Ever have one on those days where everything you eat turns to shit?

I’ve had one of those months.

So as most of you know I do a little rescue/rehab on the side when I’m forced into it (see label titled “Saving Grace“ in the left sidebar). I’m one of the only people around here who works with FeLV (feline leukemia) positive cats and doesn't just put them to sleep on the spot. FeLV cats can have many healthy and happy years of life when treated early and not exposed to FeLV negative cats. Mikey was one of those kitties.

Five years ago my dad and I were driving down a rural dirt road way out in the sticks when I spotted way up ahead a little dirty white and grey fluff ball sitting in the middle on the road. He stopped the car, I got out and called “Here kitty, kitty”. The dirty white and grey fluff ball came running at top speed down the road meowing. When he got to me he was just a breath of a kitten (maybe 9 weeks old), incredibly malnourished (God only knows how long he’d been out in those woods with no food- I suspect 3 or 4 days at least) filthy, covered in thorns, swarmed with fleas and starved. I got back in the car with him and as we began to turn around I heard a tiny meow from a nearby ditch. Yep, there were more, two more. One was just a baby, she was a brown tortie and the same size as the little white and grey one, the other was much older- probably 5 to 6 months. He was white and grey as well. All three kitties had been dumped in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves. Which actually translates into "All three kitties had been dumped in the middle of nowhere to starve to death or get eaten by something." because that's exactly what would have happed if we'd not found them.

They were all in bad shape but after many vet visits, spays and neuters, some decent food and a safe, warm place to sleep they all started to come around health wise. Both of the babies- Mikey (the little dirty white and grey fluff ball) and Bonsai (the little tortie) tested FeLV positive but neither were showing symptoms. Obie (the older cat) came back negative.

Bonsai started showing symptoms after about two years and had to be put to sleep. Three weeks ago, after 5 years, Mikey started showing symptoms…

A few weeks ago he came down with a nasty head cold that despite my best efforts wasn’t getting better. We went to the vet and started a course of Baytril and an antihistamine, after a week of no improvement we started a course of Clindamyicin, Interferon and nose drops. Still, there was no improvement, in fact it started getting worse. After beginning another course of antibiotics in conjunction with Loratidine his appetite went to hell- par for the course when dealing with advance stage FeLV. Late friday/early Saturday he stopped eating all together, late Sunday night his breathing became even more labored.

Yesterday we went to the vet.

Today I am mourning the loss of my little white and grey fluff ball.