Ark Animal Sanctuary News

By Lorraine Monfils
    T.K. and Otis were brothers. They were two feral cats that an owner surrendered to me when I first moved back to Houlton about seven years ago. They were given to me personally long before The Ark was even a concept. It was clear the cats were very sick and needed medical attention, this was the main reason I agreed to take them.
    The first stop was the vet where they were neutered, fully vaccinated and treated for parasites and also treated for an upper respiratory. Once they had recovered from all of this they would have to under go surgery for the severe periodontal disease they both had and they would have to have all of their teeth removed. We also tested them both for aids and feline leukemia, sadly they both tested positive for aids.
    Now I was faced with having two feral cats I couldn’t get my hands on who could never be put with any other cats because they could transmit the aids virus. I knew nothing about F.I.V. So I quickly set to work educating myself. Many people thought I should euthanize both cats, but I knew in my heart that wasn’t an option.
    Otis and T.K lived inside in an area that we fixed up for them and they had a big window for fresh air and sunlight and they seemed very content. Each day they became a little more trusting. T.K. more so than Otis.
    I was fortunate enough to find a vet who was well educated on F.I.V. in cats. Between the wealth of information she gave me and the information I was able to obtain from the Internet, I began to understand more and more about the disease. I learned the tell tale signs and treatments for when they became sick and I also learned that F.I.V. in cats is not a death sentence.
    It was determined that both cats were about seven years old, it was a miracle that they had lived that long considering all of their health issues and the environment they had been living in. I was determined to make the last part of their lives a whole lot better.
    Otis struggled with the whole cat /human relationship and never fully trusted me. Occasionally he would let me pat him. Otis was with me for about three years and the disease finally took him. That morning I went in to clean and feed them, I knew it was his time. I sat in the chair and Otis came and got on my lap — something he had never done before. He laid there purring while I patted him and went to sleep quietly. I guess maybe he was trying to say thank you, and also that he did trust me after all.
    T.K. flourished in his new environment. He became a chubby rolly-polly cat that craved the human touch. Every morning I would say where is my T.K. and he would come running, I would say let me see that fat little belly of yours and he would lie down and roll over so I could scratch his belly. T.K. had a chronic upper respiratory illness and at times and would have to go on meds but it never slowed him down. Unfortunately after a while because of the F.I.V. he become immune to the antibiotics he was on, which meant they no longer worked, so we would have to move on to a new antibiotic.
    This past year T.K. was on his last antibiotic, everything had stopped working. We were out of antibiotics to try. He was loosing weight and he had stopped grooming himself, so we would bathe him. He loved his baths and he would purr the whole time.
    Then one morning I called where is my T.K. And he did not come running. I knew his time had come.  I went and picked him up, he was purring. I gently put him in the carrier and he laid down and rolled over to show me his belly, sadly I scratched his belly one last time and said goodbye. I cried uncontrollably and he looked at me as if to say it is OK I am tired and ready to go.
    T.K. was cremated and his ashes will go up to the Sanctuary. My hope was that T.K. would make it there before he died. There will be an Aids wing dedicated to both him and Otis. T.K. stood for toothless kitty. He was named that the day he had surgery to remove all of his teeth. He was 14 years old when he passed away, proof that aids is not a death sentence. I am very proud of the fact that I was able to give him and Otis a home for so many years. A safe clean environment, medical attention and love.
    Cats like T.K. and Otis started the whole idea of The Ark, they are the reason we took the first big step into making The Ark become a reality.  They will hold a place in our hearts forever and they have paved the way for other F.I.V. cat. For more information on cats living with aids please visit our website www.arksanctuary.com
    For the month of July the Ark took in one dog and adopted one dog we currently have two dogs. We took in 6 cats and adopted 4 cats we currently have 50 cats. Our expenses were $2,901.56. We took in $3,992.00 in donations and fundraising.
    Please join us on Saturday, Aug. 4 and Saturday, Aug. 25 for a bake sale outside Hollywood Pet Salon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will also be having Hot Diggity Dogs on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside Hollywood Pet Salon on Mechanic St. For more information, please check out website www.arksanctuary.com. Thank you for your continued support and as always than you for reading our column.