The Story of Thomas the Christmas Cat (and the myth surrounding FIV)
I thought the final blog of the year should be a positive post about something that is pretty intimidating to a lot of cat lovers, so here’s a Christmas tale about a lovely cat called Thomas.
I moderate on a rescue and rehoming site for cats, and another member of the forum posted about a cat at a veterinary practice locally to them. The cat was sadly living on borrowed time; because it was close to Christmas and if a home wasn’t found for him before the practice closed for the festive season, he’d have to be euthanised. The search for a home wasn’t helped because of the FIV status held by this admittedly amiable chap.
Saddened by the post, I re-shared the information on a social networking site. An old school friend and his partner saw my cross-posting and decided to research the FIV condition. The fact of the matter is that FIV isn’t a death sentence for a cat; a cat with the condition can live a happy life for many years after their diagnosis.
After learning this, Thomas got the happy ending he deserved. Two days before Christmas Eve, my school friends partner went and collected Thomas from the surgery to start his new life with them where he lived out the rest of his days as a much loved member of their family.
(To learn more about the FIV condition, I’d suggest a read of the following links when you have the time:
http://consciouscat.net/2010/07/12/fiv-separating-myth-from-fact/
http://www.catchat.org/fiv.html )
Thomas waiting to check out his presents from Santa