Purrs for shelter cats

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theresa - 12 Nov 2007 10:55 GMT

Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
at the humane society that I wanted to check out.

As soon as I sat down in the cat room, a medium hair black cat sat
next to me and put his front paws on my lap. He stayed there for
quite a while. Then a pretty tortie, Pinky, got up into my lap. In a
little while, a younger black cat was up there, putting his face up to
mine.

I talked to one of the workers there that knew the cats' personalities
and decided Pinky would make a good friend. She was 5 yrs old, seemed
to get along with other cats. Her surrender card stated that she was
terrified of dogs but when we took her to the office where there were
3, she was as calm as could be.

It took a while to get through the process, only because they were
short handed and a lot of people were showing up to drop off cats or
find a new friend. After a bit, one of the staff told me that 2 of
the cats in the room had ringworm. One of them was the younger black
cat.

I could've taken Pinky home but after discussing things with the
staff, I decided to leave her there for 30 days. They will keep me
posted and if she appears to have gotten ringworm, will call me and
give me the option of treating her through my vet. They didn't come
right out and say it but I figure they are unable to treat all the
cats if they come down with it, plus it would be difficult to contain.

Mostly I'm asking for purrs that the 12 / 15 other cats in the room
don't come down with it, and that it doesn't spread through the
shelter.

TIA,
Theresa

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Sherry - 12 Nov 2007 14:12 GMT

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

Best of luck to you, and bless you for taking one of the older cats!
She is
going to be one of the lucky ones for sure.
I am curious, though, why she needs to stay there for a month? JUst
from personal experience, disease is usually rampant in shelters, no
matter how hard they try, and ringworm in particular is spread so
easily. It seems that the quicker she gets outta there, the better it
would be.
Anyway, keep us posted, and let us know how things go when you do
get to bring her home!
Sherry

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MaryL - 12 Nov 2007 14:20 GMT

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

This is really sad. It is also an example of poor care at the shelter
(possibly due to lack of space and inadequate staffing). Animals should
always be quarantined for awhile before mixing them with the general
population, and animals that are known to have problems such as ringworm
should *never* be allowed to come in contact with other cats or dogs.
Moreover, the cats with ringworm absolutely should not have been in an area
where prospective adopters can come in contact with them. That is an
*absdolute* violation of what the public has a right to expect. Ringworm is
contagious -- not only from cat to cat but also from cat to person -- so it
is now important for you to make sure you have not contracted the problem
yourself. You might even want to check with your doctor on this (and also
your vet becaus it is possible that you could carry the disease to your
resident cat).

As I said, this really is sad.

MaryL

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Sherry - 12 Nov 2007 14:25 GMT

On Nov 12, 8:20 am, "MaryL" <stanco...@yahoo.comTAKE-OUT-THE-LITTER>
wrote:

> > Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> > I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 49 lines]
>
> MaryL

Ringworm is especially insidious in that a perfectly healthy-looking
cat
can be infected. They'll either have no outward signs, or small
spots hidden so that they are not visible. Hand-washing doesn't
help keep from spreading it either. You carry the spores home
on your clothing to your cat.

Sherry

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Kreisleriana - 12 Nov 2007 14:26 GMT

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

Purrs for them all.

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theresa - 12 Nov 2007 17:02 GMT

> > Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> > I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

I did consider bringing Pinky home Fri., thinking it would be best to
get her out of the shelter. I didn't know too much about ringworm so
I talked with the staff first. I have 3 other pets at home and didn't
know how successful I'd be keeping them from catching it even if I
kept her shut up in a bedroom. So that's why I decided to leave her
there for now. I could be mistaken, maybe they didn't say they'd
quarantine them for a month.

When I got home, I removed all my clothes - including my shoes and
jacket, and washed them in hot water. Hopefully that did the trick.

I don't necessarily agree that this case of ringworm "is also an
example of poor care at the shelter". Sure they're overworked /
understaffed, like most shelters. They do keep incoming animals
separate when they come in. From what I've read, it appears that a
cat can have it before any signs start showing. And it's not like
they can test for it. Again from what I've read, it's possible for
humans to be carriers. Who knows, maybe someone brought it into the
shelter with them.

I just asked for purrs for the other cats to be spared.

Theresa

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Sherry - 12 Nov 2007 20:28 GMT

> > "theresa" <pawspa...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]
>
> Theresa

You did the exact, right thing removing your clothes. One thing I
wanted to tell
that might ease your mind -- when I was volunteering regularly I did
bring
ringworm home, and Frank got it. But you know what, I *never* did, and
neither did any of the other cats. I think some cats are susceptible,
some
are not. There's a good chance your healthy, resident cats won't get
it.

Sherry

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MaryL - 12 Nov 2007 22:13 GMT

>> > "theresa" <pawspa...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>
[quoted text clipped - 80 lines]
>
> Sherry

Yes, and if you see any suspicious spots, your vet can use a Woods light to
determine if it is ringworm.

What I meant when I referred to poor care at the shelter was that the cat
that you said has ringworm (and that you handled) *should not* have been in
the general population. He should have been quarantined until after all
signs of ringworm had disappeared.

MaryL

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Marina - 13 Nov 2007 08:12 GMT

> You did the exact, right thing removing your clothes. One thing I
> wanted to tell
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> are not. There's a good chance your healthy, resident cats won't get
> it.

When my cats had it, I got a tiny little spot on my arm, but that was
all, though the whole thing lasted about 6 months before the cats were
declared completely clean.

The water has to be very hot to kill the spores. Freezing is also a good
method. I put all the cats' fuzzy toys in the freezer until they were
declared ringworm-free.

Signature

Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

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Matthew - 12 Nov 2007 17:29 GMT

PURRS IN ROUTE

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

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Monique Y. Mudama - 12 Nov 2007 18:11 GMT

> I could've taken Pinky home but after discussing things with the
> staff, I decided to leave her there for 30 days. They will keep me
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> don't come down with it, and that it doesn't spread through the
> shelter.

Purrs for all those kitties.

Signature

monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

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sam - 13 Nov 2007 03:15 GMT

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

Purrs for the shelter kitties on the way.

Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

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Marina - 13 Nov 2007 08:02 GMT

> Mostly I'm asking for purrs that the 12 / 15 other cats in the room
> don't come down with it, and that it doesn't spread through the
> shelter.

Purrs for all the shelter cats. Having gone through a long and laborious
treatment for Mir and Caliban, I hate to think of all the work involved
if it spreads through a shelter. Then again, it's probably inevitable
that it does spread, because it's so very contagious.

Purrs also for your new family member.

Signature

Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

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polonca12000 - 16 Nov 2007 21:57 GMT

> Jake has been missing his sister, who went to the bridge in April, so
> I decided to find a friend for him. I found a few cats on Petfinder
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> TIA,
> Theresa

Lots of purrs and best wishes that the kitties don't get ringworm,
Polonca and Soncek

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