Lately, we at SUST Orphan Animal Hospital Bucharest have seen an outburst of cases of Felina Panleukopenia (FP) virus, mostly in street cats, but also in owned cats who's owners can't afford to pay for their vaccines. This virus is lethal in 90% of the cases and there is no cure for it; moreover, it is a very resilient virus which can survive up to 1 year in the environment and is shed through urine, stools or nasal secretion or even through fleas. This is a natural response to the overpopulation issue and we came to see that prevention is much more effective and less painful than dealing with lethal diseases such as FP; but both financially and time wise, vaccinating all street cats is impossible, so our goal is to spay/neuter as many cats as possible, so that in the future less animals will be infected and die alone and unknown in some back alley.
However, there are still so many kittens being born each year in Bucharest and left to fend for themselves against the big city's dangers, such as crazy traffic, lethal viruses, ignorance (many cat owners still choose to dispose of infant kittens, throwing them as garbage even before their eyes are open, thus making it impossible for them to have a chance to life), abuse etc. We are constantly being asked for help to treat such cases, mostly by people who found sick cats - adults of kittens - lying hopeless in the street.
This week, a whole litter of kittens came to seek help as they were feeling poorly and stopped eating; they live in a restaurant's back yard and the manager there barely tolerates their presence. God only knows how many brothers and sisters their mother had before them, but she is pregnant again; the restaurant's manager won't let volunteers help with catching her, stating he doesn't care about them and wants them all gone, anyway. An old lady feeds this poor feline family regularly and she noticed that the kittens were sick, so she came to us to ask for help. She has no money, living on a small pension with 9 cats of her own and trying to feed as many street cats as she can and also catching them and bringing them to us for a free spay.
These poor kittens have no understanding for the harsh world they are living in, a world where they often have to go to bed hungry and scared and where they rarely find a peaceful moment when they can show their loving nature without being in danger. All of them came to SUST Orphan Animal Hospital Bucharest feeling very sick with high fever over 40 degrees Celsius and could barely stand; although they were very scared and wanted to get away from us, they were so weak they could hardly react to what we were doing to them. One can easily imagine how vulnerable they would be in the street in such moments and how much suffering they have to go through with no fault of their own, other than being born unwanted. If their mother gives birth again in that area, the new kittens will most likely become sick as well.
We have made it our mission to spay/neuter as many animals as possible, but also to lend a loving hand to everyone who asks for help saving street animals or to poor, but caring people who can't afford to pay for their pets' treatment. Although to most this seems like a mission impossible, we believe we can do it with your generous support, because where there's a will, there's a way and because we know that TOGETHER we are an unstoppable force! So, please, choose to be the Eleni family's guardian angel today and donate so they can get their daily treatment, antibiotics and iv fluids, as well as their life saving vaccines when they recover!
Here you can donate: https://www.susyutzinger.ch/en/Donate with the message "for the Eleni family".
Thank you for your care and trust in our cause!
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