Bella's Adoption

Pastel of Bella by North Carolina Artist Kathy Tice Phillips

TNR stands for Trap, Neuter, Release and we always get calls for help with TNRing feral cats. It is standard protocol to ear tip the left ear of the cat when they are fixed so that others know the cat is fixed. Bella was from a large colony of cats that we worked on for a long time. She was spayed at the Humane Society on Fredricksburg Road and then a chef at a local restaurant where Bella roamed about reached out to us because he thought she had had a litter of kittens. She was ear tipped therefore making the chances of her having kittens impossible, however when the chef saw her with another set of kittens we decided we better take her in to see the vet. At the Humane Society Brooks Spay and Neuter Clinic she was checked for a green spay tattoo on her belly, which she had, but just to be 100% sure she was put under to see if she had a spay scar on her abdomen. She was indeed already spayed and that was a relief. The chef thought she was such a nice cat that she should be networked to get a forever home, where she would be loved and not one of many outdoor strays in her area. At this point we performed a snap test with Dr. Basten which determines if she had deadly Feline Leukemia or not deadly but highly contagious FIV, the cat version of HIV. Sadly, Bella had FIV which she probably got from getting in a fight with an infected cat. She could not be released back into the colony and risk spreading this virus to other cats. We knew it would be a challenge to find her a home where she would be the only cat. Dr. Basten also was concerned that she had some lumps on her under side and if they were mammory tumors the prognosis for Bella would be very grim. Sad day, but then after X-rays were performed at Alamo Heights Pet Clinic it turned out the lumps were only harmless fat. It was the holidays and things were getting busy with family coming to stay and Bella ended up sharing a room and a bed with family members from Atlanta who fell in love with her. It wasn't but a few days after the holidays we received a call to please bring Bella to Atlanta to come live in her forever home! We jumped on a plane and Bella got her Delta wings. She now enjoys long days lounging on her screen porch and watching birds, squirrels and deer. She gets plenty of love, regular meals and will never be in danger again. Bella's good fortune runs strong but her adoptive parents also feel that they are equally as fortunate and cannot imagine life without her!