Transitions. Highs and lows. Felix, one of our current foster kitties, has been a case study in the challenges of this rescue work. I, and I think most rescuers, question all the time whether they are doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s obvious – if someone is threatening to shoot the cats, and you can get permission to go in, taking them away is clearly the best thing for them, even if it’s a huge change and a huge transition for them. Taking in an abandoned and injured cat is a no-brainer. But when you take in a cat and she pushes a screen out and jumps from a second-story window to get away – as Felix did – you wonder if you did the right thing “rescuing” her.
The answer is “yes” in her case – but it is for sure a time when you wish you could explain to the cat: “Remember the coyotes who came to the farm and tore apart your relatives? There are no coyotes here. Remember the farm owner you were very fond of? She’s feeding cats because it’s the right thing to do – even though she’s stretched thin doing it. She didn’t ask that cats be dumped at her farm, pregnant ones, but she takes responsibility because she is an honorable person, unlike the people who dump their problems on someone else to deal with. She was fond of you and wanted you to be safe and have a better life. Adjusting is hard, but there are good things ahead.”
She was recovered from her adventure, thanks to the farm owner dropping everything and driving into town to walk through back yards and call her. Felix came running. Such a relief to have her safely back! But from her point of view, she was just brought back to the room she had gone to great lengths to escape from. Transitions. So hard.
On top of that, there was good news and bad news when she went to be spayed. She was declared healthy, and the procedure went well – but she tested positive for Feline Leukemia Virus. The first thing that means is that she has to be isolated from other cats. For a friendly, sociable cat this is hard. So she lives in George’s study by herself, and has company when he’s working, and listens to him practice the flute in the evenings. It could also mean – if it’s true – that she will not live a normal lifespan. FeLV compromises your immune system, and cats who have it don’t often live more than a few years; most die as kittens. And it’s contagious to other cats. But false positives are not uncommon – so we can hope for her.
And in the meantime, in three weeks she has come a long way, settling in and starting to think things might be ok.