Kitty complications

[ellid]

Remember how I was planning to take Alec the red cat from Louisiana, as well as a little tabby kitty a friend in New York was trying to find a home for? Well, suddenly everything got a lot more complicated.

Not with Alec. He's happy, healthy, getting along so well in his foster home that they're joking about keeping him, and is pretty much thriving. He's scheduled to come up here on the 29th and I'm just waiting for the flight information.

No, the problem is with the kitten, and it could be a dealbreaker. Here's the situation:

The kitten is currently living with a neighbor of my friend Nan, who rescues strays and has just finished the paperwork to be an official rescue/adoption agency. Nan saw the kitten once, played with her a bit, and got some pictures. Other than that there has been no contact between the kitten and Nan's cats.

Nan has been fostering some feral kittens for another rescue agency, and one of them had to put down yesterday because it came down with FIP. She's heartsick at the thought that these kittens, which she's had for a while, may have infected her other cats. Of course she's returning the kittens from the infected litter, but the vet told her not to go near the kitten I'd agreed to take, even to stick her in a carrier and bring her here, for fear of her becoming infected.

I spoke to my own vet's technician yesterday, and she said that since the kitten hasn't had any contact with the sick cats she's probably fine. I'm going to stop by my vet on the way to work to talk to her about it since there's no way I'd put Diamond and Malfoy at risk (let alone Alec, who's already had a brush with death this year). I've e-mailed Nan to tell her this.

So...those of you have experience with cat rescue (looks at cathouse_mary) - what should I do? The kitten hasn't actually been exposed to the sick cats, and she's had only very minimal contact with Nan and her husband. At the same time, my cats are healthy and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to them. What should I do?

Comments

[lady-jade-01.livejournal.com]

You have two choices: wait, and see what happens, or break the deal. Personally I would wait a bit and then make the decision, it's only fair to the kitten as well as those already in the Shack. Not to mention your heart. Chin up, and that's only my opinion.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

There's a bit of a time crunch, unfortunately - the kitten is not in a good home situation, and Nan could only find a foster home for her until this weekend. So I *have* to know ASAP.

This really sucks.

[psyfic.livejournal.com]

It's not my decision to make, of course, but since you ask, and we had to make a similar decision once -- my vote is to not risk the cats you already have and love. For whatever it's worth and you're free to ignore it.

[lady-jade-01.livejournal.com]

hmmm....perhaps if the kitten doesn't have FIB, perhaps the person she is staying with could put her in the carrier, and Nan/Jeff will handle the carrier with gloves and not touch/breathe on the poor thing (extreme measures, I know, but....) ?

[embermwe.livejournal.com]

Can the kitten get tested to ensure that he will not give an ugly communicable disease to the rest of the crew?

[estela-dufrayse.livejournal.com]

this!
Our breeder lost most of her cats due to this highly contagious virus. It will be years before she can even breed cats again. It's too devastating!

[cathouse-mary.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Oh, honey. Okay, FIP is nothing to mess with. It is massively contagious and a painful, terrible illness. Some years ago, I had to make the choice to put down two kittens who had it, and the decision still makes me cry to this day. The kittens should be tested and not automatically put down. Sometimes one kitten will get it and the others throw it off. Others will survive and be carriers, and still others will seem to be completely immune.

That said, your other cats would be at risk, even with the kitten in isolation. Unless you have a clean room, or are going to glove and suit up when having time with the kitten then disinfect, you could spread this illness to your cats. Have her tested - negative is a go, but after a period of quarantine and a retest.