Kittens Get Help from Picasso Veterinary Fund...Now You Can Help

Kittens

Lovey is a 12-week-old domestic medium hair black cat who is genetically blind. She is sweet as sugar, and very smart and playful.

Sam Elliot is a 16-week-old brown and silver tiger tabby. He is outgoing and playful, but can be a big mush, too.

Sixteen-week-old Portia is a black-and-white domestic short hair. She is outgoing, sweet, playful, and social with other cats.

Foxy is a 12-week-old black domestic short hair. She is petite, sweet, friendly, social, and playful.

Sixteen-week-old Sammy, a brown and silver tiger tabby, is outgoing and playful, but he can be very affectionate, too.

Last month, when nearly two dozen pet owners showed up for their appointments at a Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals Free Spay/Neuter Clinic at Animal Care & Control of NYC's (AC&C) Brooklyn shelter, one woman arrived with three mom cats, two males, and eight kittens! Clearly, a spay and neuter date was long overdue!

The five adult cats were spayed or neutered at the clinic, but all the kittens were suffering with an upper respiratory infection (URI), and therefore could not undergo surgery that day. The cats' owner was overwhelmed and couldn't take on care of the sick kittens. So instead of having them taken in at AC&C, which already was flooded with kittens (yes, it's kitten season!), the Mayor's Alliance accepted the kittens into the Picasso Veterinary Fund program.

We arranged for the eight kittens to be admitted for treatment at NYC Veterinary Specialists in Queens, a Picasso Veterinary Fund partner hospital. Five of the eight kittens tested positive for Feline Leukemia (FeLV), a virus that can limit a cat's lifespan. (The virus is spread primarily through contact with infected saliva and nasal secretions.) Kittens typically are far more susceptible to infection than adult cats.

Following treatment for their URI, the three kittens who tested negative for FeLV were released to A Tail at a Time, an Alliance Participating Organization, for adoption. The five FeLV-positive kittens remain in the care of the Mayor's Alliance, where they have recovered from their URI and are ready to be adopted.

Two of the kitties, Lovey and Sam Elliot, have tested definitively for FeLV. With appropriate care, they can remain in good health for many years.

Portia, Foxy, and Sammy will be re-tested within the next few weeks, and we are hoping that their next test results will be negative, as often is the case with young kittens who initially test positive for FeLV.

Is there a place for one or more of these kitties in your home? If you're interested in adopting one or more of these sweet kitties, please let us know. We'll be happy to answer any questions you might have about FeLV or about placement of any of these kitties in a home. Please contact us at picasso@AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

You can help by supporting the Picasso Veterinary Fund. The Fund gave these five kittens a second chance, as it has done for hundreds of cats and dogs since it was founded in 2003. Most of the animals who received assistance from the Fund would not have had another chance. Your support can help us to continue to give these wonderful animals a shot at a brighter future. Please help us continue to help them by making a convenient online donation now.