i think that the stress issue is far more important, especially for ferals. translocating to a sanctuary is not an issue with housecats, and while living with large numbers of cats CAN be very stressful, when the cats are somewhat socialized to people, it's quite possible to provide them with a comfortable environment. not easy, but possible.
one of the reasons that it's so hard to find FIV space at sanctuaries is that they DO live forever.... or close enough. dr levy, like most researchers, are not going to state that something is absolutely safe until and unless there is actual data backing that up; unfortunately, we've gone so many years without adequate research being done that some important questions still remain unanswered. agaih, this is why the discussions about using, "captive" populations come up. from my experience, feral FeLVs did less well in a sanctuary enviroment than did strays or more social cats; didn't see the same thing with the FIVs--tho the ferals stayed away from the horrible humans (who would make their fur fall out if they got close enough, i'm told that mamaferals tell them). actually, feral non-positives did less well than other cats did, too--being around people, even tho we left them alone (except when necessary, tho we checked them visually every day), was NOT a good thing to them. so i'm not sure that the rules DO apply equally. i don't know what actual figures exist for transmission of FIV without fighting; i know that sanctuaries will foster out, or segregate, any cats who continue to be aggressive after neutering. MC On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 3:43 PM, Stray Cat Alliance < stray_cat_allia...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > I disagree on a few points. > > > -- Spay & Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference.... MaryChristine Special-Needs Coordinator, Purebred Cat Breed Rescue (www.purebredcats.org) Member, SCAT (Special-Cat Action Team) _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
