A Special Road Trip

Today I took a special little kitty to her new "forever" home. At one place I work, we had a client that adopted a kitten that tested positive for the Feline Leukemia virus. Since they had another cat in the house, they didn't want to put her at risk of acquiring it. Many people already have cats, so it can be hard to find homes for these guys. But they can live a normal, happy life - even if it's not as "long" as an FeLV negative cat.  A positive test does not mean that the cat has to be euthanized.


There are some wonderful groups that do take these cats in to specific homes. There is also a really cool place near Harrisburg called (cute/funny!) "The Best Little Cat House in PA" 

So I volunteered to drive this little girl to her new home there. They have FeLV and FIV positive kitties there. They also have a room with cats that have special needs (diabetics, long term, non-contagious illness type situations, etc).   The cats have a really cool set up including enclosed outdoor areas and neat little perches and walkways up high - all things cats love. They have a nice staff that volunteers to help clean and feed,etc. This place survives on donations only. 


Dr. Clair Thompson, one of the owners of East Stroudsburg Veterinary Hospital, lent me the Flip Video unit (and edited my 4 video snippets into this very nice piece). He also wrote a little bit about this story and me:

Dr Purr, Christine Bongiorno, "The Cat Whisperer" has recently joined the pack at East Stroudsburg Veterinary Hospital and Paws/Pocono Animal Wellness Services. As evidenced by her moniker, Dr Purr, Dr B is "The Cat Whisperer" on staff! Along with Doc Pawsitive, Clair Thompson, "Leader of the Pack" and Dr Sammie, "The Top Dog", the addition of a cat crazy vet helps to round out the veterinary staff and not favor dogs over cats or vice-versa. Our office has always enjoyed a loyal feline following and felt Dr Purr would be a purrfect fit with our staff and clients, which has definitely been the case. Preventive medicine and screening for disease are a key aspect of our practice and we certainly advise all new kitten and cat owners to screen their new additions for Feline Leukemia Virus(FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus(FIV) prior to adding them to their home, especially if other cats are present. Depending on the study you reference and the part of the country you hail from, the incidence of these 2 serious cat diseases can reach as high as 15-20% of cats in a given population being infected and eventually affected! 

The rest of this story can be found here below the video on YouTube!