Nicole’s Blog

Tonight was the 2nd time in 9 months that I have watched one of my beloved kitties succumb to euthanization because of this horrible disease. 

Sebastian showed up on my door about a week before I had my cat Spike put to sleep last Novemeber.  Being the crazy cat lady I am, I am always taking in strays, it is just something my heart has a soft spot for.  We have had as many as 9 at a time because I take them in and drive everyone I know crazy until I find homes for them.  Thank God I married a patient, loving man that not only puts up with this kitty craziness, but helps me find them homes and understands how important it is to me.  He says the reason we usually end up with so many is that they network and talk about the crazy lady on the hill that will feed them!  However this has been a really rough year for me because as you take them in.. so is your heart stolen by these little sweethearts and for me this year losing two to this disease is two too many.

For the most part Sebastian has been a pretty healthy cat, just an old scruffy tom kitty that likes to fight and lay out for days at a time.  We have been meaning to take him to get his shots for months now.  In the beginning we waited to see how long he would hang around, then it became a time issue and lately I was a little afraid because I feared he might have the same disease that caused Spike’s illness last winter.

About a week ago I noticed he has lost a lot of weight (more than half of his normal stocky build) and seemed to be eating very little if any at all.  All week I waited it out to see if he got better and since Sat. he hasn’t eaten a bite so this morning I decided to take him to the vet, but when I got ready to take him he was gone.  I came home tonight to a very sick Sebastian and I knew it couldn’t wait anymore.  He was so weak he could barely stand and I couldn’t sleep knowing he was out there sick.  So,  I took him to the emergency clinic by the airport and my fears were confirmed.  He had Feline Leukemia. 

If you have cats, please have them tested and vacaniated for this vicious disease.  It does terrible things to their bodies and causes them unnecessary suffering.  It is extremely contagious and is easily passed from cat to cat in something as simple as eating out of the same dish or exchanging a breath under a door.  It is not included in the normal range of shots you get each year.  It is truly an agonizing, heart wrenching thing to go through and after putting two to sleep two this year I promise it is so much better to find out sooner rather than later.  So if you never listen to a single other thing that I say, please trust me on this one.  Once they have it for a prolonged period of time it breaks their little bodies down and they suffer and can infect other animals. 

Tomorrow it is back to the vet with Smokey and Phoebe.  They were tested and it showed up negative last November.  However the vet at the hospital said they should be vaccinated and tested again as soon as possible.

This pic was taken last week when I first noticed he was feeling bad. 

the heartbroken cat lady