Recently we took in an injured male cat. He was not neutered and his fur was matted and dirty. His front leg had an open wound that was badly infected. He was in desperate need of medical care. Our volunteer Karen transported him to the vet, where he was neutered and shaved, vaccinated and tested.
He is a middle-aged male and we have named him Bogart.
(Courtesy of Lorraine Monfils)
The wound site was cleaned. It had a lot of dead tissue and was very infected and very painful. He has been cleaned up and shaved. His leg was very painful and his bandages needed to be changed regularly, so he had to stay at the vet for a while.
This handsome boy is believed to be around 10. We had thought he was younger. Bogart tested positive for both for feline AIDS and feline leukemia, which isn’t surprising given the shape he was in. They collected blood and sent it out to a lab to confirm.
Sometimes when a cat is so compromised it can come back a false positive, which we were hoping for. He is a sweet boy but cranky because of his leg. We are not sure what happened to it but it happened a while ago.
After a little over a week at the vet clinic, Bogart came back to the sanctuary on Thursday where we will continue his care. The bandages still have to be changed but the wound is finally starting to heal. The blood sent away has confirmed that he is positive for FIV (feline AIDS) and FeLV (leukemia).
Bogart will receive whatever he needs and will live a quality life. He will need routine vet care. Bogart now shares a room at the sanctuary with four other leukemia cats. He has a catio where he can enjoy the outside in a controlled area. He has settled in quite nicely and seems very content.
Now comes the part where I give the speech.
Because Bogart was never neutered, he most likely got into many cat fights and in all likelihood that is how he got feline AIDS and leukemia. I should mention there is no treatment for either disease. Both diseases together will shorten his life span and both diseases are contagious.
To add insult to injury, because he was not neutered he could have impregnated many females, spreading both diseases to the females and their unborn kittens.
All of this could have been prevented with a simple neuter. This is one of the many reasons we preach about neuter and spay.
I would encourage everyone, if you have a cat, get it neutered or spayed. If you let your cat outside, you should get it tested. It is a simple blood test that takes about 20 minutes.
Please be responsible pet owners. Neutering and spaying saves lives.
Thank you for your continued support and, as always, thank you for reading our column.
The Ark Animal Sanctuary is located at 102 Old Woodstock Rd., Houlton. Visit them online at arkanimalsanctuary.org/home, call 532-7387 or check out their Facebook page.
