Please welcome our newest FeLVie - Papa! This boy had been living outside with a feral colony but was much too friendly for that. Some kind people brought him inside but when they took him in to the humane society to be fixed, they discovered he had feline leukemia. They had already become attached and were absolutely heartbroken. They had other cats at home and didn’t want to further expose them. But the wonderful staff at the humane society contacted us and today this cutie made his way here! He’s already been IFA tested (to make sure he can’t fight the virus off), so he’s able to mingle with the others whenever he’s ready. We have him in his own area tonight to get acclimated without the others in his face, but he’s doing beautifully! Welcome to the crew, Papa!

Getting some special cuddle time with Papa, one of our feline leukemia positive kitties. 🥰💕🐈🐈‍⬛

Papa hasn’t been feeling well for about a week. We were dealing with Avinci, and then Tigger, and Papa was still eating somewhat and alert and purring so we weren’t super concerned and decided to just wait and see. A couple days ago we took him into the vet where we discovered he was anemic but nothing was glaringly terrible. Since then he has almost entirely stopped eating, and Angie took him into the vet this morning to do some further testing. And yep - another FeLV boy very likely has FIP.

I am almost certain that’s what Avinci died of now. It’s not supposed to be contagious but clearly something is going on. Tigger is doing beautifully and has responded incredibly well to the treatments. We won’t know how Papa responds until we try. This is extremely nerve-wracking, and expensive, but we will always give these boys everything we have.

Papa and I are hiding under a blanket together. The FIP medication injections have been really hard on him. They’re hard on everyone. The serum is thick and it burns. Our three FeLVies fighting FIP all run from me when I come in the building now. 😞 But Papa has had the hardest time with the injections. He shakes and cries when I catch him. It’s heart-wrenching. This poor kid has been here such a short time, and has already lost so much faith in me because of them.

Tonight he ran and hid under a blanket on a chair afterwards. I wanted to make sure he was ok, but I didn’t want to pull him out and further traumatize him. So I climbed in. At first he backed away from me and hid his face in the cushion. But after some petting and scritches and forehead kisses, sweet Papa has relaxed quite a bit and even started to purr. I close my eyes to show him I trust him, and gently rub his chin and forehead and ears. You are loved, little one. You are safe.

It’s so hard not being able to explain to him that I don’t want to cause him pain. That the pain is because I want him to live. We still have 10 more weeks of these injections. But hopefully, under this blanket with him, in our secret hideaway, he will begin to understand that I’m not doing this to him, but going through this with him. One day at a time...

A year and a half ago our Papa kitty beat FIP. Most vets will tell you it’s 100% fatal, so beating it once is a big deal. But now it’s back.

We have the same anti-viral drugs we used back then, except it was previously injections and now it’s much easier to use pills. Papa has feline leukemia which ups his needed dose, and he also has the dry form of FIP this time around, which also ups his dose. The treatment is 85 days and we are staring down $61 a DAY for his meds, which means his total treatment will cost over $5,000. But it’s this or death. We are grateful that we have the knowledge and resources to treat him.

FeLV residents Papa (top) and Jack relaxing on their catio perches this evening. The day was hot but the cool breeze that came in just before the sun set was absolute perfection. 👌😻

Papa kitty knows what’s up!

He was shy when he first came, but this FeLVie has become more and more confident in his time here. 😻

Tryin to get good pics of these cats be like… 👀

Papa is the trouble maker we were trying to show off. He had other ideas.

Description goes hereBaggins and Papa, two FeLV-positive cats. How adorable?!! 🥹🥹

Baggins was being such a sweet man for me today. I promise I pet him after subjecting him to this photoshoot 😂😂

Baggins and Papa are two of our 7 Felvies here. We lost our 2 youngest felvies recently and that sucks, a lot. We miss them both so much still. Sammich passing yesterday has made things even worse. At least everyone who has passed through here has gotten so much love, safety, and security, that’s why we do this. These precious souls make this all worth it. ❤️ ❤️