Seven came to us a stray that was dropped off up at the street and found his way back to us with another cat. We trap and fix all strays that show up and then release them. Most disappear and go back to where they came from. We suspect we catch a lot of the neighbors unfixed cats. Our philosophy is no more homeless babies so everyone gets fixed. When we took him to the vets office they asked for a name. Keep in mind at the point we thought he was a stray. We just number the strays because they do not stay. Thus he became Seven and the other cat is Eight. Seven is friendly and FIV+ That completely convinces us that he was in fact dumped. He also sprays, that helps us understand why he was dumped. He and Eight are our inside/outside cats. They come in and out of the shelter on their own accord. They typically sleep inside the shelter at night, but during the day they keep the place cleared of mice. We are on a large farm and a long way from the street. 2019 Update. Seven has had a lot of problems with stomatitis which is not uncommon with FIV+ kitties. After months and months of treatment and pain the vet felt that the best way to help him was to do a full mouth extraction. (Which is not an uncommon procedure done by many vets for stomatitis. His mouth has healed well and he is doing ok. Sponsored by Felicity - Thank you! Sponsored by the Blackham family - Thank you! Sponsored by Heather - Thank you! Sponsored by in honor or Edna & Roger by Gray - Thank you! Sponsored by Bhavana - Thank you!

1/14/2021 This is a letter I knew I was going to have to write, but you are just never ready when the time comes.  Seven came to us in 2013 with Eight.  He was approx 5 years old and FIV+.   We found them both on the property as strays.  We always trap and fix strays and release them and typically never see them again. That is why his name was Seven.  We just number the strays because we never see them again.  Seven and Eight stuck around and decided to live with us. He was a very friendly fellow and became our inside/outside kitty.  If you came to visit,  he would often be the first kitty you would meet.  He loved to hang around the farm and at night would come inside to sleep in soft beds.  Two years ago he started having medical problems.  He developed severe stomatitis.  Dental problems are very common for FIV+ cats.  He ended up with a full mouth extraction.  He developed kidney disease,  then hyperthyroid  (which we treated with medicine) and then serious heart disease.  His heart disease progressed to congestive heart disease.   He was on a lot of medications,  Lasix, heart drugs, blood thinners, etc. He was back and forth to the vet and meds were adjusted, it bought him a little bit of time. Today he was back at the vet because he was losing weight, not eating and we really felt that we were "there".   The x-rays told the story. His heart had doubled in size,  he was in full heart failure and it now was just a matter of time before we would find him suffering horribly drowning in his own fluid or worse, dead on the floor.  We decided to let him go on a decent day instead of waiting for that horrible day.  I held him in my arms as he went over the rainbow bridge. Seven was a sweet old fellow.  He was not pleased when we made him move inside full time but he adjusted.  He tolerated the crazy young kittens he lived with and seem to get along with them.  He loved his treats, chin scratches and was just a really nice fellow.  I will miss our nightly visits with him.  He will be missed by all.