Meet Our Cats: Gumby

We started fostering Gumby via Pet Rescue by Judy (PRBJ) in October of 2013. Since we didn't have other cats in our home at the time, they gave us Gumby, who is FIV+. He was our first foster and he made a failure of us -- we officially adopted Gumby on July 25, 2014. At that time his age was estimated to be about 4 years old.

We read about what it meant to have an FIV+ cat. We learned from other foster cat families that had met Gumby that he was a cat's cat -- he loves to spend time with fellow felines. With PRBJ we fostered a few more cats who were adopted out, before we decided to leave the program. Gumby was especially a great mentor to kittens and shy cats.

Gumby gets along great with his two brothers from another mother. The above photo is from a few years back when Timmy and William moved in with us. He is the dominant kitty in our home, but he rules with a gentle paw. He even lets the younger cats win play fights with him... sometimes.

Gumby is in great health for his age and condition. He has food sensitivities and when we first got him he had some skin issues. We had to give him baths a few times as his skin was healing -- he didn't like it but he behaved like a champ in the tub!

Gumby's skin issues were finally resolved once we found the right brand of grain-free food for him. He still has a sensitive stomach and if he gets too excited before mealtime, he has a tendency to regurgitate his food. We manage this with smaller meals and a set mealtime routine which greatly mitigates this issue.

Gumby's Likes

  • Baking himself in sunbeams
  • Chasing laser lights
  • Meeting strangers
  • Being brushed

Gumby's Dislikes

  • Visits to the vet
  • When dinner is late
  • Crunchy sounds
  • Snakes

Posts Featuring Gumby

Alternative Use: Kitchen Cart as Kitty Station

Kitchen carts designed to hold microwaves or other appliances are usually sturdy pieces of furniture. Consider using a multiple shelf unit like this one, highly rated for its intended use, as a piece of furniture for your cat! There are several different space-saving ways you can use...

Foldable Emergency Litterbox for Travel, More

This is a portable litterbox that is completely collapsible for easy storage and transport. Keep this box as a quick and easy extra for travel, emergencies, or even unexpected guests.

Extremely Long Handled Cat Box Scoop

Save your back with an extremely long-handled litter box scooper like this unit from Sand Dipper. The handle is over 2 feet long!

Pet MD Hydrocortisone Topical Skin Spray

Our tuxedo cat Gumby is FIV+. It may be due to his condition that he suffers from terrible allergies that used to leave his skin in pretty bad shape. When we first had him as our foster kitty, he had bumps on his skin at the base of his tail and at his haunches. We could see he was in misery from the itching -- it was awful. It was recommended we ask the vet for a steroid shot to help relieve the itching. This did wonders for his comfort, but we still had to get to the bottom of the skin issues.Something else that helps with skin irritations and allergies is this topical hydrocortisone spray from Pet MD.