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QueenScoopalot
08-23-2004, 09:14 AM
30/07/2004 08:10 AM - (SA)
Disaster strikes Nona and her cat haven
29-07-2004


SOMERSET WEST'S cat woman, Nona Cockerell, is devastated. She has lost all her cats to a deadly virus in a matter of weeks. Not one has survived the tragedy. "Not even my lovely Persians. They are all gone," a grief-stricken Nona said this week. Some of the cats had been with her for 16 years.

Her nightmare started late last year, when the secluded house where she and her 53 cats had lived in peace and harmony for many years, was sold on public auction after her ex-husband ran into financial difficulties. Desperate to find another safe place for her and her cats to live, Nona turned to the media for help.

Many people responded to the newspaper reports, but most were only curious to see under what conditions anyone could live with so many cats. Those who expected a smelly home were amazed to find a hygienic, odourless cat haven with stacked beds, catwalks and a fenced-off, covered garden.

But the newspaper reports also led to people dumping their unwanted cats on Nona, two of them mothers with kittens. She was also asked to rescue a litter of kittens that was drowning on a roof-top in the CBD area. The 16 newcomers would eventually cost the lives of all her cats.

All 53 her cats were neutered and all annually had their injections. Last year, for the first time, Nona put down three cats. All were about 20 years old.

In May, some of the new cats, who had had their first set of inoculations, became sick with diarrhoea.

Nona put them in quarantine in her "sick bay" and took them to a vet for treatment. She was shocked when told that it could be a deadly virus and that the cats would have to be put down. Her best friend, who had come for a visit, offered to pay for costly tests to be done on two of the cats when she saw what a good condition they were in.

These were done and the vet phoned to say the results showed the virus was not deadly.

"I was so happy when I was told the cats were okay and did not have to be put down," says Nona. Trusting the vet, she took the cats out of the quarantine area. But within a week, her other cats started falling around with high fever. Her own vet had left by then and she turned to a new vet, who told her that the cats had contracted a deadly virus and could not be saved. "The sad part is that there is an inoculation available for the virus, which is usually only known to breeders. Had I known about it, my cats could all have been saved."

The vet was not very sympathetic, says Nona. She had spent R7 000 on inoculations and treatment, but now was told to not run up any debt, as all treatments were on a cash-only basis.

When it became clear that her cats were suffering, Nona called another vet to her home to have them put down. She held every beloved cat on her lap as the vet, Keith Viljoen, kindly talked to each of them before giving the lethal injection. She had to endure this heartbreaking procedure several times that week. A friend paid the euthanasia costs.

"It feels as if my life has been taken away," a devastated Nona said on Monday. "I'm angry and bitter and have been avoiding contact with people, But I must get through it and try to finish the book which I have been working on for the past two years. It will be called Animals have Feelings and will record the story of my cats."

The irony is that the new owner has honoured Nona's long-lease rental of the house. But her home - and heart - is now empty.

kimlovescats
08-23-2004, 09:31 AM
Very, very sad.:(

catmandu
08-23-2004, 09:34 AM
The Found Cats,are very sad,and hope that this Poor Lady,can get over her losses,and maybe restart,her clowder,as there are always Cats,that need New Homes! Our Prayers,go out to her! And her Cats,and the Strays are Now Full Fledged Cat Angels!

DJFyrewolf36
08-23-2004, 09:46 AM
How sad for her! Id be :mad: at the idiots who seem to think that just because someone owns several cats that that makes them the next dump off spot. :(. I hope she can get through this. Is there a place where we can send our sympathies? I know I would be completely devistated and probibly suicidal too, QSA. I hope she will eveuntally open her heart to more kitties who need homes as her house is built for many cats but I know that it probibly wouldn't be easy emotionally for her.

I'd hate to have to be the vet who put all these cats down. He must be devistated too.

Aspen and Misty
08-23-2004, 09:58 AM
How heart braking, this poor poor women ::hugs:: to her. :(

Wow, how sad. Can you imagine one day coming home to 52 cats and the next to none? The house would be so empty and lonly. :(

Ash :(

catnapper
08-23-2004, 10:04 AM
Oh God, how truly awful. My heart is breaking for that wonderful woman.

I can only wish pain upon that insensitive vet, and the people who took advantage to dump their sick cats upon her.

Lacey
08-23-2004, 10:07 AM
How terribly! I couldn't even begin to imagine such a loss! That poor woman!

QueenScoopalot
08-23-2004, 10:30 AM
DJF...I'm not sure where this woman is located. I think it's from a U.K paper, but really don't know. How tragic for this woman though. It doesn't say what the deadly virus was, but all I can think of is distemper/panleukopenia. In the U.S cats are routinely vaccinated for that virus. I do my own vaccinations for FVRCP as I do so much rescuing, I never know who's going to come through the doors harboring that awful virus. But I can't vaccinate underage kittens, or sick ones. :( So I isolate as much as possible here because of that ever present fear. :eek: :(

rg_girlca
08-23-2004, 10:32 AM
OMG, this is so heartwrenching. That poor, poor woman.
My heart aches for her.

smokey the elder
08-23-2004, 12:32 PM
She's probably South African. The R is rand, the monetary unit.

I'm so sorry for her. The cats probably all had distemper; if her other ones had shots they may have been able to survive! Maybe not all cats get distemper shots there.

AmberLee
08-23-2004, 02:13 PM
Oh, the tragedy!

DJFyrewolf36
08-23-2004, 04:50 PM
Yeah, I thought all cats were vaccinated against those things, but I guess not everywhere!

How much is R 7000 in American dollars, does anyone know? And do the tests for viruses end up having false negatives a lot? It seems kind of wierd that one vet said that the virus the new kitties had was deadly and then to go back on that diagnosis. And then the rest of the cats catch it...it seems really strange to me...:confused:

carole
08-23-2004, 05:10 PM
This is Tragic, I just hope this poor woman can find the strength to move on, and hopefully become a kitty meowmie again and soon, if she can it may help ease her grief and pain, a little at least., you just have to ask WHY WHY WHY??? Life is so unfair sometimes.

Laura's Babies
08-23-2004, 07:14 PM
So very, very, sad... She must be an angel to have had so many.

leslie
08-23-2004, 08:09 PM
If it was distemper, then her cats were not vaccinated (obviously) which means she must live somewhere where they have not often seen it and/or it is too expensive? OR it could be some virus we have never encountered or not yet (like Jan's thoughts on the new strand of - what was it jan- the new variation of the virus covered in distemper vaccines that is in CA and possibly could be showing up across the country). Anyway- it would be good to get a more thorough report on this story...