Two Cats Adopted From The Cat Cafe in September 2019

In September, the busy summer season ends and people head back to school and work. That didn’t keep us from continuing to send cats home from The Cat Cafe. We sent Mariposa, who was our stand in for Goose during Comic-Con, and Honey, another ginger mother, to good homes in September.

We had fewer visitors in September than we did in August. But the visitors who came were generous, and they donated $336 to help The Rescue House continue its mission of helping find homes for adoptable cats.

As cats leave us to head to their forever homes, we bring new ones in. That’s why we want to introduce you to the latest members of The Cat Cafe clowder.

Lupita and Luis came to us from across the border. Their mother, Lucinda, was fending for herself on the streets of Tijuana and struggling to make it. A kind person took her in, and contacted The Rescue House when Lupita and Luis were kittens. The Rescue House brought them across the border and they made their way to us. These one year olds are both playful and friendly.

Lupita

Lupita is the smaller and more talkative of the two. She loves to call out to her people. When her people approach her to say hello back, she will stretch to receive pets from them. This brown tabby also likes chasing around feather toys.

Luis

Luis is bigger than his sister, and he doesn’t talk as much. He also has a longer and fluffier tail and it’s fun to watch this brown and white boy walk around with it straight up in the air. Luis enjoys climbing up to high perches, where he can look around The Cat Cafe playpen and see what’s going on.

Armani

The next cat joining us at The Cat Cafe is the first in our pilot program where we integrate FIV positive cats into our clowder. Meet Armani. Armani’s life started out badly, when he showed up in a kind person’s yard thin, frail and suffering from wounds that resulted from an attack by another animal.

He was rushed to the vet, where he received the treatment he needed to recover. And Armani was grateful for this, learning that humans could be trusted to care for him. He’s since grown into a friendly cat with soft fluffy fur.

As we mentioned, this two year old boy has FIV. FIV is the feline equivalent of HIV. Visitors to The Cat Cafe don’t have to worry, because it’s species specific. And even among cats, it’s difficult to spread. Transmission requires a deep puncture wound which typically occurs when cats are fighting for territory or mates.

In a non-feral environment, this just doesn’t happen. We have both anecdotal and scientific evidence of this. Cole & Marmalade are a couple of celebrity cats, and Marmalade has FIV. Cole has lived with him for years, and he doesn’t have the virus.

If that isn’t enough to convince you that cats in the clowder at The Cat Cafe aren’t at risk, consider this. A Purdue University study that followed 120 FIV negative cats and eight FIV positive cats in a shelter environment found no transmission. The study was long term, following some cats for as long as nine years.

We’re glad we have brought FIV positive cats in to The Cat Cafe. Armani has been a wonderful ambassador for cats with the disease and when he goes home, we’ll look to bring another one in.

We look forward to seeing you visit to meet the newest members of the clowder and to spend time with old friends.