The Story of Travis

"Travis came to me on the evening of 30 April 2014. He was my very first cat in my pens. He had been a stray for about two or three years and a kind member of the public was feeding him. The lady had noticed that he wasn’t eating properly, was drooling and his coat had become severely matted because he couldn’t groom himself properly. We managed to get him in and he was castrated on 1 May and had to have most of his hair shaved off because his fur was so matted. He also had a very severe form of gingivitis and was suffering from cat flu. He was blood tested and it was discovered that he was FIV+. The vet suggested extracting all his teeth but it wasn’t that easy. Because Travis was so snuffly it was thought that the anaesthetic would not be ideal for him. The vet gave him a two week antibiotic injection to try and clear the snuffles up. That didn’t work so he had another two week injection. The plan was to catch him after one week when the antibiotics were beginning to work and do the operation then. Because Travis was FIV+ and his immune system was compromised the snuffles never fully cleared up. We had to work on a time when they were better.

On 24 May Travis went in for his dental. The vet passed him fit for the operation. They were only able to take half his teeth out because he was getting too cold on the operating table. He was due to go back in a couple of weeks to have the rest out but unfortunately even though he came out of the operation ok he had a cardiac arrest and died as he was in recovery.

Everyone was absolutely devastated. I had a home for him. He is buried in my garden. A fb friend had a plaque made up for me and we named the pens in honour of him. Travis’s Travel Lodge." - June