Hi Sue, I think it's great that you've given Buzz a new lease on life. It amazes and disgusts me that anyone would abuse an animal. Thanks to you and your brother's family for taking care of him.
I will say that, as someone who has to isolate a wonderful, sweet FeLV+ girl, I don't think it's cruel to keep an animal in one room, as long as their needs are met, they are given love and affection, and they get some time to play, even if it's in the one room. If you love Buzz, I think you should consider keeping him. If he does not have direct contact with your other cats, and as long as you keep his dishes and litterbox away from them when you're taking them out to be cleaned, the risk of them catching the virus AND actually becoming persistently infected would seem to be incredibly low, if not zero. The virus is fragile, and can't live outside of a cat for more than a few minutes. I'm definitely not trying to make you feel guilty or bad. It's just that you obviously love the little guy, and you might be the person he needs for the rest of his life. My Ember is almost six years old, and other than what seems like a yearly, intestinal bacterial overgrowth that's been easily treated thusfar, she's really doing well. Whatever you decide, thanks again for looking out for Buzz. Lance On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:35:19 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > Hello to All... > I recently took a cat my brother had rescued from some neighborhood kids > who were abusing and kicking him. He had fleas, worms and ear mites and > was near death. My brother and his wife nursed him back to physical > health, but he was terrified of people. They had been calling him Buzz > Saw because of the way he behaved when anyone tried to touch him. When > I visited my brother, my sister in law threw a blanket over him to catch > him and handed him to me. I cuddled him in and after a while he began to > purr. He was terrified of people reaching for him, so when we reached > for him we did so with treats in our hands. His whole personality began > to change and Buzz and I really began to bond. When I took him home I > had fortunately kept him away from my other 5 cats. I took him to our > vet to be checked over and neutered. I found out he is 8 - 10 months old > and the heartbreaking news - he is FeLV positive. I have read as much as > I could and > tried to find a way I could safely keep him with my other cats, but that > does > not seem to be possible. Even if I vaccinated my other cats the risk is > too > great. A couple of them have their own issues, and if they got feline > leukemia, > too, it would probably be the end of them. Buzz is now living in one > room of > my home and I am trying to find a good home for him. I would almost like > to be > selfish and keep him anyway because he has turned into one of the most > loving, > entertaining wonderful cats I have ever had, and I have had many. It > would not > be fair to keep him in one room for the rest of his life, though. Oh, by > the > way, his name is still Buzz, but now it stands for Buzz Light Year - To > Infinity > and Beyond! If anyone knows of a home where he will be well taken care > of and > happy, please let me know. > Thanks, > Sue > > > > > > -- Lance Linimon [EMAIL PROTECTED]
