We are honored to present Snarf Brunett as the Companion Animal of the Month for June 2007. Snarf is a 10 year old, orange Maine Coon cat, who is the fuzzy and charismatic companion to Tiffany Brunett and Jake Benson. Tiffany adopted Snarf when he was a kitten from a friend who had a litter of eight kittens that were all free to a good home. Tiffany picked out Snarf, without telling her parents and she worried that they would not let her keep Snarf. But upon arriving home, Snarf quickly fell asleep in Tiffany's father's lap and he immediately became apart of their family.
Snarf
is a simple cat who is easily pleased. He loves to take naps in the sun
and enjoys a casual scratch on the head. Snarf has
always been a cat who loves to purr and to talk if you talk back to him, he has
been known to carry on quite an involved conversation. Snarf is
the perfect companion for Tiffany. He has stuck by her side through all of
her ups and downs since the day he came home. He has also remained patient
and loyal every time Tiffany has had to move through the years. Snarf is a very calm
cat, he tolerates the screw ball antics of Tiffany and Jake's dogs, Kiawa,
Nikko, and Nanoo. With that said, Snarf has also been known to be fearless, he is not
afraid of anything including strange people, other cats and dogs, or children.
Snarf's
medical history at our hospital includes: cat fight trauma, a few surgeries for
abscess repairs, conjunctivitis, and an oral eosinophillic granuloma. It
seemed that despite his great and friendly attitude, some cat out there kept
fighting with him. Tiffany has always taken excellent care of Snarf and
kept him up to date on vaccination. Earlier this year Snarf presented for
severe stomatitis (inflammation in the mouth) and dental disease. Lab work
showed that Snarf had contracted FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).
Since this virus can suppress the immune system and make infections worse, we
made the decision to help Snarf by performing a complete dental cleaning.
During the procedure, Dr Sukhija found a mass under his tongue. After
informing Tiffany, this mass was removed and histopathology showed it to be
benign stomatitis with granulation tissue probably secondary to the FIV
infection. Since then, Snarf has become an indoor only cat to protect him
from infections more common outdoors, and to protect other cats that may come in
contact with him outside the house. The family dogs are not susceptible to
the FIV infection. Tiffany has also kept Snarf on preventative oral care
water additive called Aquadent and a plaque prevention gel called OraVet.
In addition, Snarf is also on Interferon Alfa-2A to help his immune system.
With these preventative treatments, we hope to work with Tiffany and Jake to
keep Snarf around for many years to come.
Snarf is a truly remarkable cat, and even though he has been diagnosed with a severe and potentially fatal disease, he continually tolerates all of his medication and his visits to Atlantic Animal Hospital. Snarf has always remained cool and poised when he is treated by the hospital staff. We are honored to work alongside his family of dogs (Kiawa, Nikko, Nanoo) and humans (Tiffany and Jake), in order to treat his FIV. Snarf and his family are another example of a great human-animal bond and relationship and we look forward to helping keep Snarf happy, healthy and purring.
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