Marilyn and her kitties left behind (long warning!)

The poor dear things, don't realize their Mama's gone into her own retirement
and they wander about her place looking for her.

The service was at the mortuary and they got a local minister to do it. It
was a small and quiet memorial; I wish Michelle had been granted her wish to
speak though. I don't know if anyone knew just how stubborn Marilyn could be:
this little, skinny woman once held a pack of city police at bay because cats
were found in an abandoned building that was going to be demolished, and she
stood there telling the cops to collectively do somethng involving their
mothers and the breaking of certain commandments as clearly outlined in the
Old Testament. Such was her passion for the animals who needed her. She did
not need to go passing tracts and whacking people upside the head with her
Bible; she lived the Christian witness without all the yammering and thumping
one might associate more negatively with a born-again person.

The house is to be sold, the proceeds to go to a joint venture benefitting
Hospice, the ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) Association, and local animal
shelters including Tenth Chance. The family are rather beside themselves over
this unexpected bequest. Michelle of Tenth Chance has practically threatened
the brother-in-residence to keep those remaining cats indoors, for we learned
today that one of the ten is FIV+.

I don't know if ALS makes you a little whacked up in the head or what--not
crazy, but confused. I knew Marilyn before that evil disease came and ate her
nervous system up; she was religious about vetting her cats and when she did
have one FIV case a couple of years ago she was stringent about sequestering
her. So why this adoptee of three years is running about among the other cats,
I've no clue. Not like Marilyn, unless ALS does something to cloud the
judgement; I will cast no aspersions on her, for she was my friend, she was
sick and it's not kosher to speak ill of our dead.

Michelle, the shelter president, has taken the cat in question to her own
place, which has a large spacious room set aside for FIV cases. If Sebastian--
a large, fat, healthy-so-far fella--doesn't get adopted out to a nice loving
one-cat household, he will not lack good care and love from the shelter folks.
So William of Orange has not come home with us today. He will be tested
tomorrow, as will all the others. Louie and I decided to pay for their
testing so the negative ones can be adopted out sooner and hopefully not have
to be quarantined; and the positive ones can be either placed with
conscientious and competent servants or live their lies in the cat-aids
sactuary. It was the least we could do for Marilyn, make sure her babies are
okay.

If and when my book gets sold, a tithe of all proceeds will be placed in a
charitable trust which we will set up in Marilyn's memory, to benefit the
shelters. There are things beyond my scope of ability, but tis thing at least
I can do to make the world a nicer neighborhood; and God willing, it'll
spread.

Blessed be,
Baha

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

Baha via CatKB.com u18616@uwe wrote:

I don't know if anyone knew just how stubborn Marilyn could be:
this little, skinny woman once held a pack of city police at bay because cats
were found in an abandoned building that was going to be demolished, and she
stood there telling the cops to collectively do somethng involving their
mothers and the breaking of certain commandments as clearly outlined in the
Old Testament.

LOL.

I don't know if ALS makes you a little whacked up in the head or what--not
crazy, but confused. I knew Marilyn before that evil disease came and ate her
nervous system up; she was religious about vetting her cats and when she did
have one FIV case a couple of years ago she was stringent about sequestering
her. So why this adoptee of three years is running about among the other
cats, I've no clue.

If the cats don't fight with each other, then it would be pretty safe
to let them stay in the same space. As long as there's no biting or drawing
of blood, the disease won't spread. (I'm assuming they're all neutered,
so you wouldn't have to worry about sexual transmission.)

Louie and I decided to pay for their
testing so the negative ones can be adopted out sooner and hopefully not have
to be quarantined; and the positive ones can be either placed with
conscientious and competent servants or live their lies in the cat-aids
sactuary. It was the least we could do for Marilyn, make sure her babies are
okay.

I think that's a major thing for you to be doing for her. It sounds like
those cats were her life, and I'm sure it must have tormented her to know
that they would most likely outlive her, worrying about what would happen
to them after she was gone. I think you can be pretty confident about
saying "it's what she would have wanted."

Joyce

--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

. The family are rather beside themselves over
this unexpected bequest. Michelle of Tenth Chance has practically threatened
the brother-in-residence to keep those remaining cats indoors, for we learned
today that one of the ten is FIV+.

I don't know if ALS makes you a little whacked up in the head or what--not
crazy, but confused. I knew Marilyn before that evil disease came and ate her
nervous system up; she was religious about vetting her cats and when she did
have one FIV case a couple of years ago she was stringent about sequestering
her. So why this adoptee of three years is running about among the other cats,
I've no clue. Not like Marilyn, unless ALS does something to cloud the
judgement; I will cast no aspersions on her, for she was my friend, she was
sick and it's not kosher to speak ill of our dead.////

I'm so sorry to hear of your friend Marilyn. We'll light a candle for
her.

Re the FIV - it is perfectly OK to keep a non agressive FIV+ cat with
FIV negative cats and it's not likely the neg cats will catch FIV. I
know of several mixed households, my vets included, where FIV+ cats
live perfectly happily with FIV negative cats without *ANY* problems..
It may be the quality of life for the FIV+ cat was better for him by
allowing him to mix in the household.

Once again, purrs on the loss of your friend.

Helen M

wrote:

I'm so sorry to hear of your friend Marilyn. We'll light a candle for
her.

Thanks...

Re the FIV - it is perfectly OK to keep a non agressive FIV+ cat with
FIV negative cats and it's not likely the neg cats will catch FIV. I
know of several mixed households, my vets included, where FIV+ cats
live perfectly happily with FIV negative cats without *ANY* problems..
It may be the quality of life for the FIV+ cat was better for him by
allowing him to mix in the household.

I guess my worry is Stosh. He's not mean, biting aggressive, but he likes
very physical play. Think of Tigger in those Pooh cartoons, how he'd appear
out of nowhere and pounce on some poor unsuspecting schmuck in the Hundred
Acre Wood. He's not a biter but he does give the occasional "love nip" and he
can spend all afternoon wrestling if given the opportunity. The Duke of
Orange is not an aggressive fella and, to my knowledge, neither is Sebastian;
Sebastian seems rather a wuss from everything I hear, but the worry came up
when he cussed at another cat yesterday and gave a swat.

I'm hearing conflicting stories about FIV transmission; some say it's only
through biting and blood, others say keep the cat sequestered because even
sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it. So now I'm confused as all
hell and my vet office is in conference and I can't even get a tech on the
line.

Once again, purrs on the loss of your friend.

thanks again.

Blessed be,
Baha

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...dotes/200801/1

we learned today that one of the ten is FIV+.

I don't know if ALS makes you a little whacked up in the head or what--not
crazy, but confused. I knew Marilyn before that evil disease came and ate her
nervous system up; she was religious about vetting her cats and when she did
have one FIV case a couple of years ago she was stringent about sequestering
her. So why this adoptee of three years is running about among the other cats,
I've no clue.

ALS ("motor neurone disease" in the UK) has no effect at all on your
thinking. It would be less horrible disease if it *did* fuddle your
wits - as it is, you know exactly what's going to happen to you.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Baha via CatKB.com u18616@uwe wrote:

I'm hearing conflicting stories about FIV transmission; some say it's only
through biting and blood, others say keep the cat sequestered because even
sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it.

Maybe in the latter case, they were thinking of FeLV? That is highly
contagious. But FIV (like HIV) is hard to transmit. A cat can't get it
from a dirty toilet seat - er, litter box.

Joyce

Baha via CatKB.com wrote:

I'm hearing conflicting stories about FIV transmission; some say it's
only through biting and blood, others say keep the cat sequestered
because even sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it. So now
I'm confused as all hell and my vet office is in conference and I
can't even get a tech on the line.

FIV can only be transmitted by bodily fluids, just the same as HIV. People
that say sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it are quite frakly
talking nonsense.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Adrian wrote:

FIV can only be transmitted by bodily fluids, just the same as HIV. People
that say sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it are quite frakly
talking nonsense.

So in this case, what is the likeloood of a cat going into a box used by an
FIV cat, then going into a grooming session, licking the traces of someone
else's busines off his paws, and contracting the virus?

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

ALS ("motor neurone disease" in the UK) has no effect at all on your
thinking. It would be less horrible disease if it *did* fuddle your
wits - as it is, you know exactly what's going to happen to you.

All the braver of Marilyn to have faced it then; I would have considered the
ramifications of my proximity to Niagara Falls, and the current market rate
for barrels.

Blessed be,
Baha

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

Baha via CatKB.com wrote:
Adrian wrote:

FIV can only be transmitted by bodily fluids, just the same as HIV.
People that say sharing a litter box or food dish can spread it are
quite frakly talking nonsense.

So in this case, what is the likeloood of a cat going into a box used
by an FIV cat, then going into a grooming session, licking the traces
of someone else's busines off his paws, and contracting the virus?

Unless the cat has open sores or cuts in its mouth no problem, if it has
there is a very tiny risk.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk