HELENA — June is adopt a shelter cat month, and right now, a special group of cats at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society are looking for their forever homes.
The 14 cats are known as the “bakery bunch” because they’re all named after pies. But their lives didn’t get off to a sweet start. They ended up at the humane society following the discovery of a hoarding situation.
“Their owner passed away, and it was discovered there were multiple cats living in a residence,” LCHS cat program coordinator Katie Axline-Pittman said. “They made it to us since there was no one else to care for them.”
The bakery bunch cats range from less than a year old to about 7-years-old.
When the cats first got to LCHS, they were not in great shape. Axline-Pittman said they were severely underweight, some had upper respiratory infections and other medical issues that needed attention.
“We had one cat whose eyes were so gooped up from an infection, they were completely crusted over,” Axline-Pittman said. “We didn’t know if she had eyes.”
After a month at LCHS, the bakery bunch are thriving and ready to go to their forever homes.
“They’re all different and unique and they all have different things to bring to the table,” Axline-Pittman said. “That’s I think why we love them so much.”
There’s something else that makes these cats a little different—they’re feline immunodeficiency virus-positive.
“Basically, it’s an autoimmune issue,” Axline-Pittman said. “They can’t fight off illness as well as cats that are negative can.”
Axline-Pittman said she hopes potential adopters don’t count these cats out because they’re FIV positive, they can still live long, happy lives.
FIV only passes from cat to cat through skin-breaking bites, it does not pass to dogs nor other animals, and Axline-Pittman stressed it does not pass to humans either.
“I hope that takes away a lot of the scare for a lot of people,” she said.
The 14 bakery bunch cats are ready for potential adopters to visit them, and even take them home. They are all listed on the LCHS website.
