Judd is a sweet, mellow Manx mix. He loves ear scratches and will let you know when he isn’t getting enough by giving gentle “head butts!” Judd is also FIV positive (+). Read Judd’s full profile.

Let’s break down some of the myths and rumors about FIV….

Myth: My other cats will get FIV from eating out of the same bowls or sleeping with a FIV+ cat.

Truth: FIV is only transmitted through blood transfusions, serious penetrating bite wounds, or intercourse (but of course all APA cats are fixed!). Other cats cannot get FIV through casual contact with Judd or any other FIV + cat.

Nancy gets along fine with other cats, but isn’t such a big fan of dogs. She is a bit of an “attention hog” and loves to cuddle and be held. Nancy is FIV+ and needs a family to love on her. Read Nancy’s full profile.

Myth: Cats with FIV don’t live long and require special care.

Truth: Many FIV+ cats live long, healthy lives. They can live their entire life without ever coming down with any symptoms of FIV. As long as they are not exposed to any other virus or bacteria that their weakened immune system can’t handle, they can live healthy, normal lives. For this reason, cats with FIV should be kept indoors, fed a balanced, nutritionally complete diet (no raw meats), and should see a vet twice per year.

Duane is an affectionate, lover type. He will happily sit on your lap while you watch a movie together. Duane is FIV+ and is looking for a permanent place to call home. Read Duane’s full profile.

Myth: My dogs or children are at risk of contracting FIV.

Truth: FIV is a species- specific disease. It cannot be transmitted to humans or any other animal. Your dog, horse, iguana or gerbil cannot contract FIV.

Kismet is shy at first, but warms up to become a chatty, cuddly lady, who happens to be a good hunter! Kismet is FIV+ and is looking for her very own forever family. Read Kismet’s full profile.

Cats with FIV must be live indoors and can happily live with other indoor, non-aggressive cats. They need to be protected from bacteria and viruses in the outdoor environment that could hurt them due to their weakened immune systems. (Regular vaccinations, spaying/neutering, and treatment for fleas, mites and worms are important for FIV+ cats.)

Judd, Nancy, Duane and Kismet all need a little TLC in a forever home. Just take one look at their sweet faces, meet them and hear their gentle purrs, and you’ll soon realize that you will get back ten times the love you give!

For more information on any of these kitties or to inquire about adoption, please send an email to: email hidden; JavaScript is required.

Joel wanted to foster a cat. He already shared his home with Mr. K, a FIV+ stray he was lucky enough to find about three years ago. Since he already had experience with a FIV+ pet, Joel was happy to foster Nanook, who is also FIV+. But when Joel would take Nanook to APA adoption events, he found himself hoping that nobody would adopt him. He realized he had already fallen for Nanook, so Joel made him a permanent member of their home. It’s been almost a year now and Nanook still shows no FIV symptoms. Joel takes both cats for vet check-ups once or twice a year, but no other special care has been required. Both Nanook and Mr. K are about 7-8 years old, FIV+, and they lead full, healthy, joyful lives in their forever home with Joel.

For more information on FIV, please visit the following web sites:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fiv.html

http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/petcare/cats_fiv.cfm

Thanks to APA Volunteers Bobbi Johnson for writing this story, Angela Lozano for photos of Nancy, and of course, to the wonderful fosters who care for the kitties mentioned in this story.

Construction at the new building is well underway, surgeries are already taking place in the new facility & cats/kittens have moved in for adoptions! Also under construction is the new Bottle Baby Room. This ONE ROOM has easily three times the space as our Trailer, which we have operated in over the last year. In that small trailer since January 1st, we have rescued an astounding 592 kittens – just imagine what we’ll be be able to accomplish in the building…(more pictures)

As cabinets are being assembled, painted, attached to walls, tables collected, and inventory taken, we are in need of one critical component: a portable sink. Plumbing is not available in this room, and as many of you know, permitting & construction to add plumbing is too cost- and labor-intensive and will add significant delay to making the room fully functional. A portable sink will enable us to have hot and cold running water in the room (which we do not have in the Trailer) to use for mixing formula, bathing babies, and washing our hands! The Medical Room in the Cat Building also needs a sink (dogs are treated there, too!)

If you are interested in donating toward the purchase of a sink, or would like to purchase & donate a sink or two, here are some links to the types of sinks we are seeking:

Ebay

All Portable Sinks

Ozark River

Any donation, financial or material, is tax-deductible and will mean we can save more lives. If you would like to contribute toward the purchase of two sinks, donate HERE or you can deliver directly to the building.

Thanks from all the kitties!

Have you ever had a good experience donating to APA? Vote for us in the Big Give by Friday!

http://voting.ilivehereigivehere.org/big_give/form

The I Live Here, I Give Here organization is giving out a $10,000 prize to the organization who gets the most votes. We could really use this for our new building!

We are currently 5th and only need to be in the top 3 in order to make it to the final round!

Tucker was adopted and recently Gary got to visit him and his new adopter, Kevin. Here’s the note we received from Gary after the visit (Gary calls him Goldie):

Hi …just a note to let you know Kevin brought Tucker (Goldie) over for a visit. It made my year!!! I mean, if ever there seemed a perfect match-up…actually I had been praying to the Great Everywhere Spirit and other deities that just such a person would arrive for Goldie. I felt it would have to be a male, patient as can be, and absolutely love the dog for who and what he was. Inversely, Goldie (Tucker) would have to fall head over heels for the guy to reverse the tendency to bolt…”no place he’d rather be,” kinda’ thing. Kevin and Tucker meet these criteria to the max…they are absolutely perfect together….In what is left of an unreliable mind, I did picture Goldie being taken for runs along Town Lake. Kevin: “Yeah, Tucker and I go for our runs around Town Lake.”

Thanks so much, for all of your help in saving the heart and soul of that noble animal. I think he may at last be “Home.”

Gary

We’ll be bringing kittens over on Saturday from noon-6 for our first adoption event at the new building. Please stop by, play with some cute kittens, and help us get our building ready to become their home!

In addition to the painting and other tasks, we also have need for some specific skills:

• Handiness with a hammer and saw
• Electrical – changing out light fixtures
• Land measurement – measuring out our yards and figuring out what we need in fencing
• Donation pickup – We have volunteers scouring craigslist and other sites to find used supplies. We need a driver who can go and pick things up for us. Please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required if you can help with this.

If you can’t volunteer, but would like to help, we need help with getting supplies and materials. You can visit our wish list or donate funds to help us buy what we need.

If you cannot make the Open House and would like to see the building, we have volunteers available to give private tours. Please send an email to email hidden; JavaScript is required to schedule a tour.

We changed the date because we realized we scheduled the Open House at the same time as another event:

On Tuesday, August 31, the Animal Issues Forum will be held at City Hall during the lunch break, from 11:45 am to 1:15 pm.

The forum will start with the showing of the film “Shelter”, a short (17 minutes), locally-produced documentary about the City of Austin’s efforts to become “No Kill” city that heavily features APA. “Shelter” was filmed for a class at the University of Texas by Kelly Sloan (radio-television-film student) and Lauren Dooley (public policy student). The producers will be present at the screening and will participate in a discussion with Q&A after the film. Rob Graham, a member of Austin’s Animal Advisory Commission, will talk about what the AAC has done and plans to do to reach No Kill.

Della Lindquist, an Emancipet volunteer, will talk about outreach efforts in Montopolis and other neighborhoods that have high numbers of homeless animals and her work with the City of Austin’s Spay Street Program. She will talk about the program’s “neighborhood captains,” including plans to recruit Spanish-speaking volunteers.

Monica Hardy, the new Executive Director of the Texas Humane Legislative Network, will present information about THLN’s upcoming conference, September 24-26 in Austin, and her new role as ED of THLN during the legislative session that starts in January 2011.

The forum is free and open to the public. Parking in Austin City Hall’s underground garage is free as well. (Bring parking ticket inside to be validated.)

Meet the F7 kittens (clockwise from left): Felicity, Fruitloop, and Furball. These kittens were found strays taken to – and rescued from – the shelter on August 20th. They have been hanging out at our Bottle Baby Trailer, but are in need of a foster home for some good R&R, socialization, and room to roam.

The two boys and one girl are a month old, great eaters of both canned kitten food & kibble, and use the litterbox diligently. They are a little scared and sometimes would rather hide than greet you, but kittens this age socialize easily in a loving home with lots of toys and few places to hide (at least initially). In fact, our volunteer feeders have found that once held, they will melt in your hands and want to snuggle up at your neck. More pictures can be found here.

The foster commitment will be about 4 weeks until they weigh 2lbs. when they can be spayed/neutered & microchipped. Then they can be adopted!

To foster these or any of our Bottle Baby kittens, complete the online foster application. You can specify these “F7″ kittens, any unweaned kittens (still taking a bottle), or you can specify that you prefer weaned kittens.

You can also donate to our Bottle Baby Program, which will ensure our kittens have formula, bottles, kitten food, baby wipes, and anything else to help them while they grow.

Cissy is a two-time survivor. She was plucked out of Town Lake Animal Shelter with only one day to live. She left TLAC emaciated and with a respiratory infection that almost took her life a second time. Despite this, Cissy is one of the warmest dogs you could ever encounter. I say dogs; I should say hearts.

Cissy loves to cuddle–in a chair or in bed. If you are napping, she will run over and join you. If she is playing and catches sight of you, her warm heart will overcome her and she will run over to kiss and snuggle with you. She has an adorable soft snore that causes her cheeks to flutter. Love her up, and she will wag her tail and smile, and give that love right back.

With her soft tan face, centered white stripe, deep cocoa eyes and pearl white throat Cissy is a stunning beauty.  You can’t help but marvel at her short bronze coat that doesn’t shed and adorable crinkled ears. Is there such a thing as dog eyeliner? If so, she has it. And a beauty mark to boot. She is muscular, and agile, with a natural athletic build.

But Cissy is more than just great looks and a loving heart – she’s also an extraordinarily playful dog. She loves squeaky toys and sandals; she loves tugs-of-war. She is a collector and will find things, be they chew toys, sticks, or pillows, and will create a nest around them. She has chosen one pillow as her favorite, and that’s where she takes her naps.

Cissy loves to play, with squeaky toys and sandals, with rawhide chew toys, and with other dogs. She chases butterflies and other bugs: in fact, she is very active and will play with almost anything. But she will also sit quietly if needed–for cookies and food, which she eats at the speed of sound–but primarily just to cuddle. She will give you everything for affection.

She can mix with anyone–chill out, sit under your desk when you are working, lay down beside you for a nap.  She is affectionate, loves to eat, is generous, loves attention, has a happy spirit, loves to eat, is hilarious and goofy, loves to eat, is muscular and agile, loves to perform (and eat), is athletic and smart and, oh yes, she loves to eat.

This darling has overcome two sets of odds that would have beat most of us, yet she is one of the most affectionate and happy creatures you’ll ever meet.  Like many who have beat the odds in life, Cissy has an even greater appreciation for everything around her and has a gratitude and affection for people that is unmatched. 

Come meet Cissy today – she’ll jump right up to meet you.  But watch out, this stunning survivor will steal your heart!

Photography by Chloe Pix Photography and Scarlett Blue Photography.