FFRC Blog week ending July 19, 2025
Adoptions:
Macaroni and Pickles: Originally these two were being fostered with the hopes it would become an adoption. It really all depended on the family’s dog and if he would accept them and they would accept him. It took about 20 minutes until it became clear, this is a loving family that has two cats and a dog! Congratulations to our Macaroni and Pickles for being voted on the island by the family dog, Tanner while the cats decided Tanner makes for a good snuggle buddy! Their names did change a little bit. Macaroni is now Mac and Pickles is now Piccolo.
New Cats:
None.
Health Updates:
(see Other Updates below for Pania.)
Dusty Rose had all her teeth removed due to a major infection and plaque buildup and now that she is on the road to recovery and we now have an estimated age. We believe she is about 8 years old. She looks great, everything about her is thriving. Now that she has her horrible teeth removed, she is eating normally and has started to gain weight. Remember she came in grossly underweight. We are hopeful she will continue to thrive.
Jude has become a ‘chunka monk’. He is doing very well.
Ruffles is also doing well. We think he may end up being more of a medium hair cat.
Finney is doing great with his little button. His button will be removed in another two weeks or so. Remember, the button was to allow his lips to heal better. Most cats after button removal heal in a way that you don’t even know they had a button.
Holds:
None
Other Updates:
Sadly, our sweet, lovable, loving Pania passed away at the age of 13 and half years old.
Many of you have been asking about what happened to Pania. Below is a brief history of her medical issues over the years.
Pania came to FFRC in 2012 when she was just 7 months old. She was found on a street by herself. The people that rescued her realized she needed help as she had bulging eyes and did not look well at all.
More than likely she had the herpes virus which affected her eyes. One eye which was badly infected was removed, it was so bad there is no way she could see out of it. The other eye was bulging and appeared to be blind but there was some indication she may see light shadows.
While blind cats have been adopted out, successfully, by FFRC, it was determined given her frail health she would become a permanent resident. Over time she got much stronger, but would have periodic health setbacks.
She had a terrible skin condition which would flare up from time to time, causing much discomfort. She was always given treatment and eventually would recover.
She would suffer from bad bouts of bronchitis and chronic sinusitis. Again, she was always treated and recovered. As she has aged, her recovery times have taken longer.
In 2023 her remaining eye had swelling, off and on. By late 2024 she began losing weight and her rashes got more severe and she had a URI.
Early this year she was losing weight and xrays showed she had a small mass on her liver. Her age and other issues with her health made surgery not in her best interest. As this year has gone by, she has slowed down a lot. She took a fall and had a seizure in February.
And one final seizure, she kept losing weight and seemed to be having some memory issues. She passed peacefully with loving arms around her.
Sometimes medicine no longer works and the body says ‘it is time to go and find peace”.
Pania is at peace now, having spent 13 years enjoying life, surrounded by loving arms and thousands of Friends around the world.
Be happy she had a life of love, and is now at peace, still loved.
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Sazaz is enjoying her little private area. She can come out, but she seems content where she is while her little wound on her back heals. Her back is more of a skin issue than an injury.
We had a Christmas in July Raffle last week and raised $5,500.
Thank you to Mike and Lola for providing the beautiful baskets. To all that bought a ticket, to the winners, the bumper uppers and everyone for encouraging and sharing about the raffle.
-------- A final thought about Pania. Pania never let her blindness slow her down. Her personality emerged based on her, not her blindness. Her little meows were when she wanted to let us know, “hey, pay attention to me and give me….Pania Flakes or other treats. If she got confused and turned around where she was sure, she would give a meow to ask for help.
We all have our memories of Pania that we hold close to our hearts. When you are confronted with something you are a little unsure on how to proceed, remember how many times Pania would climb a condo or tower, with one foot in front of the other to ensure her next step was safe. She was cautious but courageous. She was an inspiration to so many of us. But to her, she was a cat, first and foremost, never letting anything make her stop being a cat, in all her glory. She left her mark and left us better people for “seeing” her for the cat she was.
Our Princess Pania in all her beauty, dinging for some Pania Flakes!
