Caroline, Bless you for caring so much about this little problem child! While I hate to "hope" that an animal was abused, I do hope that his problems, whatever they turn out to be, ARE finite and treatable. You know, if these folks are really old, maybe they just aren't "up" on current thinking on kitty behavior. My housemate's mother got a cat and couldn't really accept that this particular cat's personality was not to be a cuddler, and she steadfastly tried to *train* the cat to be a cuddler and then resented it when she wasn't. She wasn't cruel to her or anything, but I think Kitty was much happier later when living with my housemate, who respected her right to express affection on her own terms. Maybe these adoptive folks just couldn't cope with this boy's little quirks and tried to punish him as if he were a <whispers> dog or something. I guess I'm glad, at least, that they realized they were in over their heads and relinquished him rather than some other alternatives. If it turns out that he's not irreversibly sick, I'm sure you'll be able to resocialize him (possibly with a little pharmaceutical help); maybe when he's calmed down and his poor toes don't hurt so much, he'll rediscover playing. I hope so. (We socialized a near-feral who'd been on her own in her early months, and we didn't know how we'd ever teach her the concept of play -- but she learned, and is probably the most playful of the bunch.)
Best of luck to you and the little guy! Diane R. This electronic mail transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be privileged. They should be read or retained only by the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the transmission from your system. In addition, in order to comply with Treasury Circular 230, we are required to inform you that unless we have specifically stated to the contrary in writing, any advice we provide in this email or any attachment concerning federal tax issues or submissions is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, to avoid federal tax penalties. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
