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Columbia-Greene Humane Society
125 Humane-Society Road
Soft Paws By Aaron Clause Big Tom’s Story Meet Big Tom. Big Tom is beating the odds, for now. His whole life he has been the undercat, and his luck is hanging from a thread even today. Big Tom came to us as many do, with fear in his eyes and his bones showing through his skin. His large, masculine head appeared to be twice the size of his body, which was covered with war scars from territorial battles and his struggle for food. He had an almost uncontrollable upper respiratory infection. Needless to say, Big Tom was in trouble from his first day here. A potential new owner brought him to us, wondering if we could nurse Tom back to health. Our normal regulations would have required a cat as sick as he was to be euthanized immediately, but as he already had a pending adoption, our staff went to work on him. And work they did. Tom’s life began changing slowly for the better. He was cleaned. His feline leukemia tests came back negative. He was neutered in preparation for his new home. He was fed well and was gaining weight. Big Tom’s fear was turning into affection as anyone with him cuddled up to his or her neck could tell you. However, the Clavamox, our routine upper respiratory infection antibiotic that Tom had been taking for his ten-day stay, had not touched his condition. We put him on a round of Baytril, a powerful antibiotic used in severe cases, and set him up with some more tests. Fortunately, the Baytril cleared the infection, but Big Tom had a much more serious problem hiding in the wings. Big Tom had tested positive for F.I.V. F.I.V. is a virus found in cats that is comparable to the H.I.V. virus found in humans. It is spread through blood exchange or sexual contact, and in Big Tom’s case, probably both. It was the explanation for the difficulty he had fighting his infection. It was also the turning point for Big Tom’s “new owner.” He was no longer wanted. Big Tom was once again sick, and now, once again, homeless. Now our staff is in love with Big Tom. True, with his illness he could be with us for only two weeks. Or two months. Perhaps Big Tom will never develop full-blown feline AIDS and he’ll live for two years, or even twenty. But he is in desperate need of someone who will care enough to give him that chance.
Maybe it’s you.
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