THE STORY OF SNOWY

July 2022 - June 2023

White male, 8-10 years old

You may remember Snowy from all the updates and appeals for help with his vet bills. This is his story, as well as a bit of an insight into how far the rescue and fosterers go to help the cats in our care. Written by Maria, his foster mum:

Snowy was a long term stray and was trapped as a feral in Blackmore in July 22 - hence the ear tip. He'd been health checked at House and Jackson vet and tested FIV negative and must have had a home once as he had an unregistered chip. He was very scared and hissy when in our feral pen and didn't come out of his box for ages. His fur was yellow all over and he was very scabby and in terrible condition. He also had an abscess on the side of his face from a cat bite before he came in. Unfortunately, that's very common in unneutered males as they are much more likely to get into fights.

On arrival at PCL

After his 1st dental

After a while in the feral pen, Snowy was moved to our semi feral pen to give him more chance to be socialised. I took chicken to feed the shy cats every week and Snowy was very food motivated! He slowly came around with a bit of love and a lot of chicken and became very affectionate.

One morning, I noticed he tried to eat his chicken but couldn't and he looked in pain. A swift trip to the vet resulted in 3 teeth out as well as a claw which was embedded in the soft tissue at the back of his mouth – obviously the cause of his sudden inability to eat. He was so much happier after his surgery, but unfortunately, the skin flaps where his incisors were removed, came undone and got infected. After a few more vet visits with steroid injections and antibiotics, I took him home to try to get him better.

He was on opioid pain meds which needed administering by mouth every 8 hours – not possible in the rescue. He wasn't used to being handled but was generally very good when I got him out to give him his meds. I got various high quality soft foods to help him eat and cooked lots of chicken mashed into the cooking broth for him, but he wouldn't eat or drink. I took him to the vet twice a day to be given fluids but in the end, he had to stay in and be kept on an IV to get him properly hydrated.

By the time his mouth was healing he was coming to me when I called him and was just so calm and affectionate. Now he was up and about, it became evident that he was a BIG cat! Such a big build and long legs! He loved sitting on the windowsill and happily watching the birds.

Snowy and I built up such a close bond and it felt very special to have earned his trust. He slept with me every night cuddled up under my arm and wanted to follow me everywhere. He really loved belly rubs and sitting on my lap for ages. He had bundles of personality but was just the most special, gentle boy and unrecognisable from the hissy scared cat he used to be.

We had a lovely home ready for Snowy to go to but, before I could take him there, he developed a small bald patch on his side which was taking time to heal and he seemed to be having a bit of trouble eating again. I took him for another vet check and now this poor boy was diagnosed with very bad gingivitis at the back of his gums.

As his slow healing, sore gums and skin problem were all potential signs of a weakened immune system, PCL decided to do another FIV test. Sure enough, Snowy tested positive this time. His new home had to be cancelled as his adopters already had a cat. Although it might have been possible for Snowy to be homed with another cat, he had shown he was territorial over me and tried to attack one of my cats after he'd seen me cuddling him. Obviously we had to be extra careful that Snowy didn't sustain any injuries, as well as there being a risk of transmission if Snowy were to bite another cat.

With all this in mind, we were now looking for a home for Snowy as an only cat and an indoor cat, fed on high quality wet food to give him the best chance of staying healthy. We found the perfect home for him to go to with lovely Nicole and Callum and their many rescue rabbits.

Before his adoption PCL decided to give Snowy his best chance of a healthy mouth for his future by having most of his remaining teeth removed, leaving 2 canines which were in healthy gums. He had continued to have very sore gums, despite steroid injections and antibiotics and it wouldn't have been fair on him or Nicole to home him like that. A lot of research indicated that tooth removal was the way forward in cats with persistent gum disease so back he went to the vet!

He was so happy to get home after that, rubbing against my legs, purring and chirping. He was back on the opiate pain meds - it had to go straight onto the gums from a syringe every 8 hours. He really didn't like that but forgave me straight after.

Unfortunately, Snowy’s skin started flaring up a couple of days after the surgery. He was scratching like crazy and pulling his fur out. I found 2 fleas on him which he must have picked up while at the vets. He was obviously very allergic to fleas. At least that was easier to deal with than FIV related skin problems! Once that was dealt with, Snowy recovered beautifully and was finally ready to go to his forever home.

I took Snowy to his new home in Colchester in February 2023 after having had him in foster with me for nearly 5 months. It was so hard letting him go as I loved him so much, but it really helped seeing how well he settled in with Nicole and Callum. He was very very loved and had a wonderful life with them, as you can see from the pictures below:

Tragically, they didn't have nearly as much time with Snowy as we had hoped and expected. We all knew he may not live as long as a non FIV cat but thought he'd have a good few years at least. The vet thought he was about 10 but he could have been younger. In June, Snowy suddenly stopped eating and became very unwell. A vet stay showed he had a very aggressive cancer in his abdomen which had rapidly got out of control due to his lowered immune system. The awful decision had to be made to let him go but he had Nicole and Callum with him giving him lots of love and cuddles until the end.

I am forever grateful to Nicole and Callum for giving him the best home and new life for the time that Snowy had.

He will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Special thanks too to Tracy and Caryl who helped when I had to go away, my neighbours for feeding him when I had to go out and huge thanks to all the lovely supporters who donated towards his vet bills.

He was such a special cat – everyone said he had a special energy about him. Although he didn't have nearly long enough with us, the time he had was so worth it.

RIP our beautiful angel - 9th June 2023.