...devoted to the stray cats and kittens on the streets of, West Michigan.
We specialize in F.I.P. treatments, abandoned neonatal kittens, pregnant and nursing queens, CH cats, and other special medical need kitties. We also work with a lot of hoarding/overpopulated stray/feral situations!
Kittens In The Mitten, Inc.
The only way we can fulfill our mission is with your donations to help fund medical treatment and care for stray/ sick/ needy cats.
Kittens In The Mitten Inc is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible in accordance with State and Federal tax laws.
WE ARE
100%
DONATION
BASED!
If you would like to adopt any of these angels,
be sure to go to download an adoption application by clicking HERE
and send it to Chalsey by clicking HERE!
These cats have been through some extremely disturbing things and were lucky enough to survive to share their success stories!
(SOME of them are available for adoption and some have already been adopted. If you wish to adopt one of the survivors, please go to "Single Cats" below this to check if they are available!)
WARNING:
If you have a big heart, these stories are going to be hard. However, they deserve for their voices to be heard! These stories might help change someone's view on cats and what is acceptable as a morally responsible member of society and pet owner!
These catsare cats who need a special home due to disabilities. We believe every cat deserves a chance at a healthy life full of love, regardless of disabilities! They are extremely loving and loyal, and they just need that special someone to give them a chance!
These are cats who are ready to be adopted and looking for their furever homes! Most of these cats get along with other pets, are good with children, etc. But some may not be, so please read the descriptions on their pictures for that information!
Separating a bonded pair is very traumatic on any bonded cat. The cat will mourn the loss of their best friend, and unfortunately they can become depressed, and often times develop behavioural issues. This is one of many reasons why it is so important for shelters, rescues, fosters, etc., to adopt bonded pairs together regardless of how long they have to wait for a home.
Mister, The FIP Warrior!
Mister is one extremely lucky cat!
We rescued Mister at 2 weeks old, bottle fed him, and he was healthy until almost a year old! He then began walking funny and within 2 days was dragging his back legs.
We brought him to the vet and found out Mister suffered from something called F.I.P. (Feline Infectious Perotonitis).
Basically, F.I.P. is a viral disease in cats caused by certain strains of a virus called the feline CORONAVIRUS.
Sound familiar?
Well, if you would like to know one good thing that came from this virus shutting the entire globe down, keep reading!
But first, let us finish telling you about Mister! Up until a few years ago, this disease was 100% fatal for cats.
Not one survived it.
Thankfully we found information thanks to a provate Facebook group called FIP Warriors (click or tap to join).
We then learned there was treatment and learned about the study (included below)!
Mister was treated for more than 90 days, and was also under observation for almost 90 days!
Thankfully, Mister is a BEAST!!! Mister went in with blood work that gave little hope and left with incredible blood work results!!! Mister is now a very big, happy, healthy, loved cat!
MORE ABOUT FIP TREATMENT HERE!!!
Scientists have been studying coronavirus since the first strain was found in 1962!
Since then, much has been learned and thankfully some of this research has resulted in a breakthrough for cats in treating FIP!
When the world shut down due to the human coronavirus, or Covid 19, GS Pharmaceuticals was working on studies involving two drugs; Redmisvir and GS441524.
Redmisvir showed positive results in some studies done on humans, and GS441524 showed even more success for cats suffering from FIP.
Unfortunately, with Covid 19 being so important at the time, GS Pharmaceuticals put GS441524 on the shelf in order to focus more on Redmisvir and getting FDA approval as soon as possible.
HOWEVER...
The studies already completed and reviewed gave cat parents and rescues a chance to do something BIG! The drug was available in other countries and although it had not been approved here in the U.S. yet, many people who cared deeply for cats found access and began to share it!
Which is why the private group FIP Warriors, on Facebook, was created. To help cat lovers not only understand the disease, but to help them find access to this drug! It isn't cheap, and it isn't easy.
If you are dealing with FIP, be warned, it will take a toll on you and your precious baby!
With that being said, if you would like to know more about the study that was published that finally gave us all hope, continue reading below! You can also download a copy by tapping or clicking here, or at the bottom where it says "Download .pdf Study Now!"
This study is titled:
"Efficacy and safety of the nucleoside analog GS-441524 for treatment of cats with naturally occurring feline infectious peritonitis"
This study was co-authored by Niels C. Pedersen DVM, PhD and was conducted by the follwoing :
From the Center for Companion Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA-
*Niels C Pedersen
*Michael Bannasch
*Elizabeth Montgomery
From Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA, USA-
*Michel Perron
*Eisuke Murakami
From the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA-
*Molly Liepnieks
*Hongwei Liu
Study Objectives:
The aim of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of the nucleoside analog GS-441524 for cats suffering from various forms of naturally acquired feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Methods Cats ranged from 3.4–73 months of age (mean 13.6 months); 26 had effusive or dry-to-effusive FIP and five had non-effusive disease. Cats with severe neurological and ocular FIP were not recruited.
The group was started on GS-441524 at a dosage of 2.0 mg/kg SC q24h for at least 12 weeks and increased when indicated to 4.0 mg/kg SC q24h.
Results Four of the 31 cats that presented with severe disease died or were euthanized within 2–5 days and a fifth cat after 26 days.
The 26 remaining cats completed the planned 12 weeks or more of treatment. Eighteen of these 26 cats remain healthy at the time of publication (OnlineFirst, February 2019) after one round of treatment, while eight others suffered disease relapses within 3–84 days.
Six of the relapses were non-neurological and two neurological. Three of the eight relapsing cats were treated again at the same dosage, while five cats had the dosage increased from 2.0 to 4.0 mg/kg q24h.
The five cats treated a second time at the higher dosage, including one with neurological disease, responded well and also remain healthy at the time of publication.
However, one of the three cats re-treated at the original lower dosage relapsed with neurological disease and was euthanized, while the two remaining cats responded favorably but relapsed a second time.
These two cats were successfully treated a third time at the higher dosage, producing 25 long-time survivors.
One of the 25 successfully treated cats was subsequently euthanized due to presumably unrelated heart disease, while 24 remain healthy.
Conclusions and relevance:
GS-441524 was shown to be a safe and effective treatment for FIP. The optimum dosage was found to be 4.0 mg/kg SC q24h for at least 12 weeks.
For more information on this study, you can dowload the study in a .pdf format below and you can also click on the many links we have provided to help learn more about FIP and also a list of people currently seeking financial assistance to treat FIP (It costs $3k or more on average!!!)
DOWNLOAD STUDY NOW (.pdf)!
Help FIP Warriors!!!
Listed below are a number of cats currently being treated for FIP in desperate need of financial assistance!
We decided to do this to remember a very special cat we lost to FIP named Eleanor. She was extremely special to us, and with her passing we decided we wanted to be able to help other people struggling to pay for the treatment they need to save their babies lives!
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING
ANY OF THESE CATS!!!!
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