Pig News

Meet Mara, this week's Pet-of-the-Week this year at the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. She's a snuggly, seven year old cat who first came to the shelter as a stray with a nasty wound on her back that just wasn't healing right. The clinic team at the shelter took to action, treating her wound and making her feel comfortable during her extended stay. In the process, they've become totally smitten! Mara is confident and mature. She is chirpy, flirty, and thrives on affection.

She's an excellent cuddler, and one of the all-around friendliest cats you may ever meet! For more info, read the full post or visit the shelter, located at 1001 Rodriguez St. in Santa Cruz and open from 11am to 6pm every day. 

This is a cat you can literally have a conversation with, and she has done very well with small dogs she's met during her time in the clinic. Now that she's feeling better she's starting to play more: she loves feather toys, bouncy balls, and cat tunnels.

Mara's wound treatment required multiple revisions, in part due to its complexity, and in part because Mara is "FIV positive." FIV is an immune disease that can spread from cat-to-cat, usually through a bite. Due to her FIV status, Mara should either be the only feline in the household, or join another cat who is also FIV positive, after a slow introduction. Finally, Mara needs to be kept indoors only for the remainder of her life. This will prevent the risk of FIV infection spreading to other neighborhood cats and prevent the risk to Mara of additional injury or illness. Living the indoor lifestyle has been no problem for her so far - she's litterbox trained, doesn't dart out the door, and loves to lounge around on various beds and/or laps. While the clinic staff will be sad to see her go, her adoption comes with a complimentary discussion with a clinic staff member (or two) about her medical record, personality, hopes, and dreams. Now that Mara's wound has almost healed, she's the up-and-coming star of our adoption program, so if you're interested, act now!

Additional fun facts about Mara include:

• She makes biscuits when you look at her and say her name
• She's a full-figured gal, which means you get all the more cat to snuggle
• She's a non-stop head-butt-er even with people she's just met
• She gives you all the cuddles, chirps, and wonder of a kitty without the kitten hijinks (she has been unrestricted in our Clinic for many hours a day for several weeks and has never shredded or chewed on anything, nor knocked things over!). 
• Her wound was an infected cat bite abscess on her back at the base of her tail, which tells us 1) she was running AWAY from the fight, not heading into it, and 2) she really needs to not get bitten again (did we mention indoors only?) or must get prompt treatment if she does get bitten
• She has allowed weeks of pilling and wound care, which is impressive for any cat, and bodes well for calmly receiving any care she may need in the future

For more info, listen to Pet-O-Rama at 11am Thursdays here on the pig or visit the shelter, located at 1001 Rodriguez St. in Santa Cruz and open from 11am to 6pm every day. 

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