And whatever he may have eaten probably never gave him the nutrients because he had worms. I hope some people read this because I want more people to understand Upper Respiratory Infections in cats as well as Feline Leukemia which depressingly he tested positive for. The animal control woman told me to put him down. Why? Because he can cost me money from getting sick? Because it's a possibility he'll die in three years? There's also a chance this disease could leave his body OR that the test was that 5% where it's a false positive, OR he could live to a ripe old age of 12 or older like my cat Thomas I had. Why shouldn't I give this little baby who is fighting hard to live and be happy? Is it dangerous to keep him around my FeLV negative cats?
Yes, there is a possibility for him to transmit the disease to them, however; we have a large house and we plan on keeping him in one side and the other cats in the other side. They'll both have plenty of space to play and everything. Positive cats transmit the disease to others by bodily fluids, usually eating from other's food bowls and playing rough by biting. The disease doesn't survive long outside of the body though. So it is possible to live with positive and negative cats. Now if this little babies body just doesn't want to cooperate and he is constantly miserable, we will make that hard decision. But he seems really damn happy and I'm proud to have adopted him.
If any of you have a FeLV positive cat and you love them, I commend you. If you find a baby that is FeLV positive and there's a big possibility that they can live a normal life but you can't keep them try to find them a home please, they aren't a burden or at least a large percentage isn't (by burden I mean costly really). You wouldn't put a human down because they have HIV, so why an animal? And as far as URI's are concerned, if you have other cats you need to put the infected animal in their own room and take extra precautions. URI's are one of the biggest reasons animals die in shelters, the infection spread through fluids of course and flourish in damp conditions. Did you know that when a cat sneezes it can travel up to four feet!? I always where different clothes when going to give Raith medicine and I scrub my body down afterward.
So far this method is working and none of the other cats are sick or showing signs, though I think the incubation time is a week. I could be wrong. Thankfully his eyes aren't really "leaking" occasionally I see some clear fluid but I just use a warm washcloth and wipe it off a few times a day. Remember if your cat has a cold or a URI and cannot breathe through his/her nose they may not eat, please get them to your vet, especially if you have a kitten then can become VERY dehydrated VERY quickly.
