Fort Wayne, IN – Effective immediately Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control is suspending the adoption and intake of adolescent cats and kittens due to a recent outbreak of feline panleukopenia.

Feline panleukopenia, also known as the feline distemper or feline parvo, is a highly contagious virus that mostly affects unvaccinated kittens. Symptoms include fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and death. It is spread when a cat or kitten comes into contact with infected feces, vomit, nasal discharge and other bodily excretions. It does not affect people or other types of animals such as dogs.

FWACC is in the process of containing and decontaminating the shelter, and staff are testing and watching all cats currently at the shelter. All cats and kittens are vaccinated upon arrival at the shelter. To ensure the disease does not continue to spread to cats in our community, all adoptions of adolescent cats and kittens will be suspended until Tuesday, Aug 23 or it is determined safe by the shelter medical team.

Anyone who has adopted a cat or kitten from Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control, whether the shelter location or off-site, since Aug. 1 should monitor their pet at home. If it has or is showing symptoms please call our office at 427-1244 option 1 immediately so treatment can be given. Staff are working to contact adopters that may be affected by the outbreak.

To prevent further outbreak of panleukopenia in the shelter, the intake of cats and kittens will be diverted until Sept. 1 or until shelter medical staff determine the shelter can return to normal operations. Citizens who currently have an appointment to surrender an at-risk cat or kitten will be contacted and offered options to get the cat vaccinated at the shelter then keep it at their home until the shelter is ready and able to take the cat or kitten. Citizens bringing in stray cats or kittens will be offered the same service, vaccinations then the option to hold them in their home to prevent further spread of the disease. FWACC is an open access shelter, so if the citizen does not wish to take the cat or kitten home we will take it in. 

To further stop the spread of the disease in our community, all community cats will be vaccinated against feline panleukopenia before being returned to their colony.

Feline panleukopenia is a preventable disease. Kittens can receive the first round of vaccines to prevent the deadly disease at 4-6 weeks and should receive boosters as recommended by a veterinarian. Adult cats should also be vaccinated to prevent illness.

The shelter is seeking the community's immediate help with donations to the Angel Fund to help cover the cost of the additional vaccines needed for community cats.

Those wishing to donate can help by either purchasing needed supplies via the shelter’s Amazon Wishlist or making monetary donations through the shelter’s website.

Fort Wayne, IN – Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control has received a grant of $37,135 from the Orphan Kitten Club to support the shelter’s growing foster department.

The grant was used to hire two additional staff members to address an increase in the number of animals being saved through fostering. The additional staff will allow the foster department to take in more animals, provide more support to foster families, and provide more positive outcomes for animals coming into the shelter’s care.

The life-saving efforts of the foster department relies solely on donations and grants to provide care to the most at-risk animals in our community. More than 1,550 animals were saved by foster families last year, which is nearly five times more than the number of animals saved five years ago. More than 850 animals have been saved by the foster program so far this year.

Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control is always looking for more families willing to open their homes to foster animals in need. If you are interested in fostering or would like to support this program visit our foster website here.

About Orphan Kitten Club

The Orphan Kitten Club is a national organization founded by Hannah Shaw, better known as the Kitten Lady. The Kitten Lady is a professional kitten rescuer and humane educator who travels the country to teach classes about kitten care and has gained a loyal social media following.

Fort Wayne, IN – Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control will celebrate “Kitten Week” July 5th through July 11th to find more foster families and raise money to support the foster program at the shelter. Adoption fees for kittens will also be waived this week to make more room for incoming animals.

So far this year 664 animals have gone through the foster program, 599 of which were cats and kittens. At this moment more than 220 animals are currently out in foster homes.

The foster department relies solely on donations and grants to provide life-saving care to the most at-risk animals in our care. More than 1,550 animals were saved by foster families last year, nearly five times the number of animals fostered five years ago.  

The need for fostering continues to grow in our community and is only possible by the generous support of citizens. “Kitten Week” is a social media campaign that will feature opportunities for citizens to learn about becoming a foster, get a behind-the-scenes look at how our foster team works to provide the best outcome for animals, and will give citizens the chance to help save more lives of at-risk animals in our community.

To view the shelter’s wish list click HERE.

Click HERE to follow “Kitten Week” on FWACC’s Facebook page or HERE to follow along on Twitter.

Interested in fostering? Learn more about how to apply and guidelines HERE.