Companion Corner: Freya, Fudge & Charlotte

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — If looking for the perfect feline pet, why not triple the fun? There's a threesome at Berkshire Humane Society waiting for a family to call their own.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home. 

Kittens Fudge and Charlotte and their mother, Freya, have been at the shelter and in a foster home since April. All three have tested positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), often described as feline HIV/AIDS

Feline/small animal adoption counselor Alyssa Petell introduced us to them. 

"They originally were brought in from animal control. The conditions weren't the best in the home. But when they came in, they were tested positive for feline AIDS (FIV). We do send our kittens normally to foster programs to get socialized with the mom. So they got sent to a foster program for about two months to get socialized," she said.

The shelter preferably would like the three to as a family, and to a home with respectful children that will keep them inside.

"We would prefer if they could all go together, but they are a very sweet trio of kitties. They would have to be indoor only because of them being feline AIDS positive," Petell said. "It is OK for them to go into a home with other cats. We prefer if they go into a home with feline AIDS-positive cats, but even if they are negative for feline AIDS, as long as they're not actively scratching each other and biting each other to transmit it, then it should be OK."

Each cat has their own personality. The two kittens love to play with an abundance of toys; one is shy and the other is outgoing. They both like to curl up and sleep in your lap once they get to know you.

"Fudge is just super energetic, super playful. He is very outgoing. As you can see, Charlotte is also pretty outgoing herself, but she is on the more independent side. Fudge is definitely going to come up to you," Petell said.

Their mother is also very shy but once she gets to know you, she turns into a lap cat.

"She is a lovely lady. She's actually very sweet once she warms up to you," she said. "She's just a little shy in the beginning, but she's very sweet. She's definitely a lap cat once she gets to know you a little better."

Because of the virus, their immune system is weaker and their eyes that might need some medication.

"There is something that happens I did want to mention with her eyes because of them having feline AIDS, they have weaker immune systems, so they're more prone to having issues with their eyes," Petell said. "To where they sometimes have a runny left or right eye, so we do sometimes give them a little bit of medication to help that kind of calm down."

Even though they have FIV, that doesn't stop them from living a happy and fruitful life.

"If they ever do get sick, it can be a little harder for them to recover because of the feline AIDS, so they definitely get it worse than normal cats with better immune systems would get with a sickness," she said. "So that is one thing that they do have to deal with, but they can live a perfectly happy and healthy long life with feline AIDS, and they will not let that stop them from playing and just definitely enjoying life.

"They are just a great group of cats and absolutely wonderful, super affectionate, playful, amazing cats all around."

The Berkshire Humane Society also commends their foster families and says if you would like to foster pets, to contact the society.

"I also wanted to mention our amazing foster parents," Petell said. "They did a fantastic job at raising these kittens and the mom, and they are just so healthy, and they're doing so well because of how incredible our foster parents are to the cats that we send out to them."

You can visit Freya and her kittens at the Berkshire Humane Society and read more about them on the website.

The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday through Sunday. The adoption center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.