A woman from north Wales has set up an independent mobile veterinary service after her cat was euthanised unnecessarily. Linda Joyce-Jones, 59, was devastated when her cat Rosa was put down in 2018 after being diagnosed with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). However, she later discovered that a confirmatory test had never been carried out, raising doubts about the diagnosis.
Linda adopted Rosa in 2011 after the cat had been abandoned. It took two years to gain her trust, but Rosa eventually became a loving companion. When Rosa was diagnosed with FIV, Linda was told she would have to be euthanised. After reading about the condition, she learned it was not necessarily a death sentence. Rosa lived for several more months until she required steroids for a mouth operation, which are contraindicated for cats with FIV. Linda made the difficult decision to let Rosa go.
After obtaining Rosa's clinical notes, Linda discovered that only one of two required tests had been performed. The second test, which would have confirmed the FIV diagnosis, was never ordered. Consumed by grief and guilt, Linda attempted to take her own life in early 2019 but was stopped by her other cat, Gracie, who followed her and meowed, snapping her out of it.
Determined to prevent similar tragedies, Linda remortgaged her home to fund a mobile vet service, set to launch at the end of this month. The service will treat animals in their own homes to reduce stress and will work with a local practice for diagnostics. Linda emphasised that she is not targeting individual vets but opposing an industry she says treats animals as commodities.
