11/17 Carl is Blind, Deaf and FIV+ He came to us from animal control in Georgia where he was going to be euthanized. There is not a long line of people wanting an FIV+ cat let alone one who is blind and deaf. From what we were told, his owner died and the family put all the cats out of the house. Who on earth puts a blind and deaf cat outside? We are not sure how animal control got involved but he landed at the pound. Volunteers put out the word that he was there and needed immediate rescue. We said we would take him BUT someone was going to have to get him and bring him to us. Bless the people who stepped up. One person went to the pound and pulled him and then drove to meet Alan & Valerie who drove him 5 hours to us! Carl owes his life to many people! He is thin, rough looking but the sweetest cat you could hope to meet. A little purr machine when you pet him. Needs to put on a few pounds, you can tell he has been hungry in his life. The scars he has shows he has had a very hard life. We are very lucky to get the opportunity to know him and give him a chance to see how good life can be. He will be in quarantine for a few weeks to gain some weight and to make sure he didn’t pick up anything bad at animal control and then we will make a decision about what room he is going to go into. Update: After being here a week he had a hypertensive crisis and was rushed to the critical care vet and hospitalized with Blood Pressure over 300!! We finally have the BP under control. Then a few days later he was rushed to the vet having seizures. We now have him on medication for the seizures. He has also developed severe anemia which is body is not replacing cells fast enough. He is also hemobart positive (which could cause the anemia) and is being treated for it. At this point we do not know if he is going to make it or not. He is eating decently on his own. He is walking around and not giving us any reason to think he is in pain. We are hopeful but realistic. Sponsored by Dana - Thank you! Sponsored by Anne - in memory of Jumbo, Sweetie and Gigi - Thank you!! Sponsored by Dirk - Thank you! Sponsored by Lynda - Thank you! Sponsored by Stephanie - Thank you!! Sponsored by Lisa - Thank you! RIP Carl - this is the letter I sent to his sponsor. This is a letter that absolutely breaks my heart to be writing. We have fought for Carls life since he got here. He was taken to the specialty vets and hospitalized for days in ICU for malignant hypertension. He was hospitalized with seizures, He had a feeding tube inserted. He had severe anemia. We thought we were getting in front of it. Today I took him back to the vet again because he was not getting better, in fact, he was deteriorating. He was neurological, laid in his bed and just peed on himself and not gaining weight. (Which makes zero sense considering the number of calories we were feeding him) I asked the vet if he has any magic tricks in his box. Sadly he was out of ideas. We could take him back to Raleigh, make him endure more tests etc but I truly think we would still be in the same situation as we were in now. He has had over $3000 worth of test when he was there a few weeks ago. I am a firm believer that the life we give these cats must have a quality of life. When there is no quality of life, when they are suffering, it is kinder to let them go. We sadly were there with Carl. There were no more things we could do to fix him, anything else would be torturing him. It was time to do the right thing and let him go. He died very quickly and quietly in my arms. He was such a sweet gentle soul. Living in a dark silent world and yet as friendly as could be. He loved to climb in your lap and just sit. He touched our hearts and will be missed. I am sorry Alana