FeLV+ cat in need of foster or forever home . . .
Neville’s Story
In May of 2025, Neville was shot by someone in Wilmington using what we believe was an air-soft type gun. He was left injured and unable to eat for two to three weeks until a kind Samaritan notified our trapper Shelby on June 2nd of his location. Shelby immediately rushed to the location and was horrified by what she saw. Thankfully Neville could recognize that Shelby was trying to help him and went right into her trap. When Neville arrived at Forgotten Cats, he was in very poor condition. He was severely dehydrated, starving and barely had enough energy to lift his head. We didn’t expect him to make it through the night. The veterinary team at Forgotten Cats rushed to stabilize Neville – antibiotics to start fighting the raging infection from his wounds, fluid therapy, liquid nutrition, and pain relievers to allow him to rest in preparation for next steps. Shattered fragments of his teeth and jawbone were removed from his wounds.
By some miracle, Neville survived through the night and very early the following morning our lead veterinarian Dr. Jackie was able to examine him and determine next steps. The first step was to test him for two common cat viruses, FIV and FeLV, to determine if he had a compromised immune system. Many outdoor cats acquire these viruses from being exposed to or fighting with other cats who are already infected. After the test was run, our worst fears were confirmed – Neville was also FeLV+ (feline leukemia virus) and therefore his chances of survival were poor as his body would have a very hard time fighting the infection and his wounds might never heal properly. It was beginning to look like humane euthanasia would be the only option for Neville.
After some discussion, Dr. Jackie and Forgotten Cat’s founder Felicia Cross decided to give Neville a chance. Neville had somehow survived almost two weeks with these wounds and not being able to eat, so the decision was made to give him the opportunity to continue fighting with all the support that Forgotten Cats’ veterinary team and volunteer staff could provide. He went into surgery, and his wounds were debrided, remnants of what were left of his teeth were removed and Dr. Jackie sutured his wounds closed to cover his exposed bone. His recovery would be a long and painful healing process – 6 weeks of injectable antibiotics, daily pain relievers and close monitoring of appetite and weight.
Over the next six weeks, the volunteer staff and medical team at Forgotten Cats tended to Neville. He was syringe fed, or hand fed soft food as he was not yet able to open his jaw fully to eat on his own. He would have a good week where he would have a great appetite and gain weight only to be followed by a bad week where he would stop eating and drinking and would have to be force fed and receive fluid administration. After his course of antibiotics were done, we thought Neville was out of the woods and he was moved out of isolation and into a quarantine room where he would have more human interaction. He was a social eater, and we thought that would help improve his attitude by being exposed to more activity within our facility. It was after this move that Neville developed an upper respiratory infection and suffered a setback. At this point, one of our medical team volunteers who was also the individual who treated Neville when he first arrived, decided to take Neville home so he would not have to spend what remaining time he had left in a cage.
Given his FeLV+ status, Neville had to be isolated in a separate room at Kerry’s house. She quickly found out that Neville didn’t seem to mind some canine companionship, and her dog Ripley would visit Neville as dogs cannot be infected with the feline leukemia virus. After many ups and downs with his recovery, Neville finally seemed to turn the corner in September and had some additional blood work done. His results still showed he was FELV+, but all his values had normalized and looked amazing for a cat infected with feline leukemia. Neville is now up for adoption and has his first meet and greet scheduled. Since Neville is such a social cat, we are hoping he may be adopted to a home that has experience with FeLV+ cats and possibly has another FeLV+ cat, so Neville will have a companion. He is affectionate, loves to curl up for a long nap, gives the best head butts and can be very chatty at times.
If you would like to schedule a meet and greet with Neville, please submit our no-obligation Adoption Application: https://forgottencats.org/adoption-application/. Not ready to adopt, but would like to provide a loving environment for Neville, please consider fostering: https://forgottencats.org/foster-a-cat/..
