The Month of Ponzo

July was the month of Ponzo for me, because my life revolved around him. I was his nurse, dealing with his fevers and keeping him hydrated, while I fed him by hand most of the time. The vet's office had recommended Pedialyte, which I later learned could be frozen in ice cube trays, and so I bottle-fed him Pedialyte or store brands of pediatric electrolyte solutions, before discovering that I could make my own from a recipe I found on the internet. As far as food, Ponzo had a large menu selection, which included: dry catfood, assorted canned catfood, gravy catfood topping, a high-calorie food supplement gel, and homemade chicken broth/soup. Taurine and natural vitamin/mineral supplements were also included in Ponzo's meals. On his bad days, Ponzo would lick the food gel from my fingers. But on his good days, Ponzo would reject the gel and eat dry catfood on his own. Chicken broth, however, remained a favorite choice on both good and bad days.

I read everything I could find about FIV on the internet, and it gave me hope to read about FIV-infected cats who had gone on to live relatively healthy lives after getting infected. Was Ponzo in the initial phase of the illness, meaning he could recover and live for months or, dare I hope, years? I had no way of knowing, since he had been a feral cat. How had poor little Ponzo been exposed to FIV? Although possible, it is highly unlikely that the virus had been transmitted by Ponzo's mother before his birth. That leads me to suspect that sweet Ponzo, who steps aside for every cat, had been bitten by a bully FIV-infected cat.

Hope springs eternal.--Proverb