I was happily shopping at a small store when a woman ran in and yelled "Who drives the silver Toyota? There's a cat in your engine." It turned out this lady had witnessed a small kitten almost get hit as he ran across a busy road. He took shelter under my car. When the kind woman bent down to try and get the kitten, he climbed up. By the time I popped the hood, the kitten had wedged himself behind the engine. I couldn't see anything but a tuft of dirty grey fur. It was hot out and the car hadn't been off that long. I got him out and immediately took him to the vet. The Dr. guessed that Leo( kitty's new name) was between 5 and 6 weeks old. Little Leo was bleeding, infested with every type of creepy crawly you could think of, had burns and appeared to be missing an eye, but the good news was that he was FIV and FELV negative and, in fact, had both eyes. One was just seriously infected.
After getting Leo healthy,we introduced him to our 2 older cats. They adopted him and showed him the feline ropes. It didn't take long until Leo was the perfect kitty. He was fun, tolerant, affectionate, responsive and he loved watching shows with me. His favorite was "My Cat From Hell". I kept him updated on all of his shots, and aside from his hard beginning, he seemed to be healthy vibrant cat. Then one day everything changed. I sat down with him after dinner and noticed his breathing didn't seem right. I ended up taking him to an emergency vet clinic. Two hours from when I noticed Leo's shallow breathing, the doctor was giving me the bad news. Leo was dying and his feline leukemia test was positive. I was devastated. Leo crossed the rainbow bridge just short of his first birthday.
I didn't know FIV and FELV tests are not completely reliable at 6 weeks. Had I known, I might have been able to help him live a longer life.
Williamsport, PA
