7 am, the time of reckoning. Ellen Kilgannon, the Executive Director at PAWS Bryson City (NC), and I had arrived at the trailer where we were set to remove sick kittens for euthanasia. Yep, that's right. Animal advocates were advocating for euthanasia, a humane end to the suffering the kittens were living through. When we'd first been to the home a couple weeks ago, there was rampant upper respiratory infection circulating through at least a dozen of over twenty kittens. Yep, that's right. Twenty-plus kittens among assorted adults. A nightmare which only got worse. Upper respiratory infections were a complication, but Kaleb of Catman2 Shelter returned about a week later to start testing the lot for Feline Leukemia.
FACT SHEETS FOR FELINE LEUKEMIA:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/43
Feline Leukemia testing quickly became more than just a step in the process of helping the kittens. Three mother kitties and two larger, healthy-looking kittens tested positive. So what had started as a mission to assess, improve the health, and rescue kittens, while fixing the adults to remain behind, turned into a mission of mercy, whereby we'd remove the desperately sick kittens for euthanasia, which we assumed to be about half of them judging from the last time we'd been on site, and then testing the remainder. Those testing positive would be euthanized. Why? No one wants to euthanize kittens, but weak, fragile kittens fade, sometimes slowly, and suffer, and Feline Leukemia requires extensive quarantine and retesting. We don't currently have the infrastructure across the region to foster positive kittens for months on end. We don't even have space for healthy kittens. The caregiver suffers from various ailments, and she was incapable of providing the standard of care for potentially that many kittens for such a duration of quarantine either. It was the right thing to do, and a gut-wrenching task for all of us involved, right down to the health workers who alerted us to this situation.
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But on June 14th at 7 am, when Ellen and I arrived to commence the Mercy Mission, we found the majority of the kittens had cleared their respiratory and eye infections. Whether this was on their own or this was due to administration of antibiotics by their caregiver is unknown (she had been provided with antibiotics by Kaleb, but we're not sure whether she followed through or was capable of doing so). What it meant, though, is that we had to re-assess our action plan. We chose to remove the smallest, youngest kittens and whichever larger ones we could get our hands on. Some were hiding under the home with mother cats, and they would be retrieved at a later date, and there were more in a shed on another part of the property that would be dealt with later, as well.
All told, we picked up ten fuzzy, fluffy purrbabies ranging from five to eight weeks old, including the only one that we could see with any remnant of severe eye infection. Also among the kittens was the caregiver's favorite, the smallest, most frail of them all, a fluffy tortoiseshell. Animal advocacy is community work. It requires diplomacy, and in this case the negotiations that come with diplomacy. Mercy. Understanding. The caregiver was already struggling with the situation - the number of kittens, the reality of euthanasia. A couple kittens had already died on premises and another in rescue with Kaleb. Slow, agonizing deaths. But euthanasia, death at human hand with purpose, is a difficult concept for a caregiver to grapple, too. So we negotiated, as she strove to keep this frail kitten, one she had taken to nursing and nurturing. The deal was this: if the kitten tested positive for Feline Leukemia, I would return it to her, alive. If the kitten tested negative, I would do all in my power to return it to health, and we could cross the bridge of where it would live when older when, well, it was older, if it lived. Thanks to the woman's partner and supporter, we were able to reach this compromise.
Ten kittens were removed from the home. Of the ten, six tested negative for Feline Leukemia. We are very glad we opted for this new action plan. Four were euthanized after many kisses and tears and being nestled against pounding, hurting, compassionate hearts. One of the kittens who was euthanized was the very first that came to greet us this morning of reckoning - a fluffy dilute tortoiseshell - who lay on her back in the crook of my arm. And so too she slipped away, as the veterinarian gave her a sedative prior to death. They were all beautiful kittens, some of the prettiest kittens we have seen in a long while.
Ellen took the two remaining older kittens into quarantine at PAWS, and I took the remaining four. The veterinarian cautioned, wisely, that we needed to nip the fleas in the bud immediately. Their blood was like water from the fleas ingesting red blood cells, and the little ones had very little fight left, which is why the smallest one was so absolutely debilitated. Fleas, not upper respiratory infections, were killing the kittens that were left. The kittens' gums were pale as ghosts, and we hopped to work. It is only day one in rescue, so we do not know what the future holds. All are eating, and all we can do is try. And all of these kittens will need to be retested for Feline Leukemia a few weeks down the road. If they test positive, we will have to say goodbye, and I am not looking forward to that. Weeks of bonding and then purposefully ending a life takes its toll. Yet it is part of our journey, a reality we are facing, because we are in the early stages of a tide of change. At some point will we have a strategy for feline leukemia positive kittens whereby they have a foster, and eventually a home? There is a good chance that yes, that can be so, in time and with Community Support. Without Community Support, options are limited to a severe degree. And part of that Community Support, an integral part, is supporting low-cost spay/neuter programs wherever one lives. Yes, foster if you have space and the time and the will, but if you don't, then please support spay/neuter, even if it is for pets that don't belong to you. Even if you don't agree with a situation, a person's way of life, their journey, their story. There is a lot of judgement in a human being, but there is a lot of humanity too, and we need humanity to kick in if we are going to improve our world.
Next week we will try our best to assess the rest of the kittens. We will also assist the caregiver in dealing with the flea infestation in her home. And we hope that health professionals continue to assist in her healing journey through life. The adult cats? They will be fixed and remain with the caregiver regardless of Feline Leukemia status. They are considered owned, and, again, we are animal advocates, but we are also community advocates, and there is compromise in working with humans, and compassion. She loves her cats. Her daughter loves her cats. If this family had fixed, or been able to fix, their adult cats prior to their giving birth, we wouldn't be struggling through this awful situation. Sometimes reality bites. Like fleas. Throw a bandage on the bite, and it may heal, but if you don't take care of the fleas, then you'll just have more bites, so spay/neuter and wish us well on our journey.
Love from the Tailroad,
Chandra
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