Donny

Donny came to us in 2003 as a rescued cruelty case, having been shut in a bathroom and nearly starved to death.

Then he almost lost the second of his nine lives, as he went down with very severe cat flu, which he had obviously contracted before he came. It was a grim time for us wondering if he would make it, desperately wanting him to after all he had been through. After more than a week of hospitalisation and intensive nursing, to our immense relief Donny pulled through again. He is to us living proof of just what an FIV positive cat can cope with. Also, despite his brewing flu when new to the Fivery, not one of the others in the Fivery caught the flu from him - not what many would have expected!

After such a bad start we feared he might have ongoing health issues but, again against expectations, he had several years without problems.
However, early in 2006, we noticed he was subdued and seemed to have a problem with his ears. An examination revealed both his ears were full of tiny tumours, one so bad that the canal was almost blocked. The only way to sort this out was going to be a big operation to remove both the affected ear and the complete ear canal. Fears were expressed about doing such a big op on an FIV cat because of recovery issues through being immune-suppressed, but the alternative was to do nothing and let him have what life was possible for a few months. We decided to go for the op, as we were convinced Donny had showed enough resilience to cope with it.

He was built up prior to the op, which went very well, and he needed lots of post-operative care, which we gave him in the hospital bay in the top chalet with all his mates around him. It all paid off, and we don?t think being one-eared spoils his looks either.

Finally, eight years after arriving, he began suffering from the digestive problems the vets thought he would have from the start. He stayed fit and active on regular medications for another year. In 2012 he finally came to the end, but even then, in true Donny style, he had a hearty breakfast, before fading rapidly - he was helped over the final hurdle later that evening.

We believe that Donny is a shining example of an FIV cat who has been through enormous difficulties, and has proved that his immune system has been working well all these years and enabled him to overcome all that has been thrown at him healthwise.