New Arrival: Kringle
Kringle has been abandoned for several months when his owner died the relatives took all the valuables from the house and turfed him on the streets to fend for himself.
Unfortunately it has taken months for the neighbours to build up his trust and today was his lucky day.
On arrival at BCWR+S Kringle was rusher to the vets and admitted immediately.
He has many wounds, a nasty tooth root abcess, full of fleas and is dehydrated.
Kringle has spent the day in the vets, had antibiotics, dental surgery to remove the infected tooth, blood tests flea and worm treatment and intravenous fluids.
Kringle really has suffered whilst fighting for survival on the streets.
Kringle will be monitored very carefully throughout the night and is due to be reviewed in the morning by our vets at Northcote.
In addition to Kringles current acute clinical issues he also has FIV.
💙About Feline Immunodeficiency Virus💙
FIV is a fairly common cat virus.
FIV was only identified in 1986 (although it had probably been around for hundreds of years before that)
Because it has only been known about for around 30 years, we are still learning about it.
When it was first identified, there were lots of studies carried out which formed the basis of understanding of the virus from the start.
It is only in the last 20 years or so, when more and more FIV cats have been allowed to live their normal lives, that we are learning that the original studies gave a false impression.
Today’s ‘facts’ should be based on the real-life experience, rather than those early studies, but therein lies the problem, most real-life experience is not documented, and is therefore not available for the official bodies to benefit from.
💙So what do we really know?💙
FIV attaches itself to some cells which are part of the immune system
The virus is very slow acting, so the time taken for there to be sufficient damage to the immune system to actually affect the health of the cat is many years.
Most cats with FIV maintain strong immune systems for many years, often all their lives.
Most FIV cats live normal length of lives if properly cared for.
The virus only affects cats, and cannot be passed to other species, either animal or human.
The virus has only been shown to be transmitted via a bite.
1 FIV is not in itself a life-threatening disease
2 FIV does not ‘destroy’ the immune system
3 FIV is not ‘Cat AIDS’
4 FIV is not contagious
5 FIV does not necessarily shorten life expectancy.
6 FIV cannot be transferred to other species (animal or human).
Adopting a FIV positive cat can be really rewarding. Although no-one can predict the future, many FIV cats can potentially live long, healthy and full lives, just like a non-infected cat, and have all the usual needs such as a nutritious diet, mental stimulation and plenty of love!