of people not being able to accept "no" as an answer. I am tired of people sending back emails after they are denied telling me that I am a terrible person for "denying that cat a good loving home". I am tired of being told that I don't care. I am tired of people having to have the last word and being mean.

And FYI - yelling at me, emailing me hurtful things and being mean - it isn't going to change my mind. I am STILL not going to approve you. Just accept the answer and move on with your life.

I have said it before and I will say it again here: if you give a damn about animals and feel you can do a better job, PUT UP OR SHUT UP!! Every organization needs volunteers....go do something and stop criticizing those of us that are doing the hard work.

so there

Living with a semi feral cat

**a post by the mom

First a little background. Eight years ago now, a neighbor and I spotted some kittens and decided to do some TNR in our neighborhood. The first set of kittens were smaller and socialized really well and were adopted through a local shelter. Shortly after that we caught a slightly older kitten.

Once we had him, I didn't have the heart to let him go back outside. Unfortunately, he was about 3 months old which is about the outside edge of being able to socialize kittens. I will also say that I didn't know as much then as I do now. The downside to my decision is that I have what I term a "semi-feral" cat living in my house. He has been here since we caught him. He has been seen by a vet twice since I can't catch him easily or without stressing him out. He lives a good life and is good with kittens and the other cats that live here (mostly - he has some stalker tendencies with Ivy). But he won't come near me. Recently he has gotten up on the bed every once in a while at night when I am reading and will lay at the very edge, but that is as close as he is willing to get. But if I move - he is gone.

Don't get me wrong - I am a proponent of annual check ups for all pets. However, in Junior's case, it is more stressful to try catch him. However, a few months ago I noticed he seemed to be having some mouth pain when he yawned or ate something. I had to decide....let it go and hope it wasn't serious and knowing he was uncomfortable, or set an appointment for a dental and catch him.

 

Busted and headed to the vet

I am very lucky that the tech at my vet's office is also a friend. We talked about it a couple of times and I set an appointment.

However, how do you catch a cat that is afraid of people? I went through a couple of plans in my head. The other thing we had spoken about was trying to get gabapentin into him before bringing him to the office. After some thought, I decided to try to live trap him in one of the bedrooms. I could mix the meds in the food and have a safe way to move him. Plus once we got to the vet, the trap could be set up on one end to be able to sedate him with an injection.

Junior had other plans. Tuesday morning I locked the girls in the back bedroom, herded him into my bedroom and set the trap. After over an hour....nothing. I was now down to 45 minutes before I had to be to the vet. I moved the trap to the bathroom. However, once he got out the bedroom (and I shut the door behind him to limit his space), he freaked out. He bounced around the living room and would not head where I wanted him to go. I knew if I didn't catch him, he wasn't getting to the vet and moreover it would be months before I would even be able to try this again.

Finally he wedged himself behind a pillow on the sofa. It was now or never. I put one of the soft carriers on the chair and grabbed a towel. I threw it over him and wrapped him as much as I could then shoved him into the carrier. It wasn't elegant, but it seemed to work. I locked the zippers on the carrier, threw a towel over the top of the carrier and headed off.

The nice part about the mesh on the carrier is they were able to sedate him by injection right through the mesh - I hadn't thought about that but it was brilliant. He finally dozed off and they got him set up for surgery. I did get a chance to pet him a little and also get a look at his teeth.

I will admit, I did fear that we would find something really bad....up to a possible mass in his mouth. They clipped his nails and he had a full bloodwork panel done along with getting a rabies shot. The bloodwork came back excellent. However, he ended up losing 9 teeth. They could have done more but wanted to not take everything now. I joked with the tech that with a 3 years rabies shot, we would be back then.

The only thing that overcomes ignorance is education. I've learned a lot in 8 years. Would I make the same decision today that I made then? I honestly don't know. While he may be afraid of people, showing his feral birth, I know he has lived a much safer life inside. Right now, he seems to be doing OK. There has been canned food left out and while I think Daiquiri is eating most of it, he is eating. He REALLY does dislike me now though - I so much as breathe in his direction and he disappears. Hopefully that will taper off (or at least back to his normal) after a while.

let's talk about FIV (again)

*a post by the mom

A woman posted in a closed cat group on facebook that she and a friend had found some kittens in a barn. The friend took them as fosters and when they were big enough took them to a vet to be tested and neutered. The test came back positive for FIV and the vet put them all down (I refuse to call that euthanasia - which translates to "good death" when there is nothing good about it). The woman posted about this and said she wanted to be mad at the vet. We all agreed that she was right - be mad at the vet.

It did get me thinking though....how is it with all the information out there that vets are still doing this? I quizzed a registered vet tech friend and Julie from Sometimes Cats Herd You asked her vet the same questions. My friend Andrea graduated in 1998 and the vet around 2010.

1. How did they cover FIV in school?
        A: I graduated tech school in 1998 so it was still a taboo disease then. Basically they told us that if a cat had FIV he should be kept as any only cat or only with other FIV+ cats. It was acceptable practice,  almost expected, to euthanize positive cats. They also made it sound like they would develop all kinds of illness and disease and never be normal.

      V: When Julie asked about how they cover FIV in vet school, she (the vet) said "they don't, really".

2. Have attitudes changed since you graduated?
     A: Attitudes have definitely changed. I would like believe the vast majority of vets and shelter/rescue personnel have come to the realization that as FIV+ positive cats can live harmoniously with FIV- cats. The only true concern would be if the positive cat would be they type inclined to truly bite another cat, whether it be during play or if they were fighting among themselves in the home. Unfortunately I know that there are still uneducated vets out there who recommend euthanasia.

     V: She says that attitudes have definitely changed since she was in vet school, and that it seems to her that a lot of vets know that FIV+ cats are OK living in homes where they're able to get vet care promptly if they catch anything. She also said one of her cats is FIV+ and lives with her other cats just fine. She actually came back in the room afterward with another thought that a lot of vets choose not to test for FIV any more. 

3. What is you office policy for a healthy FIV cat if someone came in and asked for euthansia?
    A: Whole Pet Wellness Center would not euthanize an otherwise healthy FIV+ cat. We have a veterinary assistant who runs a small rescue and if she had space for an adult cat at the time we could see about placing the cat with them. More than likely we would just educate the owner and hopefully they would keep the cat themselves. We do not perform convenience euthanasia for any reason. 

    V: If someone brought an otherwise FIV+ cat in to be euthanized, she said that's too broad a question to have a policy. She reiterated that cats can live in homes and with other cats and have long, quality lives. She also reiterated what she said before that she considers herd immunity with ferals, especially with males likely to fight and spread the disease further in a colony. So that's really a case-by-case thing, but of course they don't like to euthanize healthy cats if it's avoidable. 

4. What about continuing education?
   A: Honestly, I haven't seen any CE on FIV ever. I haven't specifically been looking, but I usually read through the MWVC schedule pretty thoroughly every year. That's a sad realization. 

    V:  She said that the problem with continuing education is that there's relatively little new information about FIV. Not enough for a 50 minute lecture, "And CE is expensive. We want to come out of a CE session with something we can use."


I also asked Andrea about false positives when testing. She wasn't sure and then an article popped up in her facebook feed that you can check out from dvm 360. Julie's vet said the snap test can have false positives and "when in doubt, retest".

What I find interesting is that both the vet and Andrea have FIV+ cats. (Andrea's cat Badger is on facebook)

What I personally find so frustrating is that with ALL the information out there, vets and the public still have this overwhelmingly negative view of FIV. I guess the best I can do is keep writing and asking you to share and keep talking about it.