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About
Betty's Story
Monday January 17
My husband and I arrived home at night after a late dinner, and there was a strange cat waiting for us in the front yard. Several strays roam our neighborhood, but this little black cat wasn’t one we recognized. She was sitting next to the front tire of my husband’s work van, and she didn’t run off when we pulled into the driveway or when we exited the vehicle and cautiously approached her. It almost seemed as if she wanted us to help her, so we gave her some food and she let my husband pick her up and pet her.
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One of the first things we noticed about her was that she appeared to have a respiratory infection. Her nose was runny, and she sounded a little wheezy. Because she wasn’t afraid of us and we’d never seen her before, we thought she might belong to someone, so we left her outside. It was the first really cold night of the year in south Florida, and I hoped that she found her way back home and went inside for the night.
Tuesday January 18
I went out to look for her the next day, but she wasn't around. When my husband arrived home from work though, he said she was lounging in the street. We fed her again and got a better look at her; she was so small I thought she was about six to nine months old. It was clear that she had either been abandoned or extremely neglected, so we took her in. She was very dirty, it felt like she had fleas, and she definitely had upper respiratory issues – we thought maybe a cold. I gave her a bath in the sink and ran a fine-tooth comb through her fur. She was very docile and calm. Once I wrapped her in a towel, she started purring and allowed me to hold her close while I tried to gently rub as much of the water out of her fur as I could. Because we have a four-year-old cat, we quarantined the new girl to our home office. She didn’t make a sound all night, nor did she try to get out. She ate, drank water, and had no trouble using her litter box.
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At this point in time, we were hoping to add this new cat to our little family; we thought she would be a nice companion for our 4-year-old cat, Madison. (They saw each other briefly when we brought Betty inside, and neither cat seemed agitated.) However, we weren’t fully committed to the idea because we didn’t know what kind of medical issues she might have and what kind of treatment she might need. She seemed very weak and sickly, and we didn't want to get our hopes up.
Wednesday January 19
The next day, I called the local non-profit rescue and adoption center (where we adopted Madison) with the hope of bringing the stray cat in for a checkup to start the adoption process providing everything looked good. Things didn’t go quite the way I expected; the lady who answered the phone simply informed me that they don't treat feral cats and gave me a phone number of a vet who does. Frustrated at getting such an unhelpful response from a rescue facility, I called Madison's vet who was able to see her on Thursday. She was eating, drinking, and using the litter pan. Other than that she was pretty lethargic, except when one of us would pick her up or pet her; she would purr and rub up against us. Still no meowing at all. By now, my husband and I were calling her Betty because she showed up on what would have been Betty White’s 100th birthday.
Thursday January 20
Our veterinarian told me Betty is not a kitten; she’s approximately 10 years old. She also had a bad flea infestation, most of her teeth were worn away, she wasn't chipped, she had a heart murmur, and he didn't think she was spayed because he couldn't see any scar or tattoo. He prescribed Credelio for the fleas, and the vet tech gave her the first dose while we were there. This was Thursday. On Friday, the vet tech called to say that they were still waiting on some of the results from the blood tests and that we probably wouldn’t know until Monday. She said to keep Betty quarantined as a precaution.
By now, the flea medication had worked its magic, and Betty was feeling much better. She was jumping up on all of the furniture in the office, she was vocalizing, and she zipped past us and escaped the office a couple of times. We let her roam around a little under supervision. Each time she was out, Betty walked right up to Madison who let her get close once or twice but decided to back up and keep an eye on the new girl from a distance. There was no hissing or ears laid back so we took it as a good sign that they would accept each other. We were happy to see how much energy she had once the fleas were gone.
Monday January 24
On Monday, the vet called back with the results of Betty’s bloodwork and told us that she is anemic and FIV positive. That’s what’s going on with her eroded teeth and what we assumed was a cold. He also explained that there was very little risk to Madison. Deep bites are one of the main ways one cat passes it to another, and Betty’s teeth are nubs. He basically told us that it’s just like HIV in humans; there is no cause for alarm with the two of them sharing food and water, using each other’s litter, playing together, etc. Something else I want to mention – for the first couple of weeks she was here, she was having very loose stools. That’s resolved itself, so we took a sample to the vet and it came back clear (no worms or parasites).
Why do we need to re-home Betty?
Now that she’s feeling much better, she’s becoming aggressive with Madison. We’re not comfortable letting her roam the house without supervision, because she attacks Maddie. Betty smacks her hard enough to pull her fur out and have it stuck in her claws. Obviously, we don’t want her scratching Maddie hard enough to draw blood. Nor do we want Maddie to feel nervous or anxious in her own home. She’s our baby, and we want her to feel safe and loved and comfortable.
And we want that for Betty also. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to be a good fit with Madison, and that’s the most important thing. She's such a sweetheart with humans, and we want her to have a furever home with caring, gentle people and possibly some cats who won’t let Betty bully them. Our family is not the right match for her, and we don’t want to put her back outside to fend for herself. But keeping her quarantined isn’t a long-term solution. Please help us find a home for this sweet girl.
02/24/2022 Update
Betty received her vaccines today and more bloodwork. When we first took her to the vet, she weighed 6.2 pounds, and today she weighed 7.1.
The bloodwork came back, and she is no longer anemic.
March 02, 2022 Update
Once it was becoming clear that Betty and Madison weren't a good match, I reached out to a local cat rescue who provided me with a list of other shelters and resources. That's when I created this site for Betty and started contacting rescues and shelters on her behalf. Yesterday, the cat rescue that provided me with the list of resources contacted me about taking Betty in. They expect a spot to open up for her in a couple of weeks. Of course, the goal will still be to adopt her out to a loving home.
Betty's Stats
Location: Palm Beach County
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Sex: Female
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Breed: Domestic Short Hair (DSH)
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Color: Black with white socks and bib
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Spayed/Neutered: Unknown
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Weight: 7.1 lbs. (as of February 24))
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Litter trained: Yes
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Microchipped: No
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Current medications: Credelio (flea control)
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Current diet: Natural Balance Original Ultra Grain Free Chicken and Salmon Meal Formula Seniors Dry Cat Food
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Medical conditions: FIV+, Stomatitis, Heart murmur
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Super affectionate toward people
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Very agile – easily jumps on and off furniture and counters. The way she carries on, it's not apparent that she has any medical issues; her quality of life is excellent, and she will make a wonderful companion for the right person/family.
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Betty enjoys being the center of attention. She jumps up in my lap when I'm sitting at my desk.
Her appetite is good; she eats with enthusiasm, and she gets excited when it's time for treats. She's a bit messy though -- she sort of pulverizes the kibble and tosses it all over the floor.
That's Madison on the left. Betty attacked her right after I took this picture.
She's kind of a badass. She struts around like she owns the place, and she kicked Madison out of her own tree. You can't really tell in the photo, but Maddie is twice Betty's size.
There are a lot of misconceptions about FIV, so I've included a link under the photos.
Regarding the stomatitis, Betty doesn't seem to be in any pain, and her gums aren't bleeding. She eats kibble with gusto, and she grooms herself regularly. She does have a bit of an issue with drooling, but I wouldn't say it's bad; she's always kind of wet around the mouth.
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