Hi there friends and supporters,

It is with great sadness that I must report that for the first time in 3 years and 201 rescued cats, we have a confirmed case of distemper (panleukopenia) in a kitten. Tongo was outwardly healthy for the first 8 days he was here, but on Sunday morning, he suddenly fell quite ill. We treated him and kept him as comfortable as possible, but by Monday afternoon, he was too far gone to hold out any hope for survival, so I helped him make a trip up to Heaven, by humanely euthanizing him at the vet.

His littermates, Elegance and Unicef, are living in separate cages, so I can monitor how much each of them is eating, drinking, peeing or pooping. The other 3 kittens (Gemma, Hallie and Woofer) are doing fine, still sharing a cage. For those who have visited the rescue workshop in the past week and seen the kittens: Thanks for all your help with them in the last week,and I wish I could still let volunteers come over, but it is shut for now. Quarantine is required to diminsh risk of contamintaion. We don't want the sickness to spread, but the volunteers shouldn't have to worry about bringing it home to thier cats, as long as those cats are up to date on vaccines
Here is what I wrote on Facebook on Monday morning, before he died:
I am very sorry to report that for the first time in our 3 years of rescue, we have a kitten with distemper, also called panleukopenia. He is very sick and I am praying he will survive, but it is not looking good. Tongo was doing fine since he arrived last Saturday, but yesterday he suddenly developed a high fever, is vomiting, has bloody diarrhea and no appetite or energy. We provided Pedialyte and subcutaneous fluids last night, and this morning I took him to my vet. He was tested with a rectal swab SNAP test, and it came back positive, so this is not just a suspected case, but has been confirmed.
Thus we are trying to disinfect EVERYTHING he may have come in contact with, and will have to keep the rescue workshop under QUARANTINE until further notice. Donations of bleach and disinfecting wipes are badly needed.
We will have to throw away all our litter boxes, scratching posts and cat beds. We would really appreciate donations of new cat supplies, to re-stock our rescue.
As it is, I don't have any idea how I am going to pay the enormous vet bills! Please volunteer at our Bottle Drive on May 16th Thanks so much,
Sonya Higgins


Since writing that message, I have had a case of bleach donated! So we don’t need any more bleach right now, but I am including a “Wish List” for the things we could use:

I would like the following items for cleaning:
paper towels
boxes of tissues
Disinfecting wipes (Lysol, Mr. Clean, Clorox or any brand)
hand sanitizer
small hand broom sweepers with dust pans

Extra miscellaneous items:
a Dust Buster
a space heater
a large cat scratching post or tower
a digital thermometer

Cat items:
small scratching posts
cat beds
cat blankets
toys: balls, mice, feather wands, etc
cat carriers
litter boxes
litter scoops

Of course, we need money to help cover the vet bills. Donations of cash may be made in person at the Eastern Passage Village Vet hospital to the SCARS account. They also accept debit and credit card. If you want to donate, but cannot make it to the vet in person, you can call in your credit card and they would mail you a receipt. I have also had a few people send me an Interac email money transfer.
Personal Cheques are not accepted at the vet, but may be mailed to me:
143 Briarwood Drive
Eastern Passage, NS
B3G 1B7

Thank you so very much on behalf of the (remaining) kitties,

Since the distemper virus can live for a long time in the environment, as it is airborne, we will NOT be able to take in any new kitty cats for quite some time. At least a few months, possibly for up to a year! This does NOT mean the end of Healing Animal SCARS – we can still help people who are willing to foster the kitties through our program. I can also still help folks who want to TNR an adult cat, as long as they are not looking for financial assistance. People who want to help a feral or stray cat and are willing to pay the reduced veterinary costs, can borrow a trap form me, get help trapping, plenty of advice. I can lend them equipment to keep the cat confined in their own shed or spare room for a few days post surgery. I just cannot have any new cats come into my rescue for a while. So please spread the word! We need foster homes desperately!


Sonya Higgins
Chairman/Director, “Healing Animal SCARS - Sonya’s Cat & Animal Rescue Society”
katsonya@accesswave.ca
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NS28.html
469-MEOW (469-6369)