I regret to report that I had to have a cat euthanized today. Finn was a rescue I took in for a friend, and at the time was quite healthy and well-fed; of course here she was also well-fed. My friend informed me that she was a former stray who had been spayed and eartipped and tested negative. She was friendly and so was adopted out; the owner was hospitalized and so she needed a temporary place to stay.
After a few weeks it became apparent that Finn was no longer observably eating or drinking; she had lost weight and become lethargic. As she was always a shy cat in a house full of rambunctious kittens and cats this was not noticed until she had a seizure episode--we thought it was a choking episode. She also appeared to have an abnormally low body temperature.
After that we kept her under closer observation, and noticed that while she would perk up a bit periodically she remained overall weak, listless and cool to the touch; a week later she had another seizure episode.
The next day (yesterday) she was taken to our spay/neuter clinic to be given subcutaneous fluids and to be examined by a vet. She was dehydrated and perked up a bit with the fluids, and ate half a can of food mixed with warm water. But the vet diagnosed hepatic lipitosis (fatty liver syndrome) on the basis of pronounced jaundice--observable by the yellow color of her gums, the insides of her ears and even her footpads. He recommended hospitalization and a full blood work-up.
This morning she was taken to a veterinary clinic for just that. The vet not only diagnosed full-blown fulminating liver disease but also that Finn was in fact FIV positive. Her prognosis was abysmal--she could be maintained for a time, but only under very uncomfortable and painful conditions. She would not recover. Euthanasia was the humane and logical choice.
I'm aware that there are dissenting opinions about testing and euthanasia within the stray/feral cat community, and that positions can be strongly held either way. My point really isn't an attempt to sway people toward a pro-euthanasia stance but to present an object lesson of sorts.
An FIV positive cat can be healthy for a time and can be maintained as such with constant observation and aggressive treatment of secondary infections (those are the ones which ultimately kill the cat), but even under the best conditions the sudden onset of an otherwise treatable condition in an immunosupressed cat can create an irreversible downward spiral. As caretakers for stray and feral cats, we must remain aware of this, as our cats do not always live under optimal conditions.
Finn suffered for at least two weeks because we were unaware that she was positive and because she was such an unobtrusive cat. Had she been on the streets in a colony she would soon have died a very painful and agonizing death; as it was the best we could do was quick and painless.
Even managed colony cats seldom receive any veterinary care beyond what they get at clinics like the one I work at, and even the most attentive caregiver will not always notice a sick cat--they tend to isolate themselves and are often not found until after they are either dead or too far gone to be saved.
I've personally come to the conclusion that testing and sometimes even retesting is worth the financial cost; not doing so is not worth the cost in suffering that might otherwise be spared....
After a few weeks it became apparent that Finn was no longer observably eating or drinking; she had lost weight and become lethargic. As she was always a shy cat in a house full of rambunctious kittens and cats this was not noticed until she had a seizure episode--we thought it was a choking episode. She also appeared to have an abnormally low body temperature.
After that we kept her under closer observation, and noticed that while she would perk up a bit periodically she remained overall weak, listless and cool to the touch; a week later she had another seizure episode.
The next day (yesterday) she was taken to our spay/neuter clinic to be given subcutaneous fluids and to be examined by a vet. She was dehydrated and perked up a bit with the fluids, and ate half a can of food mixed with warm water. But the vet diagnosed hepatic lipitosis (fatty liver syndrome) on the basis of pronounced jaundice--observable by the yellow color of her gums, the insides of her ears and even her footpads. He recommended hospitalization and a full blood work-up.
This morning she was taken to a veterinary clinic for just that. The vet not only diagnosed full-blown fulminating liver disease but also that Finn was in fact FIV positive. Her prognosis was abysmal--she could be maintained for a time, but only under very uncomfortable and painful conditions. She would not recover. Euthanasia was the humane and logical choice.
I'm aware that there are dissenting opinions about testing and euthanasia within the stray/feral cat community, and that positions can be strongly held either way. My point really isn't an attempt to sway people toward a pro-euthanasia stance but to present an object lesson of sorts.
An FIV positive cat can be healthy for a time and can be maintained as such with constant observation and aggressive treatment of secondary infections (those are the ones which ultimately kill the cat), but even under the best conditions the sudden onset of an otherwise treatable condition in an immunosupressed cat can create an irreversible downward spiral. As caretakers for stray and feral cats, we must remain aware of this, as our cats do not always live under optimal conditions.
Finn suffered for at least two weeks because we were unaware that she was positive and because she was such an unobtrusive cat. Had she been on the streets in a colony she would soon have died a very painful and agonizing death; as it was the best we could do was quick and painless.
Even managed colony cats seldom receive any veterinary care beyond what they get at clinics like the one I work at, and even the most attentive caregiver will not always notice a sick cat--they tend to isolate themselves and are often not found until after they are either dead or too far gone to be saved.
I've personally come to the conclusion that testing and sometimes even retesting is worth the financial cost; not doing so is not worth the cost in suffering that might otherwise be spared....