Charlie's Story

We first discovered fostering after finding a litter of kittens under a shed at a nearby church. After fostering a few litters, we were asked to take on two sick kittens, Tulip and Charlie. We didn't know that they would change our lives forever. 

When we first took them in, they had infections that blinded them, upper respiratory infections, fleas, ear mites, and worms. What we didn't know was that they also had panleukopenia, a vaccine-preventable illness that is usually fatal.

Tulip got sick first. She was rushed to the vet, and a mass was found in her abdomen. The vet thought it might be a different fatal illness, FIP. We stayed up all night with her to try to get her to an ultrasound the next day, but her little body gave up in our arms. Just days later, Charlie was busy playing and napping on laps when we realized she was quite warm and breathing too quickly. She was rushed to the emergency vet. There, she was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis pneumonia and panleukopenia. The vet had never successfully treated panleuk before, and informed us that euthanasia was the most reasonable option. We refused, called vets and rescues all over the country, looking for a successful treatment protocol, and we found it! We had to argue and fight to give her an expensive human drug usually saved for cancer patients, but a 4-day hospitalization and Neupogen saved her life.

In the end, Charlie fully recovered, resulting in her becoming our first, of two, foster fails. Four years later, Charlie is as happy as ever, with her annoying little brother Percy in our loving home, working off her bills making biscuits.

If there's a Charlie in your life, don't hesitate to take action!  Our community cats need all the help they can get!