Little Brittany Domestic Short Hair Melrose, MA

Little Brittany is a friendly, playful, wide-eyed little lady who was taken off the street and into animal control as a frightened, hungry stray along with her equally frightened, hungry kittens. At only two years old and under eight pounds, she's barely more than a kitten herself. Her kittens have been adopted, and now it's Brittany's turn.

If there were a contest for the world's friendliest cat, Brittany would surely be a contender. She is an energetic little bundle of sweetness who loves to play with her foster one minute, then curl up with her the next. We have not observed her with other cats, dogs, or kids. We suspect she'd do well with kids who know how to treat cats respectfully. She should be adopted into an interactive home where she'll get lots of attention and won't be left unaccompanied for long. Brittany is an adorable little pixie with a personality that will fill any room, and any home with warmth, love, and fun.

She has been:
- spayed
- given rabies and distemper vaccinations
- tested negative for FeLV, but positive for FIV* (See note below).
- treated for worms and fleas
- examined and determined to be healthy by a vet

Her adopter will receive her medical records. There is a simple adoption process and an adoption fee so we can continue to help cats in need. In Brittany's case that fee has been reduced to facilitate a quick adoption. She's being fostered in Boston.

Cats can live up to 20 years, so give careful thought to the changes that are likely to occur in your life during that time. If you can and will commit to her and provide a safe, loving home for life, then respond to RoyCBarrows@gmail.com. Please include your phone number for a faster response and say a little about yourself and the home you would provide for her as we try to match people with the right cats.

*FIV stands for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. It's the cat version of HIV in humans, but cats' immune systems handle it far more successfully than the human immune system handles HIV. There is no treatment necessary, nor does one exist. There is no difference in their day-to-day lives. FIV-positive cats have about the same life-expectancy as FIV-negative cats (confirmed by a Canadian veterinary study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822370/) as long as they are kept inside because their greatest vulnerability is to infections that they are likely to encounter only outside. (Allowing ANY cat outside decreases life-expectancy by about 70%.) It is non-contagious to animals other than cats-- even then, it can be transmitted under a very limited set of scenarios:
1) Sexual intercourse (which can't happen in this case)
2) From mother to kitten (which also can't happen in this case)
3) Ingestion of blood of an FIV-positive cat into an FIV-negative cat (highly unlikely!)

A shelter study of FIV-positive cats kept in free-roaming areas with FIV-negative cats showed a transmission rate of zero, to the surprise of absolutely no one in the rescue community. Thus, another cat would be only slightly more likely to get FIV from Onyx than to get struck by lightning.