the move, an update and a promise to continue

well, it's been a while since my last post. Moving to a new area, a new home, and a new life has been great, but exhausting.

all the cats are doing well. I know that is the most important update. Mo and Lily who I was worried would pass from the FIP have actually improved greatly in the new house, though they still are separated in my son's bedroom. In a few months, I will have a titre run and make a decision about perhaps letting them out.

I had a group in the Netherlands interested in the FIP cats, because of how many I have lost, but in the end they bailed because my vet didn't have enough information for them on the cats that died and they didn't want to pay the fees to have samples/or the frozen cats overnighted to them. I was VERY disappointed and I think they missed a great opertunity to gain valuable insite. But I have not given up hope yet.
I still believe my cats hold some answers. It will just take more time.
In the meantime it has become obvious to me that both the house and the town we were living in is not innocent in it's contribution to the declining health. My own son had cancer, and last month, the 10th person we know of died from leukemia in the town. The obvious improvment in the cat's health and the great improvement of my own health since the move, leads me to believe that there were contributing factors to the great numbers of FIP. More food for thought for sure.
On that note, I can happily report that my fibromyaligia has been in complete remission since the move and I have never felt better, so those lack of symptoms can't go unexamined.

From the begining

I am going to be writing up the entire FIP history for a research group, so as I do, I will share it here for everyone.
Sorry to be away so long, but the move and adjustment has really been a LOT OF WORK.

Good news is that despite my utter terror, all the cats seem fine so far, Mo and Lily, thought isolated in my son's room haven't declined anymore and everyone loves the new house, the carpet (which isn't staying) and all the extra room.

The wildlife at the new house is amazing and I am feeling better then I have in a long time. I have realized that first with Brian's cancer, then with the FIP cats, I really wore myself to threads. The good news is that this place is so nice, so peaceful that even though there will always be such a huge hole in my heart from the loss of Zilla, I feel much better.

The picture is the Luna Moth that came to my back step this morning to dry his wings. Once he dried out, he flew to a nearby tree leaf where he is sitting now, drying his wings again because we just had an other freaking downpour...what IS with all this rain. It's been raining all the time since mid april now.....

The Move from Hell

Okay...first off the adds on the page are to help generate cat funds. if they become too annoying or don't generate anything then I'll remove them.
But I need some lab equipment...

The move....how to describe it...well first off I'll say that you can't make stuff up like this...it took 3 hours to load the cats into carriers and my suburban. In the end, we couldn't fit 7 cats. They went in another car.
It's an hour and half drive from the old house to the new house....and about 19 miles from the new house (according to my gps) I burst a radiator hose. At 5:00am...in the rain...first exit off route 80?...by the prison of course....
thank goodness I had a case of water in the car....I filled up the radiator with the whole case and limped to the house exit...then stopped at a convenience store and got another 2 gallons of water. By then the car was overheating again as it had leaked out all that water again. We were 5 miles from the new house....we got to the new house at about 6am...the cats had been in carriers a long time. Someone pooped and stank up my car badly....peeeeuuuwww.
unloaded everyone with food and water and litterboxes and collapsed to sleep for a few hours.

moving day

well, I really never quite believed we' d make it and it isn't over yet, but that is oging to be a whole blog in it'self.

I'll be off about a week unless I find an internet cafe, and I might not have time....say a prayer everyone moves well.

see you all soon.

testing for FIP

One of the most frustrating things I personally have encountered is the testing or shall we say there for lack of accurate FIP testing.
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing is the best and brightest there is to offer at this time, and yet it is still not completely reliable in it's results. Not because of how the test is done, but more as in how the virus plays with science.
This page from Cornell University diagnostic testing services explains the test's limitations very well.
http://www.diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/test/factsheets/FSFelCoronaviursRT-PCR.pdf
The impracticality of isolation and testing in a multicat household in this manner is frustrating at best.
I do isolate the cats I know to be sick, but those who don't look sick, just might be typhoid mary's?, It's hard to accept that I do the best I can, and not feel like it's like I'm Sisyphus.

For Ickis (pictured) and Zilla and Dora and all the other loving lives lost to this disease, I will never give up looking for answers.

Happy Easter

This is Huggle....He is one of Minga's kittens.

PETA revisited

On another blog I read and comment on the PETA issue raised it's ugly head....so I have a few more links for today's reading enjoyment

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/2339


this one really frosts my cookies as a parent

http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

I respect each person's views when it comes to meat eating and diet..I do not however accept sad sheep behavior and blindly following something because it is popular...educate yourself for heaven's sake before saying you support something.

I believe in using the whole animal if the animal is to sacrifice it's life for man. My dogs get cow bones, I eat all parts of meat and I wear leather. I would never eat shark fin soup. I would eat oysters and wear pearls.
I respect those who prefer tofu to lamb, and products that don't come from animals. I would never try and get a vegetarian to eat meat, Unless it was necessary for their health. I don't support taking an animal like a cat which is an obligate carnivore and placing human standards and values on their needs however. That is cruel. IF you want an animal that doesn't need meat. get a rabbit.