Hello FFRCNation. A
very very hard thing. Sindile has passed away. I think I can speak for all of
us---our hearts are completely broke. This has been a very hard 6 weeks.
Sindile went up for lab work yesterday. With the progression of his downhill slide
today, it’s been confirmed that he too is a victim of the dry FIP. That makes 4
of these that we’ve had to deal with. So so sad. I don’t even know what to say
anymore. So sad about this. One thing---we want to learn—learn from every
single incident here. And we have learned a lot about FIP. And we also know that there is so much not
known about this disease. The professionals, the veterinarians, the lab
people---FIP is a hot topic to discover it’s ways. There is much thought about
it, but still so much is unknown. They
do a lot of “in lab” work, but I wish they would do the “real world” studies—go
into rescues and see what is happening. We have seen some consistency here that
is very interesting. But, nothing is cut and dried with this disease.
So……where does that leave us? Dr. Darcy and I both feel
strongly that this is the end. We feel that we are now done with this FIP
disaster. We do know that Fancy was the beginning and the other 3 came down
with it shortly afterwards. All 4 showed different symptoms, all 4 presented
differently, there were variations of lab work—this adds to the confusion of
this. But we do have a plan of action for the future should we see anything
like this again. While wet FIP is easy
to diagnose, dry FIP is not at all. Even knowing the shedding of this virus is
undetermined. We know there's an importance of knowing the
WBCV/globulin levels, but that isn't even conclusive. So, that is
why it’s so difficult. It’s not like we can fight it, although we try. Rest in peace, Fancy, Sherlock, Jahzara and
Sindile.
Rescue work is hard, crushing at times and sometimes it
feels like we are lost. I think we all know that. We all need a heart that is
full of patience, love, compassion, persistence and that supreme caring way. We
become so close to these cats—we KNOW them, we love them, we know what they
like and don’t like—they are not lumped together as a mass of cats. We know
them individually. And that is why it hurts when we lose any. Some days are
really tough—this is another one of them. Sometimes I want to just go away for
a while, and let myself heal. But, the best way to heal is with the living,
with the other cats here. So, I continue on, as do all of the people involved
here. We all deal with these things differently and that is ok. There is no
wrong way. Just keep these cats in your hearts and love them (and your cats and
pets too). We will continue on here at FFRC. After all, a place where every cat
matters means we are needed by the cats. Thank you all for caring too.
FYI—all Raffle items are now mailed out, as of today. If you
don’t receive your items within a reasonable amount of time, please let us
know. Thank you.
I feel we need some positive thoughts:
Farrah has not had any seizures for years.
Purrdelurps kittens all recovered perfectly from their cold.
Towanda’s eye looks pretty good—Dr. Darcy will look at it.
We now have a healthy group of cats and kittens.
We have adoptions coming up.
The upside down Christmas tree goes up soon.
Joey has forgiven us for his nail trim.
Paddy Purr’s nose looks much better.
Vernon gave 3 kittens a bath late morning.
Derecho is feeling good.
Joline’s eye is improving.
We sent checks out yesterday to pay for some of our bills.
We have the bestest volunteers anywhere.
Sea Turtle let 2 kittens nap beside her this morning.
Pellen is adjusting every day and seems happy.
Bella is a happy girl.
