Greebo’s Story by Krissy USA

We adopted Greebo from our friend Dana of the themeowtsiders (Instagram) from northern Jersey. He had been found eating garbage by Dana and readily hopped into her car after she offered him food. https://coleandmarmalade.com/2018/10/31/moon-shines-on-stray-cat-found-in-middle-of-the-street-illuminates-his-path-to-rescuers/ <----- his story of how Dana found him.

We adopted him knowing his FIV+ status, and our other cat Freya (FIV-) tolerated the newest addition to her kingdom. Greebo enjoys greeting our friends and trying to sneak food off of our plates. Freya gets FIv tested yearly with her routine bloodwork and her status as negative as remained the same.

Last summer we found a third cat Acciughe (FIV-) who became obsessed with Greebo and follows him everywhere. Like Freya, Acciughe's status is still negative when checked yearly. 

Greebo's health has always been a priority for us, especially now since I started work at a vet clinic. He gets bloodwork done twice a year to ensure that he's got no underlying diseases or any issues. He's developed some seasonal allergies as he ages which now require some eye wash to keep pollen out of his eyes and to keep them from getting too itchy. He also recently had a mass removed, which we found out yesterday thankfully is not cancer! We're doing all we can to ensure that our buddy has the best quality of live possible because oh boy does he have a lot of love to give! While it's been a bit of a tough year health wise for Greebo, he's really become somewhat of a celebrity at my job. My coworkers give him so much love and attention anytime he comes in, and he seems to think he runs the show in the back. We've joked that he probably thinks that this is his residency and he'll be ready to help out with cases in no time. 

Greebo has become such a backbone of our routine at home. Getting up for his breakfast, then going back upstairs to make sure his papa is awake. Reminding his papa, who works from home, to take lunch. Reminding BOTH of his humans then it's time for his sister Freya to get her nightly medication (it's treat time for everyone at that time you know!),and making sure that I, his mom, gets to bed at a reasonable time so he can get his 8 hours of beauty rest. 

We love Greebo to pieces and genuinely can't imagine life without him in it. We're very thankful that his FIV is being managed to the best of everyone's ability and he's able to have a great quality of life. While overall we've had good luck with him health wise, I would like to make sure that folks who adopt FIV+ cats understand that they need to be the biggest advocate for them for their health. It's up to you to make sure you're putting their health first, they are immunocompromised and you're their biggest cheerleader. While I know it can be daunting, it's very much worth it to know that Greebo is staying as healthy as possible.