Three weeks ago, I had a hungry visitor that I posted about here. About a week ago, I got a message to say that she was deathly ill and a day later, she was euthanized due to severe Panleukopenia, a viral illness that's very common in shelters and deadly for kittens and a serious illness for adult cats. Panleukopenia is also mostly preventable, with vaccination.
one of the other shelter cats
When I was visiting the cats, there were 4 other newcomers in the same area and I was told today that all of them had died, also of severe Panleukopenia.
This is the question that shelter owners face: to turn away cats because they are too full and other shelters will probably euthanize, or to accept cats even though you are overflowing and have a history of disease within your population? I know that this woman means well but all the good intentions in the world can't save cats if you cannot keep them quarantined for long enough to vaccinate them.
I feel terrible for having allowed her to go there, because it was a death warrant. I couldn't take her home, because I already have five cats and I couldn't leave her on the street. What I do know is that I'll never let another cat go there.