Bailey was surrendered to Paws Animal Shelter with Cinnamon in late December 2023. We were told by their owner that they were both adopted from Paws. Everyone remembered Cinnamon, but nobody could remember Bailey, which was a bit odd. We looked in the old paper records and discovered that Bailey had in fact been adopted from a shelter in Clark County. When we had Cinnamon and Bailey combo tested, and the test came back positive for Bailey for FIV, we contacted the shelter from which she was adopted. They would have taken her back, but they said she would be euthanized since she was FIV positive and they don't have an FIV room at their shelter. Unfortunately, Paws is not a large enough shelter to have an FIV room either, but Bailey is an otherwise very healthy cat so we are not going to euthanize her. We originally isolated her in a cage in our heated garage while we tried to find a home for her. However, one of our volunteers said she would take Bailey home until we could find a forever home for her. She is so incredibly loving, and deserves a chance at a long, happy life. We'll let her foster mom describe her: 'Bailey took about ten minutes to make herself at home in our guest room! While she was so shy and scared at the shelter, hiding in or behind the litter box, she's incredibly loving and outgoing in a home environment. My husband and I both go in with her every day and read, and she immediately comes over to us for love and pets. She likes to sit on my lap while I read. She purrs and purrs, and is just the most loving cat. She's very playful and curious too. I put several mice on the bed, and she would pick them up one by one and jump down on the floor with them and knock them around. We live out in the country and she's fascinated with all the wildlife, and she loves to sit in the windows and look outside.' If you would like to meet Bailey, just call Paws Animal Shelter at (937) 653-6233, and they will set up a visit with her foster parents.
We just received an update from Bailey's foster mom. She said that they are now letting Bailey out of the guest room for a few hours a day while they're home (they lock up their one cat who is a jerk when she's out, but she gets along great with the others!). They also had a house guest recently who brought her dog, and they stayed in the guest room with Bailey. Bailey was a little scared of the dog at first, but she's a sweet, laid-back dog, and by the end they were getting along great! Bailey also enjoys hanging out with her foster siblings on the deck (it's elevated, so they can't get off it). One of the photos shows her lounging there.
FIV is one virus that cats can live long healthy lives with. Some shelters now house FIV cats with other non-FIV cats as the virus is usually only passed through deep bites (which usually happens when un-neutered males fight or when they bite a female during mating). The fact that Bailey lived with Cinnamon for two years without passing the virus on to her does support this theory. Cornell University Feline Health Center has more information on FIV. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-immunodeficiency-virus-fiv
Personality traits
Friendly, Affectionate, Gentle, Quiet, Playful, Sweet, Curious
Note from Paws humans: To apply to adopt any of our cats or kittens, please visit our website and fill out our on-line application at https://www.pawsurbana.org/apply-to-adopt
