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Services & Programs
F.F.F. Programs & Services |
Have Cat, Will Travel |
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Short On Luck (S.O.L.) |
...is an emergency foster program
for needy cats.
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A new phase of the Short on Luck Program was launched
in February of 2004. The Safe Place component of the S. O.
L. is being developed to provide a temporarily safe place
for cats that are caught up in a domestic violence situation
and/or at risk of violence from their environment. The concept
is to provide a temporary sanctuary through a network of
emergency foster homes.
Contact FFF at: (925) 808-8364 or [email protected] |
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S.O.L. RESCUE!
If you would like to provide T.L.C. and shelter for a needy cat, or dog ...
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Visitor(s) In Fur |
Sally, founder of F.F.F., with her cat, Petunia. Update ... FFF is currently evaluating two promissing kittens to carry on Petunia's legacy of visitations.It is with great sadness and disbeleif that we announce the passing of our beloved PETUNIA, ... our muse and our heart and my life companion. Our Visitors in Fur Program will have a MORATORIUM in loving memory of Petunia.
As any animal lover can attest to, the unconditional love that an animal can give provides a unique type of therapy and support that "modern medicine" is only just now learning. At its inception, F.F.F. has been committed to helping provide this type of unique therapy and support to those in need via our "therapy cat", Petunia. Petunia has been visiting home and hospital students, Alzheimer's homes, nursing homes, schools and preschools, FREE of charge as part of F.F.F.'s commitment to Community Service since the inception of F.F.F. in 2001. a "Visitor(s) in Fur", please contact us. We usually conduct a preliminary visit to plan for the best possible introduction experience. Our "visitor(s) in fur" are current on their vaccines, have been combo tested for feline AIDS and Leukemia, temperament tested, and have current flea control. They are not declawed. FFF Beloved Petunia, Cat Liason, Emeritus 11/29/2017. IN MEMORIUM 
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Lost and Found |
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FELINE INFECTIOUS PERITONITIS ... F. I. P. The worst three letters a cat-lover could ever hear. |
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FRIENDS OF THE FORMERLY FRIENDLESS is proud and excited to be a founding member of the new S.O.C.K. FIP research project. S.O.C. K. is the acronym for Save Our Cats and Kittens.SOCKFIP is a group of cat-lovers, breeders, rescuers, shelters and vets working together to generate essential funding for FIP research at the UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health. Virtually 100% fatal, FIP strikes 1 in 100 of all cats. We know that most cats acquire the FIP virus early in life, though actual disease signs may not occur until weeks, months or even years later. Right now, there's no prevention and no cure for FIP. It's time to change all that - and it can be done! Through the very exciting and promising work at UC Davis, we hope to learn how to prevent FIP or find suitable treatments, and spare future generations of cats and cat-lovers this nightmare. Because very little government funding is available for companion animal studies, we are relying on the vast community of cat-lovers to help. HISTORY OF FIP RESEARCHAfter devoting a half century of his life to studying feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a deadly feline coronavirus, Dr. Niels Pedersen now finds himself in the unusual position of responding to media inquiries about SARS-CoV-2, the human coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The drug he discovered to be highly effective in curing FIP, known as GS-441524, turns out to be a close antiviral cousin of remdesivir—the first drug found to speed people’s recovery from COVID-19 in clinical trials. “While coronaviruses are found in most animal species, they don’t attract a lot of attention unless they are particularly virulent or deadly,” said Professor Emeritus Pedersen. “This COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the parallels between human and veterinary medicine that hopefully will help the public LEADING VETERINARY MEDICINE, ADDRESSING SOCIETAL NEEDS understand the critical connections between human and animal health.” Pedersen has a soft spot for cats after growing up with them on his family’s poultry farm. When he came to UC Davis in the 1960s, FIP was still a mysterious disease with an unknown cause that killed the majority of infected cats. Over the decades, he and other scientists discovered the feline coronavirus behind FIP but finding a vaccine or an effective treatment proved difficult. That’s where Pedersen poured his research endeavors—finding a cure for FIP. Dr. Brian Murphy joined the UC Davis faculty in 2007 and after Pedersen semi-retired in 2010, took over the feline coronavirus program. Murphy was first author on the groundbreaking 2018 article in Veterinary Microbiology showing GS-441524 had been successful in curing all 10 FIP-infected cats in a small study. A follow-up field trial of 31 cats had a high success rate as well. The study results seemed to herald the breakthrough that Pedersen had been seeking for decades. But for desperate pet owners seeking a cure, obtaining this new drug would prove elusive. Gilead, the biopharmaceutical company that developed GS-441524, withheld the rights for its use in animals because it might interfere with FDA approval for a prodrug form called remdesivir. The hope is that remdesivir will be approved by the FDA for general use in human viral diseases like COVID-19, thus paving the way for approval and legal use of GS-441524 for animals by veterinarians. Read the full article here |
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S.O.C.K.F.I.P |
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Meet Merrideth ... MEREDITH is one of the FIP kitties that was cured from wet FIP and Dr, Neils Pederson's landmark study that discovered a viral treatment\cure for FIP! Dr. Pederson, "The Father of FIP Research" approved the adoption of all the kitties used in his landmark study. FFF's founder, Sally, was honored to be approved to adopt Meredith. Meredith has now become our FACE OF FIP SUCCESS.
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