Hi I've been lurking a few weeks. In July I picked up a stray that turned out to be FELV+. In his few weeks with me he gained a pound, had a cushy bed, delicious premium canned food, and all the snuggles I had time to give him, since he lived in the basement while I tried to figure out where he could live (I have 4 cats). I'd watch movies on the laptop with him on my lap, snoozing away happily. He always seemed a little wobbly, and his pupils were always different sizes. But he was relatively happy so we kept on. Last night his back legs didnt work. This had happened before, my pet sitter said, but they always came back "on" after a while. But this morning they still didnt work. The vet examined and confirmed that he had tumors pressing on his spinal cord. He was in pain and his entire back end didn't do what he wanted it too. So the decision was made to let him go.
He'd been living under porches on my block for at least a few months when we finally caught him. I'm so glad we did, I cant imagine what a frustrating, frightening life he'd be having out on the street right now, starving, full of tape worm, and 2 back legs that wont work. I'm crushed that we couldnt give him a better life, and for longer, but I'm glad we got to him when he needed us, and filled his belly and his heart for a few weeks. Safe and comfy and within a foot of food at all times. :) Anyway, I dont know anything about FELV, this was my first introduction to it... so I dont exactly know how the tumors are related (cancer?)... but I wanted to drop a line to folks who understand. He wasnt my kitty for long, but he was my kitty. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org