FLASH Domestic Short Hair Grand Rapids, MI

On April 6th, 2013, I received the following email from one of our recent rescuers:
"I didn't ask before because I didn't want you to think I was juggling cats to and fro with my indecisiveness with Bunjee & Ivory, but I have stumbled upon another FIV cat that I don't know what to do with. He was trapped when I was working on catching the pregnant cats that I trapped and placed in foster care with rescue groups. I was just going to do a TNR like I have with the others, but this cat was not feral. He allowed me to pet him, so I had him neutered and tested for FIV/FeLV in the hopes of possibly finding placement for him. He came back positive for FIV, unfortunately. I swear I should just not test them and just do the TNR and put them back, but he also had a touch of anemia. So, because of the above issues, I couldn't just let him go again without feeling bad, so he is temporarily with me until I can find placement. I am not attached to him. I don't even think he really likes me because he isn't as friendly as when I first got him. Not sure if it's because he was used to being outside on the street or if it's something else. Maybe he doesn't feel good, not sure. I didn't test his poop or worm him yet, so I will do that and see if that makes him feel better.  There was a little bit of blood in his poo, so maybe he does have parasites. He is isolated from the other cats, so I have no idea how he is with other cats.

Anyways, I need to place him somewhere very soon. I have had no luck in anyone offering to take him. Is there any chance we could do a switcharoo? If I take 2 cats back, can I give you one?  ;-p   Doesn't hurt to ask, right? And I promise I wouldn't want him back, so no changing my mind on this one, unless of course he didn't work out at Sid's. I have no attachment to him at all because I have only had him for a couple weeks. I think he deserves a chance. He is all black just like Crash, and I actually have been calling him that because his tail is a mangled stub (an old injury or possibly congenital).   When my vet had him neutered, I told her to have his tail amputated if she thought it was needed, and she thinks maybe he was born that way, and she didn't think it was necesssary. It sure looks weird and is all bent up like at 45-degree angles.  If I can't find placement soon, I don't know what I'm going to do with him. He was just supposed to be another TNR, but silly me had to do the testing, and of course, another positive that I can't release.  Maybe I should just quit testing them!  sighhhhhhh."
Well, after reading his story, there was no way I was going to turn him away, and since she coudn't live without two FIV's she had recently brought us and was taking them back, we had a spot for this poor boy.  Born in April of 2010,I honestly do not think anyone was ever nice to this cat until he was rescued.  He was so terribly head shy and generally people shy, that it broke my heart to just look at him cowering in the cozy cage I had set up for him.  So I set out to win him over in any way I could, which consisted of filling his belly up to the rim with yummy canned food, and gently scratching his head while he ate.  it took a few days, but he stopped flinching at my touch.  and, as you can see by the picture above, once he was settled in at Big Sid's, our Cat Care Director Julie got him purring as she let him hunker down in her lap for some much needed one-on-one.
Years ago I rescued my basset Flash from an abusive siutation, and this guy reminds me so much of him, only in feline version, so I picked that name for him.  Both wanted so desperately to be loved, but were so distrustful and unsure of human contact, that they would recoil when approached.  With patience and perseverance I won them both over, and although it can sometimes be a daily struggle with our Flash here at Sid's, we will keep giving him all of the love and affection he can handle. 
Now as for that crazy tail, Zizi wasn't kidding when she said it was a quirky, curled appendage;  I find it fun to run my fingers through it's twists and curved when he is relaxed and lets me massage him.  It makes him just that more unique, and since it isn't painful or problematic, there is no reason to remove it. 
Flash is a dashing, not yet daring soul, whose sad story has tugged on many a heart string.  Please come meet him at one of our monthly Meet and Greets and see if you think you would be able to give him the type of home he SO deserves!