Meet “Gus Gus”
🧡🐾 Gus Gus is Ready for a Forever Home 🐾🧡
Meet Gus Gus — the sweetest, most-deserving orange boy you will ever meet. A cat who has already survived abandonment, untreated suffering on the streets, and was TNR’d by someone else, and the San Diego Humane Society happily looked the other way and clipped his ear and kicked him back out on to the street – sadly it appears to just suffer. 🐾💔
And yet… there is not a mean bone in him. Just a deeply mellow, gentle soul who wants nothing more than a soft place to land and a human to love. Located in San Diego! 🧡
Gus Gus originally came into our care about a month ago. Prior to that, he had been TNR’d by someone else — ear-tipped and released as “feral,” despite being clearly the opposite: extremely friendly, handleable, and social.
By the time we took him in, he was in rough shape — losing fur from a severe flea allergy (one bite triggers weeks of intense itching and self-trauma), and actively suffering from painful inflammation in his front paws caused by an autoimmune condition known as “pillow foot” (pododermatitis), which had him leaving bloody prints behind. 🐾💔
When we took him back to SD HS, he was assessed and deemed unlikely to thrive outdoors and considered for euthanasia due to his autoimmune medical needs. We didn’t see a cat who couldn’t be helped — we saw a cat who hadn’t yet been given the right care.
We stepped in, begged (and amazingly were granted the chance to give it a shot) and brought him into rescue to give him that chance.
🐾 Gus Gus is also FIV positive — which simply means he needs an indoor-only home and calm companions. Indoor FIV+ cats can live completely normal, full lifespans. Transmission is rare and requires deep bite wounds or mating, not casual contact, grooming, or shared space (just like human HIV – we aren’t in the 80’s anymore).
🐾 Autoimmune “pillow foot” (pododermatitis) — most likely not a problem if he isn’t burning his paws on concrete or running up trees and fences from coyotes.
• Easily managed with medication when needed
• Responds very well to doxycycline (he takes it like a champ)
🐾 Severe flea sensitivity
• One bite can trigger intense itching for weeks — strict flea prevention is essential
• Best placed in a home without flea exposure risks to keep him comfortable and stable – NO indoor outdoor cats or dogs. Even if on flea meds – one flea bite and he will itch for weeks!
And through all of it… he is still just the best boy.
He is calm, affectionate, and deeply trusting. The kind of cat who leans into you, melts into your lap, and purrs like he is finally safe. 🥹
We believe he was likely abandoned near a neighboring apartment complex — too friendly to be truly feral, too sweet to survive outside comfortably.
He is:
🐾 Neutered
💉 Vaccinated
🪱 Dewormed
🐾 Flea treated
📍 Microchipped
🚽 Litter box trained
🏠 Indoor-only home required
Gus Gus is approximately 3 years old, has great teeth, and an enormous capacity for love. He is already improving dramatically with treatment and care — proof that he was never “unfixable,” just untreated.
We are asking for something simple, but meaningful: a home that sees him for what he is, not what he was labeled as. A soft landing for a truly special soul. 🧡
💲 Adoption fee $50: reduced for the right home (placement matters most)
📲 Text 858-883-4222 to meet Gus Gus
If you want the calmest, sweetest orange companion… this is your boy. 🧡🐾
#JoannesFurryFriends #AdoptDontShop #SanDiegoCats #FIVPositiveCat #RescueCat #OrangeCatLove
