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Cherie,
I'm so sorry to hear you lost Snowball. You have my deepest sympathy
(I just lost one on 12/28).
Different cats react to FeLV in different ways. Some are naturally
immune and never test positive for exposure to the virus. Some will test
positive for exposure, are a little sick for a little while, fight it off, get
the virus out of their bodies entirely and are immune forever. Some get
sick for a little while, their immune systems get it under control and the virus
and body find a balance where both exist without significant harm to each other
and the cat can live a long time (even a normal life span) in good health
- unless some significant stress comes along like a major surgery, a
drastic change in the family dynamic (being bullied by a new cat or grieving for
a lost friend), or some kind of infection like ringworm (which overwhelms
the immune system and lets the virus run unchecked). And, sadly, -
tragically - some get sick from their initial exposure and die very quickly from
one of the many ways it can show up - like Snowball.
I know you're hurting right now, but try not to wait too long to tell your
son. When I was 9, we adopted a pure bred siamese (Abby) and kept her
inside only, but we also had a big red tabby and white shorthaired guy named
O'Malley. O'Malley was a big burley tom who was very gentle and would
play with Abby for hours. One time, they were batting at each other
over the edge of the top stair, and Abby socked him (keep in mind, she was only
about 10-12 weeks old and maybe weighed 3 pounds - he was easily 18 pounds)
and he "fell" down 3-4 steps. She was so proud of herself for knocking him
down. He was a very special guy,
One day, I called him in the morning to bring him in, and he didn't come.
O'Malley was an indoor/outdoor cat and had been killed on
the road one night (indoor only cats were an oddity to my parents back in
the early 70's, and Mom was allergic to them, so they were outdoors
mostly - we lived on a hill, but only about 10 feet off of a major road
connecting two biggish towns. We had at least 3 kittens every
summer - one each for me and my brothers - and we ended up losing about 30 cats
and kittens by the time I was 9 to cars). Mom and Dad knew how attached I
was to O'Malley and because they found him before I did, they tried to hide his
death from me. It hurt worse to find out accidentally that O'Malley had
died after I'd been reassured that he'd probably been picked up by someone
coming to the carryout (that we owned in front of our house) thinking he was a
stray. I'd known about the other cats getting hit, and I'd found too many
of them - anytime we called them up to feed them and one or more didn't show up,
we immediately checked the road (I still catch myself doing that now, even
though I live in a plat now and it's rare for any of mine to get outside -
old habits die hard). Mom and Dad knew how attached I was to O'Malley and
they didn't want me hurting over his loss. They meant well, but I had a
hard time believing them when they told me about anything happening to our
animals after that. I would've really liked to have known he'd died when
he died - instead of finding out months later. Even if I hadn't been
allowed to see him after he'd died, it would've been helpful to see a fresh
grave to get some closure. Where there's life, there's hope. "Chance Favors the prepared mind." ~ Louis Pasteur Kathy |
