You're right about the education, Nina---I phone-interviewed a petsitter last night--a petsitter who purportedly also volunteers for the cat shelter where I "found" my FeLV kitties. (The kitties did not come *from* the cat shelter, but from a woman who was hoping, in vain as it turned out, that the shelter could take them--I just happened to be at the shelter at the time. But I digress.) The petsitter obviously knew zippo about FeLV. She thought I meant FIV (about which she was also pretty hazy.) During the conversation *I* told *her* that the shelter actually euthanizes FeLV cats. (This is something I found out after I got the cats. So thank goodness the shelter wouldn't take them--only one of them, the negative female, would be alive today.) Anyway, you've reminded me to emphasize the wrongfulness of pts'ing FeLV cats, and the reasons why it's wrong. The dog analogy is a good one. Kerry
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nina Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 12:40 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Recent losses It's been really tough on the list lately. It's so discouraging and sad sometimes. I really appreciated Jamie's sentiments about how special all positives are and the incredible changes they bring to our lives. I wouldn't trade the heartache, as devastating as it has been, because knowing them, and getting to know all of you and the angels on this list through your posts, have led me down avenues of self discovery I never would have made without you. I'm a different person, (better, I think), because of finding a box of FelV bottle babies. It makes me so unhappy to think of the cats that are pts, (esp the asymptomatic ones), as soon as a diagnosis is made. I made an analogy the other day to someone about Great Danes. They are such wonderful, loving giants. Such gentle and intuitive spirits. They're downfall, imo, is that they have very short life spans, (5-7 years). Still, you don't hear vets saying, well, he's 3 years old now, he doesn't have much time left, I think we should think about euthanasia. It's so important that we, along with doing everything in our power to bring about a cure, educate those who hear "FelV" and think, well then, that's it, it's all over. We know better, and it's up to us to help others understand. Much love to you all, and thank you, Nina This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
