Featured rescue animal in need of a home: Gibbs, the FeLV positive kitty

Back in October, my friend Beth, a cat lover of the highest order, told me about a kitty her friend found shivering behind a restaurant here in Rochester, NY. Beth’s friend brought the kitty home, named him Gibbs, and took him to the vet, where she found out he has feline leukemia. That means he can’t live with her other cats, so he needs to find a home that either has no cats or other FeLV positive kitties.

Right now, Gibbs is living in this kind hearted cat rescuer’s spare bathroom, where he’s comfy and warm and well-fed. But he’s certainly not as happy as he’d be in a home of his own.

Don’t be put off by the diagnosis of Feline Leukemia (FeLV). While a cat with FeLV will require regular veterinary care and have some special needs to avoid secondary infections, he can live a normal life for several years. According to the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine website:

FeLV is present in the blood (a condition called viremia) during two different stages of infection:

Primary viremia, an early stage of virus infection. During this stage some cats are able to mount an effective immune response, eliminate the virus from the bloodstream, and halt progression to the secondary viremia stage.

Secondary viremia, a later stage characterized by persistent infection of the bone marrow and other tissue. If FeLV infection progresses to this stage it has passed a point of no return: the overwhelming majority of cats with secondary viremia will be infected for the remainder of their lives.

While FeLV isn’t transmitted to humans, secondary infections may be, so Cornell recommends “that pregnant women, people with suppressed immune systems, the very young, and the very old avoid contact with FeLV-infected cats.”

If you can give Gibbs a loving forever home and manage his special needs, get in touch with Beth on Facebook or leave your info here and we’ll get it to her.