My mother has 4 cats. Two she got from animal shelters and two she adopted from strays. Last year, another stray started showing up in her yard. She fed it and gave it water; she also added a second "cat house" on her deck to give it a nice place to sleep(one of her cats already lives outdoors full-time). This morning, she was finally able to get the new stray-Blackie- and take it to the vet for a checkup. It turns out that Blackie is infected with the feline leukemia virus. This means, of course, that my mother can't bring the cat into the house like she wanted because it would be dangerous to the uninfected cats. However, she can't release the cat back into the neighborhood because it would

1) possibly infect other cats and
2) means that Blackie would suffer and die all by himself

Currently, she doesn't know what to do. The vet has agreed to board Blackie while we look for a home for him. Of course, he would have to stay inside for the rest of his life. Some cats die within a couple of years from feline leukemia, while a few have lived as long as 11 years infected with the virus. Currently, Blackie just appears infected. The vet hasn't determined yet if the kitty AIDS is full blown. If Blackie actually sick-not just infected- then the choice is clear: euthenasia. However, if he's merely infected, it's possible that he could lead a happy life for several years. Maybe more. He's obviously a little reticent around people, having lived as a stray for a couple of years. However, with some coaxing and TLC, he could become a good pet for someone that is happy to be a single cat household. Be aware that he cannot be allowed back outside again. So I'm asking my readers-both of them- to post a link to this story. If Blackie is just infected, but not actively disease ridden, and someone is willing to give him a happy home for however long he has, we can try and work something out. I'd hate to have the vet have to kill him just because we can't find a home.

I realize that I'd have a better likelihood of success if I had the traffic of the Puppy Blender, but I'll take the chance that someone with high traffic links to this post. I will post an update on Blackie's condition as soon as I know something definitive.

Why can't I take him? Because I already have 3 adopted strays in my household and all 3 are healthy. Much as I'd love to help, I cannot risk the infection to my cats. Hence the request for a single cat household adoption.

Thanks for reading. I know that I'm asking for a miracle, but that's pretty much the only chance left at this point.

Update: The cat currently resides in Richmond, VA. Thanks to Harvey for pointing out that I had failed to mention that.

Update: Serenity links to another horrifying story where some pieces of excrement treat an animal like some useless debris to be discarded. It's related to Blacie how? Only in that people act like such turds towards animals too often and this is one case where an abandoned cat(and yes, one infected with feline leukemia) can possibly be given a decent home where he can live out his life. Yep, this post is a Hail Mary; my mother and I are working the live humans in the area, too.

Final Update(and it's good news!): Sometimes the Hail Mary actually works: Blackie has a home. There is a pet rescue home not far from here that takes mostly dogs, but has a new FIV/feline leukemia positive cats, and the people there have agreed to take Blackie. The vet will give him all of his shots now and neuter him before he heads on to the pet hotel.
Thanks to everyone for helping, and especially to Harvey for providing the extra linkage and traffic. I will now remove this post from the top of this blog.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:24 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 696 words, total size 4 kb.

1 PG - You forgot to mention where this cat is located.

Posted by: Harvey at July 20, 2004 12:39 AM (ubhj8)

2 Get a load of this. TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. I've had several cats in my life, but I've never had a cat that died of old age.

Posted by: Rob at July 20, 2004 11:54 PM (7ldvV)

3 YEEEEEE-HAWWWWWW! Cripes! I'm tingly all over :-)

Posted by: Harvey at July 21, 2004 06:24 PM (tJfh1)

4 Time to wake up and smell the cat box. Four cats is three too many. Over the years I watched my mother degenerate into a 'Cat Lady'. When she finally stroked out and went into a home, we ventured into her house to survey the damage. (She had forbidden anyone from entering her house for over ten years.) Multiple dogs in cages stacked one on the other. Cats beyond counting (in the 40+ range), most caged. Some dead in their cages. Dead cat carcasses in the freezer. All these animals had to be euthanized. The neighbors had complained for years, but the animal shelter authorities are part of the 'save-all-animals-all-the-time' crowd.) The whole thing was a horror story that makes me shudder (literally) even after ten years. Don't call me an animal hater. We share our house with an aging potbelly pig, who has the run of the house and half the yard, but when her life becomes more suffering than enjoyment, or if she ever turns into a 'toxic' beast like this cat with leukemia (and I say 'beast' affectionately), we'll do the manly thing and put her down. [Hope someone does the same for me - and I know there are going to be a lot of people who say I should be put down right now for my 'extreme' opinions.]

Posted by: MrGrumpyDrawers at July 24, 2004 02:07 AM (wVSJa)

5 Didn't I see this story on Yahoo recently?

Posted by: physics geek at July 26, 2004 01:27 PM (Xvrs7)

6 Omg thats right! Please come see me and my friends!

Posted by: watch moi at March 16, 2005 09:39 PM (7z98K)

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