Again!
Last week, the Isle of Wight Co shelter in VA told the media they had 30 cats infected with herpes. They needed to halt cat intakes and thoroughly disinfect the facility. Oh and if no one steps up for the cats within the next few days, they’ll be killed.
People stepped up. All 30 cats were moved out of the shelter to safety in a matter of days. Go Irresponsible Public, go!
***
While the city of Harrisburg and the HS of the Harrisburg Area played rock, scissors, paper, the community’s pets were left in limbo. Thankfully an all volunteer group of compassionate rescuers called the Central PA Animal Alliance took a seat at the adult table and actually saved pets’ lives. Among their saves was a female Pitbull who had been roaming loose for 3 years. They trapped her and took the friendly dog to the vet where it was discovered she had a microchip. Unfortunately the GA phone number on the chip was disconnected. I wonder if local AC would have trapped her sometime sooner, maybe her owner could have been located.
At any rate, paws up to concerned citizens of Harrisburg for doing instead of arguing. The real humane society in this country is of the small h, small s variety.
Micro-chipping. I admit that I’m not educated enough but perhaps the dog has been missing so long that the family didn’t think it was financially necessary to keep the account open… I can see how that extra $20 a month might be more needed elsewhere.
For me though, if my dog were lost/missing – it would have to be the natural life expectancy in years before I canceled their account.
Home Away will continue to get my money until I know (unequivocally) that my pet has ceased to exist.
$20 a month?! I just paid a registration fee at the time of implant for mine (Avid).
First, I’ve never heard of feline herpes. How long has it been out there, luckily unknown by me?
This goes to show how “shelters” can get good results & get more dogs & cats adopted just by reaching out to the public, instead of killing & killing faster than anyone can do anthing about it.
Good job, rescuers.
It’s been around forever, I think – it used to be commonly referred to as feline flu, and it’s very common. Here’s a fairly good fact sheet on it:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/feline-herpesvirus
Nursing through the first bout can be a challenge as cats can get very sick from it – especially kittens & more fragile cats. Chronic infections, which happen to some cats, are manageable with care – I’ve a cat now with it.
A long time, ezbuddy. Some shelters take a proactive approach and add l-lysine to all cat food to help alleviate symptoms and prevent flare ups (stress can bring it on). Of course, some shelters take care to wash hands between handling cats, which also helps prevent the spread…
Feline herpes is extremely common; most “kitty colds” are caused by that virus. I’ve read estimates that around 80% of all cats have been exposed to it at one time or another. It can be dangerous in very young kittens whose immune systems aren’t yet fully developed, causing permanent eye damage or chronic URI symptoms. I have a cat now who almost died from it as a kitten. She’s now 8 years old and has some chronic health issues but they are completely manageable. I have two others with eye damage from a herpes infection.
Here is a site to check out: “FreePetChipRegistry.com is the World’s only truly FREE microchip registry and is OPEN to register ALL BRANDS OF MICROCHIPS from anywhere in the world.”
http://freepetchipregistry.com/
http://snipurl.com/223iuid
“infected with herpes”. So? My foster has that. Just makes her eyes run. She gets the dark ‘tear stains’. Again….So? Doesn’t mean they need to be killed!
Euthanasia because of feline herpes? That’s sounds like a joke. A huge percentage of cats have herpes, just like humans. I don’t even consider it an illness. It may break out when the cat’s immune system is a little off and then not show for years.
All of my cats have herpes. So what?
A dog running loose for THREE years that they couldnt get? Wow..just…wow. That poor thing.
And yes, go irresponsible public, go!!
On the microchip- I read it to mean the phone number was disconnected. Not that the chip company had disconnected the owner. I’ve encountered this and gone to the effort to physically look up the owners’ name. Sometimes I’ve found them, sometimes,not.
And herpes? yep, chronic snufflers.