Jo Firey wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...

Takayuki wrote:
"Mischief" wrote:
I'm really starting to fall for her. I carry her around and I sat at
the front desk leaning back with the bitty on my chest, and she tucked
herself under my neck.

I really hope that there will be a happy ending and a good forever
home for her. I know you probably won't be able to adopt her, but
could you let us know how things go?

I don't know much about FeLV and FIV, but I'm wondering whether cats
that test positive for these can usually get adopted, and who adopts
them? Also, how long do they typically live?

Hi Tak---I can only speak for what our shelter does FeVL+ cats.
They are usually euthanized. It's very sad, but here's why it is
sometimes necessary: Households willing to adopt them are few and far
between. It has to be someone who has only FeLV+ cats in the home, and
not very many people are willing to adopt them. You can't adopt them
out to someone you cannot absolutely, positively trust. If you do, and
they decide to let them outdoors, they can infect the other
neighborhood cats. So that would make us responsible for spreading the
disease.
But they can remain symptom-free for a long time. I know a cat who
lived eight years after diagnosis. Especially if the cat is protected
from stress.

Sherry


It really is hard to make decisions about these cats. The first we learned
about this disease was when out Siamese Henry became ill and died. Our
other cat Ginger then tested positive. She was a feral cat we had taken in
and as best we could tell she brought it with her and infected Henry. She
however lived with it with no noticeable ill effect for another six years.
When she finally did get sick, she just became severely anemic. At least
she had an easy death.

Jo

Our Luke (Yoda's brother) somehow contracted feleuk even though he was
vaccinated. He was my daughter's cat. He wasn't symptomatic until she
got married and took him with her. I still think it was the stress. We
tried the interferon but it didn't help him. You know, feleuk is
supposed to be very contagious. But Yoda never tested positive. I think
some cats are just susceptible, more so than others.

Sherry