LIVE: Pet Connection: Meet Ophelia

FARGO — Ophelia the cat hasn’t had perhaps as tough a life story as her literary namesake, but the young domestic shorthair still has had plenty of obstacles in her two years of life.

She’s very sweet and patient cat who likes to cuddle, and comes to the Morning Show with rescue worker Heather Klefstad of Homeward Animal Shelter.

Ophelia is feline leukemia-positive, a disease that usually happens to either an animal who’s born to a mother who’s never been vaccinated, or to an animal who’s young and hasn’t had the chance to be vaccinated before being exposed through casual contact.

It’s so contagious, they can give it to each other just through their saliva.

That means Ophelia can spread it to other cats who aren’t vaccinated, so she should not be in a home with other cats who aren’t feline leukemia positive.

It also means it compromises her immune system and it can eventually shorten her lifespan.

However, as you can see, Ophelia is in pretty good physical shape.

Her only caveat is that she’s not a dog person, so if you have dogs already in your home, she’s not the cat for you, since it would be entirely too stressful for her.

If you do have other positive cats in your home, she’s a great candidate for adoption, since she’s so affectionate, good-natured (and pretty too).

If you can’t bring Ophelia home but want to contribute to her care, or that of other animals at Homeward, check out the Spay-ghetti and No Balls fundraiser.

This is their tenth year raising money to spay and neuter homeless pets in the region, which means better lives for humans and domestic animals in our community. ‘

Check out their silent auction and other activities, and don’t forget to look at Ophelia’s adoption info and pass it along to someone who could be her furever family.

For more information:

https://www.homewardonline.org/adoption-foster-info/#sl_embed&page=shelterluv_wrap_1731345696%2Fembed%2Fanimal%2F210683816

https://www.homewardonline.org/