Feline Leukemia virus is the leading cause of cancer in cats, as well as various blood disorders due to the cat’s vulnerability when their immune system becomes suppressed. While unaffected cats are able to tolerate exposure to bacteria and other pathogens, this can create serious illness in cats who test positive for Feline Leukemia Virus. It is important to note that this virus is not transmitted to humans or other animals.

Symptoms can often be masked and ignored because the disease can put the cat at risk for many infections and diseases.

If the results of the blood test come back as positive, an Indirect Immunofluorescent Antibody Assay test is used to confirm the positive result and test the stage of the infection, by testing the number of viral particles in white blood cells. High amounts of white blood cells identified in a blood test are usually a sign of infection.

Feline Leukemia Virus has a large impact on the community, specifically on those cats who live outside as strays, or as inside and outside cats. The virus can only be transmitted from cat to cat through saliva and blood. It can also be passed down from a mother cat during nursing or during the pregnancy.
The transmission process is concerning with stray cats, especially those who are in contact with other cats who may be positive for the disease. Stray cats, specifically males, can be aggressive and biting can lead to the spread through their saliva. It is ideal that cats testing positive for feline leukemia virus are only housed with other cats who test positive, this will reduce the risk of transmission to negative cats.

Cats with FeLV can live a high quality of life, although it is crucial to manage the
disease by monitoring the cat’s behaviour, activity, physical appearance, and excretion habits. Most cats will live approximately 2.5 years after their initial diagnosis. With proper care and diet, regular veterinary checkups, regular urine samples, and blood samples the affected cat will have an increase chance of a longer, healthier life. Spaying and neutering the cats will decrease aggression and also decrease the risk of the cat spreading the virus. It is best suitable for cats testing positive for the virus to remain indoors, as well as being the only cat in the household.

The Mississauga Humane society is committed to providing the best quality of life for the two cats in the shelter who have currently tested positive for Feline Leukemia Virus. Lagitha and Torvi are currently under the care of the Mississauga Humane Society and require extra veterinary care and management procedures with their interesting case. Both ladies have tested FAINT positive, which has caused a lot of discussion between their vet and the experts at IDEXX labs on the next best steps for them.

Many of you may remember our sad story of Lucky the black cat who was found on deaths door in a flower bed.
When he was discovered, the citizen called in to us and our rescuers rushed to his aid! At the vets he was given everything they could to medically pull him back from the edge, and we were told "If he makes it through the night, he could pull through."

AND PULL THROUGH HE DID!

Lucky was able to make a full recovery thanks to the dedicated team at Parkways Animal hospital! Lucky went on to one of our cat rooms where he found the love of his life, Chelsea!
Chelsea was a young mom who MHS picked up with her little babies off the street. When all her kittens had found their homes, Chelsea was so quiet and reserved, she didn't care too much for the humans taking care of her.

Lucky and Chelsea were destined to be together! They clicked right away and were instantly that old married couple! They never spent ALL their time together, but every time they woke up, they were walk toward each other, groom and nuzzle for a few moments, and go about their day! Some days you could find them snuggled together as well.
They waited months for their forever home; no one seemed to want a pair of black love birds. Chelsea did her best to cozy up to the humans who showed interest and really shared her loving, and snugly side, but still no luck....

Then it happened...

The next exciting chapter of Lucky and Chelsea's life has BEGUN!
A nice woman saw their post online and just couldn't stop thinking about them, she HAD to meet them! She loved Chelsea's quiet loving nature, and Lucky's ruggedly handsome face! She couldn't wait to get them home! We couldn't have been happier for these two to find their perfect family together, and never be apart!

Everyone knows that in the world of rescue, it is never a one person show, and it truly takes a strong connected community to make things happen! We have had a great spring/summer season connecting with new and old friends to help make Canada a better place.

We have two kittens in our care with moderate to severe rib deformities; unfortunately congenital meaning, they were born that way. The prognosis was bleak, we were not sure if they would see their first birthday, but we just couldn't give up without a fight!
We were recommended to Dr. Fleet, a chiropractor for people and animals for 19 years; and the appointment was made quickly! He adored the kittens instantly and it didn't take him long to adjust both kittens and enjoy some cuddles too! We got some positive results; Dr. Fleet said other then their diminished rib cage, their spine and hips had great movement!
Both kittens are being monitored closely to see if repeat treatments are needed, but for now they get to be happy energetic kittens who don't know there is anything wrong!

You never know until you ask!
We reached out to some local rescues for some assistance during a particularly harsh financial drought and Etobicoke stepped up to offer their assistance!
We took on a large number of dogs over the last 8 months and many of them came with larger vet bills! We want to give as many animals a second chance at life, but sometimes the bills get in the way. Many have received their treatment and have moved onto their forever homes, but we have a few that were still in need; Petunia was our biggest case, we were not prepared for how rough this girl's life had been before coming up to Canada and how significant her medical recovery would be. Thankfully, EHS was able to lift this financial burden and continue with Petunia's care so she can finally have a HEALTHY happy new life here in Canada! Thank you EHS team for being there for the animals!

By absolute twist of fate; we stumbled upon a smaller rescue who needed a hand!
Carroll's Farm put out a call for more foster parents, saying they were getting 2-4 calls A DAY of kittens in need of a home, and they just couldn't keep up with demand! It did not take the board long to decide we needed to reach out and help this amazing team up from the never ending call for kittens. We reached out just in time to help Carroll's save a large family we have come to call, #DREAMSICLES! This large family of 13 cats/kittens were pulled from a single home where the mama cats had gotten themselves all boyfriends and babies!  We really got lucky when our vet told us mama cat, Natasha had an ectopic pregnancy that would have killed her if she had not gotten the intervention from our vet! Thank you Carroll's for reaching out, and we hope we can continue to support your growing cause; rescues need to work together if we are going to save more lives!

Another small rescue we connected with over the summer; one of our volunteers had worked with Pawzietively Precious to help save some kittens herself last year, and connected us together!
Within the week, we have been able to rescue another 14 kittens from farms and fields with Precious leading the way! The Grand Valley Kittens were the first to arrive and the rest followed within the week!