C&W Rustic Hollow is a shelter in Nashua, Iowa that provides a forever home to cats infected with FIV/FeLV. St Francis had a few cats that were infected that required them to be quarantined from the rest of the cats. A local donor ponied up the $1000 per cat that Rustic Hollow asks to accept them into their operation so Mrs J volunteered her time and drove all four of them up there, along with a friend.
There are six buildings in their complex that are set up as if they were actual homes that people live in: Couches, tables, and chairs, kitchens and living rooms, porches and basements. Rugs and pillows and cat trees are everywhere, and, of course, lots of cat beds. The cats are turned loose and have a free run of the houses but they are permanent inside cats – never allowed outside.
This is as close to outside as they will ever get, there are several screened porches that are called “catios”.
This is where new arrivals are evaluated and held for a time before they are released into the shelter proper. I understand the FIV and FeLV cats are segregated into their own groups.
The FIV cats are said to lead fairly normal lives if they are cared for but the FeLV is usually a death sentence – the shelter acts as a hospice for those poor kittehs. The Cornell link above mentions that some cats can come to terms with the virus – “… some FeLV-infected cats develop an effective immune response, which controls the viral infection and results in a transient viremia instead of a persistent viremia. In these cats, subsequent FeLV tests will show that the cat no longer has virus in its blood.”
Mrs J reports that they have about 400 cats at present. They don’t take walk-ins but if you have an infected cat your local shelter may be able to help you arrange an accommodation.
Good people doing good works.
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