I met Leo on February 12, 2006 while volunteering at a shelter. My friend asked me to go with her to help out in the shelter’s isolation room. While there, she showed me a cat named Leonidas who was scheduled for euthanasia on Valentines Day that week. He was recently diagnosed with FIP and lived in a cage in the “iso” room for well over a month.

When I first saw him I was surprised at how he purred and actively interacted with us when we opened his cage. He looked sick. His eyes were puffy and he had inflamed gums. His blood work indicated he could possibly have FIP. He had a high Caronavirus of 1:1600 and his albumin, globulin and total protein levels also pointed towards FIP. The shelter’s vet said FIP was probable. How could he be scheduled for euthanasia we thought? He still seemed to be enjoying life even in his cage.  He looked at us with these sweet eyes and we just knew we had to do something to help him.

I look back on that cold Sunday night when I first met Leo and know now that he won my heart. What ensued in the next few days and weeks was nothing less than heroics on the part of everyone who wanted to save him. 

Our first hurdle was to convince the shelter manager to let us try to help Leo. She was worried that Leo would infect other cats and thought all we were doing was ”prolonging his death” and felt that this was not fair to Leo.

 I knew of a holistic vet in California that I had worked with in the past. We contacted Dr. Dodd and sent her all of the limited lab work and shelter history we had on him. One of her first e-mails to us stated “do not let them euthanize Leo, I think I may be able to help him with homeopathy and detoxification”.

The shelter manager was still planning on the scheduled euthanasia on Leo. She was not convinced that it was in Leo’s best interest to try a treatment program only to eventually fail. The two days before Valentine’s Day were very emotional for my friend and me. There were a group of people at the shelter that wanted to us to try to save Leo and then there were others that felt any money we spent towards his treatment would be wasted and we should donate our money to the shelter for a more useful purpose.

After two days of frantic emails back and forth with the shelter manager she finally agreed to let us remove Leo from the shelter and start the treatment program with the homeopathic vet.

We looked to Compassionate Veterinary Care for help. Dr. Shanan has done hospice work for many years and had hospice rooms where Leo could be isolated and cared for during his treatments. We knew that treating Leo would be a lot of work. We also knew that Dr. Shanan would guide us and if Leo did take a turn for the worse he would be there to help us.  He worked with us as I consulted with my homeopathic vet for a number of months treating Leo. Leo did have some terrible days detoxing. He ran fevers on and off, but every day he got stronger. He loved being brushed and cared for.  He enjoyed looking out his window into the reception area watching all the other animals coming and going. Eventually Leo’s titer came down to 1:100 and he no longer had any upper respiratory issues. We felt he was ready to leave. By then I had realized he was my cat and he would come home with me and be part of my family. 

Today Leo is not without health issues. He has stomatits (a mouth inflammation) that needs treatment on a regular basis. However, he is alive and is living a happy life along with my other cats. He enjoys basking in the sun and talks with the birds through the window on sunny days. I am so grateful that we were able to save Leo. Every Valentines day I will give him a special hug knowing he got a second chance in life because Dr. Shanan and his staff at Compassionate Veterinary Care was there to give us options.