In July of 1998, we helped foster 3 adults cats and 9 kittens that were all part of a law enforcement, 'kitten-mill' abuse case in Massachusetts. A total of 75 cats were confiscated from a horrible living situation. They were starving, many had upper respiratory infections, fleas, ringworm and much more.
Sadly there were several newborn litters of kittens living in this deplorable house and we took one group that was only about 4 days old.
Fred was one of those tiny kittens.

The cats were all purebreds. Most were Scottish Folds, others were American Curls or Maine Coon cats. None of them deserved to be abused and neglected by the people who owned them.

Fred was an absolute darling. Sweet, curious, playful and he had a grand time playing with his brothers and sisters. He was a joy to be around. He seemed so regal at times and with his beautiful orange tiger stripes, we nicknamed him
"Sir Frederick of Orange"

Because the cats all had ringworm, we had to keep them all quarantined in separate rooms in our house. In another bedroom we had another adult female and two kittens. One kitten was not doing well, she stopped eating and we thought she had a severe upper respiratory infection. She didn't respond to the bottle feeding or the anti-biotics and after about 10 days, we lost her. Then her sister became ill. But her symptoms were different. She also stopped eating, but she started to have abdominal swelling. We brought her to the vet and his diagnosis was grim: FIP.

Feline Infectious Peritonitis is a contagious disease among cats
and once symptoms develop it is fatal. There is no cure.
We were devastated. The cats and kittens we had been caring for, for weeks, all had been exposed to FIP. In fact, ALL of the cats living in the kitten mill had been exposed and were at risk for developing and dying from FIP.

We had all of the cats and kittens tested for the virus ... all came back low-positive. We had informed the shelter that was handling the abuse case, of what was happening. Many of the cats had already been adopted out, after doing well in foster care. Our crew was still too young for adoptions. So we waited ... There was the possibility that they may not develop symptoms. As they reached 8-9 weeks of age and were still healthy, the shelter found homes for all of them, informing each family of the potential risk of FIP.

Fred, as adorable as he was, was not adopted by any of the new families. So he stayed with us and the (3) adults females who by now were all living together in one of our bedrooms. We later understood why Fred remained behind. Around 4 months of age, Fred came down with FIP symptoms. I believe a higher 'power' gave us Fred to love here on earth ... he was already home in his family.

While he was with us, Fred had a grand time. The 3 female cats: Momma Amber, Raven and Tulip doted on him, caring for him, keeping him company, playing with him, snuggling with him, grooming him. I think they knew he didn't have much time. We doted on him as well, hugging him, feeding him special treats, flying paper airplanes so he could chase them around the room, rolling balls across the floor, and buying him a cat-napper window seat so he could nap in the sunshine.

Fred got to celebrate Thanskgiving, Christmas and New Year 1999. We were hopeful that his remission would continue for many more months. But our hope was short-lived. Fred's symptoms returned and he became ill. He had difficulty breathing and as valiant as he was for such a tender age, he was losing his battle.

At only 6 and 1/2 months, we had to make the painful decision to stop Fred's suffering and let him be at peace. So on February 2, 1999 we held Fred close and told him how much we loved him and how much we would miss him ... and then we quietly let him slip over to the Rainbow Bridge.