10/01/2026
💔 RIP, our sweet Sereja. 💔
I needed time to put this post together. And I don’t want to lie and say that we are strong, or that after doing rescue for so long we somehow learn to accept the good and the bad 24/7. I don’t…we don’t.
I am still tearing up while writing this post.
Two days ago, devastation came to our rescue once again. Our mush, our sweet, handsome, silly boy Sereja gained his wings and left for a better world. A world free of pain and suffering. A world where no human will ever betray him again 😭💔
Sereja came to our rescue in August 2025.
One of our volunteers spotted him sitting in the bushes at one of our managed colonies. Something about him immediately told her that this was not a feral cat. No feral cat would sit there like that, almost crying to be noticed and asking someone to help him.
She gently picked him up and placed him into the carrier she always keeps in her trunk.
Sereja looked like he had recently been beaten up. There were also older, healed wounds on his body. We didn’t know where he came from or what his life had been before that moment. But despite everything, this incredibly sweet boy still trusted people.
And then the next day came the news we were not prepared for.
Sereja tested positive for FeLV — feline leukemia.
As a rescue, we know all too well what those words can mean. But we desperately held onto the hope that perhaps it was a false positive. We took the next step and had a qPCR test performed. Those were some of the longest hours.
The results confirmed what we were afraid of: Sereja was progressively infected with FeLV.
He was only about two years old 😞.
We couldn’t tell him how much time he had. Days? Weeks? Months? Maybe, if we were lucky, a couple of years.
But we could make him one promise:
However much time you have, Sereja, you will be loved and spoiled every single day of it.
And that is exactly what happened. ❤️
Sereja also had dental disease, but considering his FeLV status and bloodwork, his doctors felt that putting him through a dental procedure carried too much risk. He received courses of antibiotics when needed, and most importantly, he had a wonderful hospice family watching over him, loving him and making sure every day that he was comfortable.
And our boy gave us 12½ beautiful months.
For 12½ months, Sereja wasn’t the abandoned cat sitting in the bushes anymore. Our boy had a home
and warm beds and the toys and plenty of delicious food and treats and most importantly he had people to love, the humans who worried about him, spoiled him, laughed at his silly personality.
Nothing seemed concerning until last week, when Sereja suddenly refused to eat and became lethargic. The next few days were a roller coaster of hope and fear.
And then Monday night, Sereja had a seizure.
His foster family rushed him to the ER, but in our hearts, we already knew. 😓
Our precious boy passed away surrounded by his favorite humans — two mamas, who loved him until his very last breath, no matter how painful it was for them to say goodbye.
We all cried that night.
And we are still crying today.
But through these tears, I keep reminding myself and his foster family Sereja did not die alone in those bushes.
He left this world knowing what it felt like to be someone’s baby and maybe that is the greatest gift rescue was able to give him.
I know our precious boy is finally at peace, and I hope somewhere, somehow, he is watching over his foster mamas who gave him the life he deserved.
We loved you, Sereja.
We will never forget you.
And we will forever be grateful that you found your way into our lives.
Rest peacefully, our sweet, silly, funny mush. ❤️
RIP Sereja. 🌈🐾
Until we meet again. ❤️❤️❤️
SHFL Team
