1 Reply to "Opening Weekend at Kitty Harbor"

• Meg Halverson September 6, 2015 (10:33 am)

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  We adopted a kitten from Kitty Harbor last August. He was paralyzed six months later and died just after his 1st birthday. It was an awful and heartbreaking experience. Sadly, our kitten had FIP, a virus that is present in many cats and which only causes debilitating symptoms in some. We learned post adopting our lovely kitten that cats housed in a communal environment, such as Kitty Harbor, are more likely to contract FIP, and that the separate housing provided by Seattle Animal Shelter and humane societies protects cats from contracting FIP. It is possible, since Kitty Harbor accepts rescues from around the state, that our kitten had FIP before reaching Kitty Harbor, but it’s worth considering adopting a cat from an environment which houses the cats in separate cages. I wouldn’t wish the sort of heartbreak and trauma our family and our kitten endured on anyone. At the end of his life our kitten lost the use of his legs entirely. I think the people at Kitty Harbor are deeply well-intended, but they need to house the cats separately to prevent FIP.