I love your description of your crew!
As for how it is transmitted...if I've learned ANYTHING from caring for
animals...its "listen to those who actually have them...more so than
vets"....Too many vets say a felv+ cat should be pts. whereas people who
actually take care of them, know that they can live long healthy lives.
Maybe check with your local cat rescue to see if they can help you with the
expense...meanwhile, just try to give each cat a quality life, healthy diet,
and keep them as stress free as possible.....test when you have the money to do
so, AS you have the money to do so...even if you don't get them all done at
once.
....uhm..maybe start with Sneezy...;-)
As for them adoring your hubby! I hear that!
My mom isn't a fan of cats (they kinda give her the heebie-geebies-what with
the shedding and going so limp when you pick them up)...but can't stand to see
them cold or suffer so she took to feeding a few run-a-ways from her neighbor's
home down the court..they had 15...and two of them, Tom & Jerry took up
residence on Mom & Dad's front porch-refusing to ever go home. After several
years of the cats training Mom's standard poodle NOT to try to chase or eat
them (a feat beyond any human...believe me...we tried!)...the cats also trained
my parents to let them into the house...first into a room in the
basement...then to supply that room with nice fluffy beds..& toys.....then to
let them into the rest of the basement....and eventually into the rest of the
house. Two others HissPuff & Tabby showed up...Tabby keeps trying to expand
the cats "allowed" home space to the masterbed....Anyway, they absolutely love
my dad who administers to them....(Mom feeds & cleans up after
them, but Dad pets, plays, sits with them...) Mom calls him the "cat
whisperer". Its not unusal to see Dad on the lazyboy downstairs, with the two
black n whites, Tom & Jerry, sitting looking like clones, side by side, their
butts up against his hip, and Tabby drapped across his shoulders or lap ...
We think HissPuff (he was somekind of jet black Burmese/maybe Himie or
Pursain mix that would only rarely allow himself to be touched...and would hiss
whenever anyone looked at him) might have died of Felv leuk. but decided that
we weren't going to have the others tested because they weren't to be put down
if they tested positive anyway.
Debbie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I suppose the main reason we would like to know is so we can try to help
keep them healthier longer. Also, my aunt has alot of cats and so does my
sister, neighbors, - I would hate to somehow transmit this disease. I feel a
bit confused because we have had some people say "it is hard to catch", but
others say it is easily transmitted. With where we live I am sure we will
eventually accumulate more cats. We just aren't the type to turn a blind eye if
we see them suffering. I think we should know if we would be exposing them. It
was the vets idea to test them all. Seems to me they could be a bit cheaper but
the ones in our area aren't.
We definitely enjoy the ones we have. They are our babies: Their names are as
follows:
Frodo, Arwen, Daffodil, Tigger, Algernon, Koko, Lady, Sneezy, Petey, Patches,
Cassie, Fuzzy, Solomon, and Sheba. Seven were found in Dayton Ohio in a trash
bin. The first 3 were long hair, the next 4 still had the unbilical cords
attached. Solomon and Sheba we brought back to Ohio from Missouri. They were
kittens living in a field with horses. They were eating horse feed and insects
(starving). Sneezy was a neighbors cat we think. They went away for the winter
and left her outside. She came to our house and was pregnant. She gave birth on
our new loveseat!
We also have a black lab called Charlie and at Christmas my husband found a
chocolate lab puppy (around 4 weeks old) in a box alongside the road. He called
her Tegan. She is now up to 26 lbs!
There are days when we feel like we live in a zoo, but we would not trade
them for anything. Funny thing is my husband came to the U.S. from England. He
never really liked cats (much more of a dog person). Now wherever he goes they
all follow him. He can not even use the restroom without Daffodil going with
him! She paws at the door until he leaves her in. I call him the Pied Piper of
Yorkshire.
Debbie
-----Original Message-----
From: tamara stickler
Sent: Mar 1, 2007 1:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Debbie's multible testing need
Debbie,
Let me ask you this: if you are planing on keeping all the cats that you
currently have, why the rush to test? They've already been exposed, yes?
Folks on this list have proven that positive cats can have great lives...and
many of them have households where they've mixed both positive and neg. cats....
Why not just cut yourselves a break, and take it day by day? Enjoy the ones
you have (whatever their health status), try not to add more, of if you do, get
them vaccinated first, and just go on with your lives. What is the point of
rushing to have them all tested?
If you feel you NEED to know....shop around for a compassionate vet. I have
one that cuts her clients a break on households with multible pets. Some mobil
vets will agree to only charge for 1 "office" (house) visit if you get more
than one animal looked at at once...OR...is there a cat rescue organization
that would help you with the costs of testing?
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