Sylvester's Fate

One particular situation that comes to mind is a disagreement over whether to euthanize an FIV positive male cat that came into our shelter for neutering. He was a fairly healthy cat and was only tested for Felv and FIV by mistake. We don't usually test community cats for Felv or FIV. The veterinarian performing surgeries that day believed that all cats (community cats and TNR) being spayed and neutered should be tested and euthanized if testing positive. The other two veterinarians that we work with us felt that since the cat was healthy he should be allowed to live. This is a situation that could have been avoided if we had more information available to make a policy concerning FIV positive cats in the beginning. The more facts about research on FIV positive cats could have helped us to set policies for our clinic on how to deal with these cats. The workers that had spent time with the cat "Sylvester" allowed their personal feelings to come into play and did not focus on that facts at hand. The group eventually discussed multiple alternatives to euthanasia including finding a rescue willing to take an FIV positive cat, letting him wait in the shelter until we could come to a consensus or immediately looking for an adopter willing to take on an FIV positive cat. An adopter for FIV positive cats was found at the last minute and "Sylvester" received his stay of execution. This situation proves that being proactive and setting protocols is important. If the stakeholders in our shelter had met to set policies before hand then this situation would not have been an issue. We currently do not have a policy to deal with FIV positive cats. We are all in agreement that Felv positive will be euthanized since they would not be eligible for adoption but FIV positive cats remain to be an issue. The competing (forcing) style would have best fit that situation. It would have been an unpopular decision to enforce a known rule or protocol. If protocols and policies are in place - they need to be followed. If there had been a written protocol if would have been much easier to euthanize the cat. We don't have any issues when euthanizing a FELV positive cats in our clinic. Everyone knows the protocol and why. I do think we need a definite protocol on how to deal with healthy FIV positive cats. Using the Asilomar categories to classify common medical conditions such as FIV could have been helpful and needs to addressed.

Due to being no protocol the only option was to use the collaboration style in that situation. Sometimes we all just have to put our heads together to find a quick solution. In the case of Sylvester, without a written protocol on FIV cats his case was in limbo for a few hours.