Cats for Adoption: Meet Sarge

October 21, 2020 Bernadette

Lovable and affectionate, Sarge is a mellow cuddle buddy anyone would want to live with, and he gets along with just about every living thing. One animal he can’t live with is another cat—he is FIV/FeLV positive, and the FIV isn’t a big deal, but FeLV is a highly contagious illness, easily transmitted to other cats. Nonetheless, he’s in good health, happy, relaxed, and ready for a forever home.

His foster describes him like this:

* Affectionate, mellow boy, currently healthy but FeLV+
* Needs to be the only cat, or with other FeLV+ cats; fine with dogs
* Needs loving, low-stress home

Introducing… Our Furry Man Cat Sarge! Now, despite his name, Sarge does not need to be in charge. In fact, he’s a no-drama llama-fur adult friend who is chill to the max and even lets us give him a bath! He’s affectionate and mellow and just a lovely relaxed cuddly boy He gets along with everything and everyone, yes even the wild child papillon mix in his foster home — and small & big children, too! Sarge is super low maintenance and can cuddle to the sounds of your favorite music or watch your favorite flicks with you.

One big thing you should know about Sarge is that he has FeLV, feline leukemia, and because of it, he should not be with other cats, unless they are also positive. Don’t worry — he is only contagious to other cats, not you, your dog or your kids. (Oh, and he also has FIV, too, but FeLV is the big whammy.) Have no fear, he’s a happy healthy guy right now. Do you have a busy home with plenty of hands to pet him? Would you give a great guy like Sarge a chance? Contact Pittsburgh CAT and ask about him! He’d really love to meet you!

About FeLV

Pittsburgh CAT always tests all its rescues for both Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), because they are contagious illnesses and affect a cat’s immunity, influencing how it’s cared for and if it’s housed with other cats.

FeLV is a chronic illness, but the way it acts can vary widely depending on the cat. The disease attacks the cat’s immune system in the way that leukemia does and in time, months to years, the cat’s health will deteriorate. The disease doesn’t have any really specific symptoms, mostly lethargy and a poor appetite. Kittens and young cats without a mature immune system will succumb more quickly, sometimes shortly after they’ve been diagnosed. But the older a cat is when it comes in contact with FeLV, the more its immune system can put up a fight, and an adult cat like Sarge will carry the disease, but with a good diet and vigilant health checks could live for years with no problems. Some secondary conditions might arise, like dental issues or frequent upper respiratory issues, but as long as they are treated as they come up he’s just like any other cat.

One important thing is that Sarge needs to be an only cat because he carries the disease. It’s spread easily by sharing food and toys, and can infect another cat whose immune system might not be so robust. It’s a cat-only illness, though, and won’t affect humans or dogs or any other animal.

Sarge will best thrive in a loving, low-key home where he’s fed a high-quality diet and is checked regularly by a veterinarian supportive of maintaining and treating an FeLV+ cat. Controlling secondary infections and treating other illnesses as they arise is key, so Sarge will require a committed and loving adopter. In return, he will give much love and joy, and many snuggles and purrs!

In many shelters and even in some rescues, a positive test for FeLV is an immediate euthanasia because of the risks to other cats. But that’s not so with Pittsburgh C.A.T. Sarge deserves a loving home for as long as he can have one.

Adopting from Pittsburgh C.A.T.

All Pittsburgh C.A.T. adoptions begin with our application. After it’s reviewed you’ll be contacted about meeting your cat or kitten. Sarge can only be placed in the Pittsburgh area. Just like all Pittsburgh CAT fosters, Sarge is healthy, neutered, up to date on vaccines and microchipped.

You can also find Sarge on Pittsburgh C.A.T.’s Facebook page and Petfinder page.

Also look for more adoptable cats on Pittsburgh C.A.T.’s Petfinder page.

Help Pittsburgh C.A.T. with kitten season!

You know that Pittsburgh C.A.T. is the rescue I volunteer with, but even when I’m rescuing cats and kittens for others they still provide support to me in the form of traps and transport, fostering, food, kitten formula, and low-cost clinic and surgery appointments. I couldn’t help anyone without their support. Rescuing adult cats to foster and adopt to a forever home can be expensive depending on their condition, but rescuing kittens is always expensive because they need complete vetting, often they are orphaned and need formula and bottle feeding for weeks, they often develop illnesses or conditions specific to young kittens and they eat A LOT. We don’t adopt kitten out until they are spayed and neutered and have all age-appropriate vaccines, so we make a substantial investment in their future.

Here’s what you can do:

Donate Amazon gift cards to [email protected]. Because our cats are fostered in homes all around the Pittsburgh area, gift cards enable us to send supplies directly to fosters!
You can also buy supplies through our Amazon wishlist
Or donate cash through Paypal ([email protected]) or Venmo (Pittsburghcat).

Can’t adopt? Foster! Can’t foster? Donate or volunteer.

There are so many ways you can help cats who need homes and care. You may not have room to adopt another cat, but can foster a cat or kitten for a few weeks. If not that, you can volunteer at a shelter or with a rescue, or donate. You do this because you love your cat, and by doing so you help all cats. No matter which of these actions you take, you help to save a life, and make life better for all cats.

Adopt one of the cats I’ve posted here, or from any shelter or rescue near you, or from Petfinder, to open up a space for another cat to be rescued and fostered.
Offer to foster cats or kittens for a shelter or rescue near you.
Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
Find a group of volunteers who work with homeless cats and help them with their efforts.
Donate to a shelter or rescue near you.

If you can foster kittens or adults cats to help prepare them for a forever home, please run to your nearest shelter and find a cat who needs you! Anyone can help with this effort at any level, even if all you do is donate to a shelter or rescue so they can help to pay for the food or medications needed for their foster, or the spay/neuter/veterinary care during a clinic.

Need to know more? Read Fostering for Your Shelter and Fostering Saves Lives

On Mondays I publish articles featuring Adoptable Cats and TNR.

Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork

Great Rescues Day Book:
Portraits, Rescue Stories, Holidays and Events, Essential Feline Information, All in One Book

day book with cat portraits — Great Rescues Day Book

Each month features one of my commissioned portraits of a feline or felines and their rescue story along with a kitty quote on the left page, and on the right page the month name with enough lines for all possible dates, with standard holidays and animal-themed observances and events. Great Rescues also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my drawings including information on finding strays or orphaned kittens, adopting for the first time or caring for a geriatric cat, a list of household toxins and toxic plants, or helping stray and feral cats and beginning with TNR.

Each book includes also 10 sheets of my “22 Cats” decorative notepaper with a collage of all the portraits in black and white so you can make your own notes or write special notes to friends.

The portraits in this book, collected as a series, won both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest, as well as the 22 Cats Notepaper mentioned below.

Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.