If you haven’t heard by now, Leonardo Pescatore, our two-year resident and carrier of FIV and FeLV, was finally adopted! We heard it might have been because of his #ChickenHatProtest when he wore a chicken hat (at his discretion, when he felt like it) to bring attention to his incredibly long length of stay. Such was the success of the chicken hat that Leonardo left instruction upon his departure to name a worthy successor in the hope that its magic will work once again. Who did he name? We’ll tell you at the end of the post, but first we need you to know something about FeLV+ cats.

Cats like Leonardo often don’t get a chance to find a home. Up until very recently, cats with FeLV were euthanized immediately upon entry to a shelter. The virus wasn’t well understood and the cats who carried it were feared.

Tree House is one of a few shelters in the world offering a safe place for cats with FeLV. You’ll notice we feature them in our Cat Cafe. Currently, we have roughly 9 spots in our shelter – they live separately in their own colonies, away from the general population to minimize any spread of the virus, which could happen for cats with underdeveloped or compromised immune systems. Each time one of these cats is adopted, a spot opens up in our cafe or adoption floor and we bring in a new FeLV+ kitty from other shelters and from foster homes.

Being the forward thinkers that we are, Tree House started wondering how we can help even more of these special kitties. We can’t increase space in our shelter, but we CAN increase space in our foster homes, and that’s where YOU come in! We need YOU to open your home to our FeLV+ waiting list.

We’ll bet you never looked at your spare bedroom or back office and thought “Man, this room is lifesaving.” Well, it is! It can absolutely save a life or two because you can fill it with an FeLV+ cat that we can pull from another shelter and take into the Tree House family. The cats can then be transferred onto our floor when space is available, OR they can be adopted right out of your home as part of our Home Base program. Either way, we all win.

And what’s the “Sweet Perk” mentioned above? Anyone who agrees to foster an FeLV cat gets free admission for life to our Cat Cafe and 10% off any drinks. That’s a pretty impressive club to be a card-carrying member of, we think.

Ready to save a life? Apply to foster.

And who shall carry on the #ChickenHatProtest in Leo’s stead? Watch and find out. The reveal is epic, we promise.

Love,

Tree House.