Willie was a cat Feline Rescue took from a hoarder. When rescuers went into the home, they passed by Willie, who was curled up on a bed and not moving. No amount of noise they made roused him. They thought he was dead and they couldn't bring themselves to check. They continued to move in and out of the room. Willie never moved. After making one final walk-through of the house, one of the rescuers summoned her courage to check on Willie. She had to know before she left if he was still with us. She knelt by the bed and after a few seconds, Willie slowly lifted his head. The rescuer would comment many times after leaving the house that she was so glad she checked on him.
Willie spent two weeks at our vet. He had a wicked cold and could barely breath. He would be sent to his foster home with an armload of drugs. The vet would find a couple more things seriously wrong with him. One of his eyes is non-functioning, a "dead" eye, the result of some head trauma that only Willie knows about. To add insult to injury, Willie tested positive for not only FeLV (Feline Leukemia) but also FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).
When Willie was finally sprung from the vet, he could not be contained. He pranced about his foster room, investigating everything. He was a bundle of energy. Of happy energy. He purred. He kneaded. He gave kisses. So, so happy.
Now Willie is looking for his forever home. He is super friendly and playful. He needs a friend to wrestle with so Willie needs to go home with another FeLV cat or to a home that already has an FeLV cat. His FIV isn't contagious (transmission is only through a bite that breaks the skin) but his FeLV is.
If you'd like to learn more about FeLV, below are some links to articles that talk about FeLV and FIV.
- 9 Things You Should Know About Feline Leukemia
- Understanding FeLV
- What is FeLV?
- How to Care for a Cat with FeLV
Written by Robin Holland
Photos by Kris Kaiser
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