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Posted over 8 years ago
| Updated over 7 years ago
I found a new home! Plenty of my friends are looking for one too. Check out other pets at this shelter, or start a new search.
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My basic info
Breed
Maine Coon
Color
Orange or Red Tabby
Age
Young
Sex
Male
Pet ID
–
Hair Length
long
My details
Shots current
Spayed / Neutered
My story
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Here's what the humans have to say about me:
Sutter: 2-4 yr old male Red and White Maine Coon mix.
July update: Look how well Sutter is doing! His fur has grown back on his front leg, his dog bite wounds are healed, and life is good. He is just so chandsome and glorious. He is one of the gentlest, most loving cats we have ever met. And a great beauty. You can see he is back to being happy. Yaaay
BTW CATSTER magazine came out with an article last month on FIV+ cats saying how they now have proven, through studies, that FIV+ kitties do not transmit the virus to other cats in the same households and that they generally live good long lives as do other cats. I will try to print it out and get it copied into Sutter’s bio. He is about to be sharing his room with a 3-month old Abyssinian FIV+ little boy. Won’t they have fun.
Original post:
Well, it was entirely his fault. Red and White Maine Coon mixes are known for being good-natured goof balls. They also tend to be somewhat lazy. It was perhaps in a casual, rather thoughtless way, that Sutter jumped off a fence into the personal backyard kingdom of a Jack Russell terrier. Ooops. Bad idea. The terrier got a scratch. Sutter got quite bitten on his front left leg and bitten and bruised on his left rear flank. Vets call the rear bites like his “exit wounds.” He was trying to extricate himself from that yard asap
The shelter cared for him. He was in shock and pain. His back healed easily and well. The puncture wounds were on his front leg were slower but improved steadily. He wasn’t eating well -- pain killers can cause lack of appetite. I heard about him and fell immediately for his elegant shelter photo. So many folks, like me, love the big, red, Coon boys, and I always try to take them in. He is big at 13+ pounds.
He went to my vet who was entirely pleased with him and how his leg healing was healing. She aged him, judging him by his pristine white teeth as 2- 4 yrs and closer to 2. He is a healthy, young boy. Maine Coons keep growing in size into the middle of their third year. Maybe Sutter is growing in smarts, too.
What a nice, gentle boy we found he was. He was so patient with the antibiotics we gave him and hot compresses and all the fussing with his tender spots. And then, poor thing , we actually gave him a bath. He was so glumly miserable but we tried not to laugh. He will be a wonderful family cat, probably the great joy of gentle children. He is fine with other cats. Maybe with big sleepy dogs. I would not put him with Jack Russell-sized dogs who might bring up bad memories.
One other thing I need to mention is that the day before we picked him up, he tested positive for FIV (feline immunological virus). I was happy to take him anyway. We are fortunate that we live in an age when science has more information about this virus. Studies are now saying that 4% of all cats in this country carry this virus. Most are not diagnosed and their owners never know they have it. I would not want Sutter to carry this, but I know that research shows the great majority of cats with it live long healthy lives. Some shelters no longer test for FIV because it is so common and they know it is still mistakenly over-discriminated against by many. I have fostered and adopted out many FIV+ cats and have had no trouble finding them homes. Most homes they go to are multi cat homes since many people have read new studies that state that these cats do not need to be the only cat in a home.
Sutter came into the shelter already neutered. Unless he got his FIV+ in the womb, in his young days, he must have followed Mother Nature’s call and fought with street cats for a female in heat. He likely sustained a deep bite in a fight that transmitted this virus to him as there is really no other way to get. It can’t be transmitted to or from dogs or humans. At that time he was bitten, a vet probably suggested he be neutered. It is very dangerous for intact teenage cats to get into fights with older, heavier, more streetwise tom cats. Sutters’ immune system may at times not be as strong as another cats’. The special care he needs is to be kept inside, get lots of love, be fed a good healthy diet, and receive good vet care if needed. All of this is good for any cat because it helps that kitty have a strong immune system.
This nice boy eats wet and dry food and is litterbox perfect.
