Friday, August 29, 2014

Nadya's Update

The world is a strange, strange place. Mysteries and odd phenomenons pop up all the time. The Loch Ness monster. Bigfoot. Crop circles. Socks that disappear in the dryer. And phantom FIV.

Phantom FIV? Never heard of it? Neither had we. Until Nadya.

Okay, so phantom FIV isn't a real thing and it doesn't really describe what Nadya went through. But let's make one thing perfectly clear: Nadya does not have FIV. Say what? That's right. Nadya does not have FIV.

For those that have been following Nadya and the cookie and candy kittens on her web cam, you are very well aware that Nadya was diagnosed with FIV back in early May. For those who are new to the story, Nadya kept having mysterious bouts of extremely high fevers - 105+ (normal cat temp range is 100.4-102.5). She would stop eating (but would continue to nurse her kittens). She was hospitalized twice for several days, hooked up to IVs and pumped full of antibiotics. Her fevers would break; she would be fine for a few weeks and then the fever would return.

She's had several FIV tests. The standard one is called the Elisa and Nadya had that test performed three times. All came back negative. She had the Western Blot test, which is a more comprehensive test than the Elisa snap test. It came back negative. Finally, she had the PCR test performed. The PCR test is the mother of all blood work tests. It is the definitive test, the most comprehensive. It came back positive. It was assumed that the reason the other tests came back negative was because the FIV antibodies were still fighting the virus, that she was newly infected with FIV.

When Nadya had her spay surgery, the Elisa snap test was performed again. It's standard procedure for FR at the time of spay/neuter surgeries. It came back negative. Wait. Hold the phone. This test was performed after the PCR test. It should have returned a positive result, too, right?

Our vet called the University of Minnesota to discuss this odd phenomenon. Six FIV tests, five of which came back negative. Only one came back positive. Sure, it was the most comprehensive of all the tests but why did the most recent one come back negative? The University was intrigued. They decided to do a case study on Nadya. More blood tests for Nadya.

After three weeks of anxiously waiting for the results, the news was startling. That one test that came back positive was re-done. This time, it came back negative. Nadya does not have FIV.

So why did that test come back positive? There are many theories running amuck. Perhaps the test was not done properly or somehow got tainted. Perhaps Nadya was stressed and threw a false positive. Perhaps other cats who were jealous of Nadya's celebrity conspired with the lab and paid them to falsify the report. Perhaps. But not likely. Maybe even Bigfoot played a role in this whole thing. The only thing that matters is that Nadya is not FIV+. As her foster caregiver, I can wipe away a few tears and sigh with relief. My beautiful girl will live a long, healthy life. Now she just needs to find a forever home to live her long life in.

If you would like to adopt the Mother - and Patient - of the Year, please call Joan at  651-705-6264.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Meet Creators of An Engineer's Guide to Cats!


Feline Rescue is hosting Paul and TJ (of An Engineer's Guide to Cats fame) tonight at our booth at the Walker Art Center International Cat Film Festival. Stop by the booth for photos and autographs.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Sunfire All Settled in Her New Home

Ruby fka Sunfire, one of Belle Santee's babies, is still the sweet, loving kitten in her home as she was in her foster home.  We received another glowing update from her family.



I just wanted to give you an update on Sunfire (Ruby) since it's been a little over a month since we adopted her. She is doing so well in her new home. She is the sweetest, most cuddly kitten I've ever met. She also has endless energy of course and is beyond hilarious. She is even getting along with our older cat, Kitty. We sure love our Ruby. Thanks for all you guys do at Feline Rescue.

Thanks again,
Kate

Friday, August 8, 2014

Help spay and neuter to save more lives

At the most recent MN SNAP (MN Spay Neuter Assistance Program) clinic held at Feline Rescue last Sunday, the MN SNAP team spayed and neutered 55 cats! These were cats of low income owners, feral cats, and cats rescued through Feline Rescue's network of outreach volunteers.



Sal was a stray cat taken in by a kind independent rescuer. Now that he's neutered, this MALE calico will soon be looking for a great home. He is quite a character!


Feral kittens Tic, Tac, and Toe were rescued from animal control by Pet Project Rescue. They will be placed together on a farm, where they will be carefully introduced to their new indoor/outdoor environment.



Several free-roaming cats were trapped by caring neighbors and brought to the clinic to be spayed/neutered as well. Spaying and neutering community cats improves their lives and helps reduce the number of homeless cats on the streets or that are killed at animal control facilities.


If you are seeing or feeding a stray cat, please help make sure it gets spayed or neutered. Low-cost clinics include MN SNAP and Kindest Cut. Or contact our outreach volunteers for more information or assistance: outreach@felinerescue.org.


Thanks to all the volunteers who helped save so many lives and especially to the MN SNAP team for all the great work they do!





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