This page: Flynn was extremely lucky to
escape the clutches of Cats Protection after testing positive for
FIV - read his story here
What we are up against
Lucky Flynn - Flynn had a narrow escape!
Flynn was found by a lady in Cheshire, who had been feeding him as a stray in her garden. The lady asked her local Cats Protection Branch to see if they could help him. He was very nervous, but after some time he was able to be trapped and was taken to the vet for neutering, but with the instruction from the Cats Protection Branch that he should be tested, and if positive for FIV he should be put down.
The vets neutered him and then took blood for the test whilst he was under anaesthetic.
When he tested
positive for FIV, they told the CP branch, who then wanted nothing
to do with him and refused to pay for the neutering, saying he
should have been tested before neutering.
The vets were not prepared to put down an otherwise healthy cat, so were effectively left in the lurch by the local branch.
Fortunately, the vets practice was not far from supporters of Catwork who already had an FIV cat. These friends went immediately and took Flynn, as he became named, as a foster cat until a home could be found.
Well - long story short - our friends fell in love with Flynn and took him in permanently themselves. Although Flynn was very nervous, they had the patience to give him the time he needed to adjust and finally introduced him to their existing cats (one FIV, the other not).
Flynn is now an affectionate and fully integrated member of the household, and, secretly, a real favourite! he is still nervous of people he doesn't know, but is fully relaxed and happy in his home.
When the lady who had originally rescued him, heard about the Cats Protection Branch's attitude, she was disgusted, and was horrified to think that, if the CP Branch had had their way, she could have handed him over to a death sentence when she thought she was saving him! She immediately paid the vets for his neutering and was so relieved and happy to know that Flynn was now truly safe and had a great home.
What
a narrow escape - Flynn is alive today simply because the vets
neutered him before testing, and not the other way round - and
what a potential betrayal by the Branch, both of the cat and the
lady who originally rescued him - to think the Branch is part of
Cats "Protection", what a misnomer in that instance!
In Cats Protection's literature they state their 'vision':
"Our vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs".
- vision for the world, maybe - how about making it true for CP first!
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