Atlantic Animal Hospital is elated to present Mooch Duncan as Companion Animal of the Month for August 2008. Mooch is a 2 year old domestic medium hair red tabby. He is the laid back and docile companion animal to Donna Duncan. Mooch adopted Donna late last year, when he started hanging around Donna's new house in Ormond Beach. She kept snacks on the front porch just in case he came for a visit. By the volume of snacks consumed, it soon became apparent that Donna was the primary provider!
Mooch now
always greets Donna with a big meow and an even bigger purr. He is a very
playful and loving cat. In his spare time, Mooch will sun bathe in the
windowsill and watch the world go by. Donna's favorite memory of Mooch happened
last year's winter when the forecast called for a freeze. Donna was gathering up
blankets to cover plants and Mooch wanted to contribute. He would wrestle her
for each blanket she needed and after several matches he escalated to ambushing
her shoes from under the covered bushes. Mooch was not much help, but was
certainly entertaining.
Mooch spent
most of his days outdoors, but when it came time for Donna to finally move to
the new Ormond Beach home, she decided to make Mooch an indoor cat. Donna
already had three indoor cats of her own and knew she needed to get Mooch check
out by a veterinarian before bringing Mooch into their environment. Mooch was
presented to Atlantic Animal Hospital in May for a routine checkup. After
further testing it was determined that Mooch had Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV)
which is an immunosuppressive disease that is spread by contact with other
infected cats. Once Mooch was diagnosed with FeLV, Dr. Sukhija ordered a full
diagnostic laboratory work-up to determine how the disease was affecting Mooch's
body. Mooch was becoming anemic, which means his body was not producing enough
red blood cells. Further worsening of the anemia would mean that Mooch would
not have enough cells to carry oxygen through his body. To help combat his
anemia, Mooch was placed on a supplement fortified with iron and other minerals
and vitamins.
After finding out about Mooch's diagnosis, the dilemma began. Donna knew that she could not ethically allow Mooch to be an outdoor cat anymore, nor could she bring him in with her other three cats she had living at home. So, for the first month Mooch stayed inside her old home with a cat sitter and she would check on him several times a day. After several weeks Mooch became ill and Donna brought him back to see Dr. Sukhija. He was presented with a high fever and lethargy. It was determined that he had developed an upper respiratory infection secondary to the FeLV. Mooch was sent home with antibiotics, to fight the secondary bacterial infection, and Interferon, to help boost the immune system. After just three days, Mooch was brought back to us because he was having difficulty breathing. His condition had declined and he had to be hospitalized for several days. Due to the severity of his respiratory disease and FeLV he was placed in our isolation ward and received aggressive treatment. This included intravenous fluid therapy, intravenous injections, oral antibiotics, and inhalation therapy with antibiotics and medications to help remove phlegm from the respiratory tract. After several days of treatment, the staff of Atlantic Animal Hospital was able to stabilize Mooch and release him for care at home.
Things are much better for Mooch now. Besides his check-ups to monitor his blood work he is doing well at home. Mooch is now living in his very own outbuilding on the property where Donna now lives. He has a garden view, air conditioning, plenty of toys, and soon to come, his very own screen room. Donna wanted to give Mooch the best life possible. Mooch's effort to find Donna and Donna's return efforts to nurse him to good health are just a portion of the bond that the two share. It is this amazing bond that leads us to select Mooch as the Companion Animal of the Month for August 2008.
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