Leo's Page

Leo is our most amazing mascot. Not only does he tolerate a harness and leash, but he actually enjoys being taken along to adoption events. He likes all people and thrives on the attention he gets, despite the rather noisy environment and commotion. When you consider his origin and background, it's even more amazing that Leo has adjusted to his new life so well.

Leo was being fed at an outdoor feral colony for several months. He was a huge black and white un-neutered male. He would appear there sporadically. We tried unsuccessfully to trap him. One day an opportunity presented itself and he willingly walked into a carrier I brought with me.

I took him to the vet for the standard tests and he came back FIV positive. I had never had one come back positive before. Standard procedure said to have him put down and I didn't think we wanted to trap/neuter and release a cat with FIV to go on and infect others with this fatal disease. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I decided to sleep on it and did some research online about what other humane societies were doing with FIV.

I was surprised to find out that cats with FIV were living long and healthy lives more times than not. But these were healthy tame cats who could be adopted into homes with caretakers. Leo, as far as I knew, was a feral cat. I read more about how some trap/neuter/release programs were deciding to release cats with FIV back into the population instead of euthanizing them, with the rationale that they were at least improving the situation with the neutering. A male who is neutered will not be motivated by his hormones to fight all other males, and that is how the virus is spread. They also hold a place in the colony, perhaps one the rest of the group depends on.

I decided not to have Leo put down. I phoned the vet and told them to go ahead with the neuter. After he came back to my house, I decided to keep him in a cage for a while to see how he reacted to me. I was pretty afraid of him as he was huge, and I'd been bitten by feral cats before. But he continued to do everything I asked him to do, and one day I put my arm in the cage and he rubbed his head on it. I got more confident as days went by and trusted him more and more.

Now he is living here, spending nights in a warm basement with room service, and nice days on the enclosed sun porch. He has even befriended 2 other cats so he isn't lonely. He convinces everyone who comes over that he is, indeed, the friendliest cat on the planet.

I can't believe the transformation he has undergone. So he is waiting for the right home to come along for him where he can be an only cat and give all his affection to one family. In the meantime, he is welcome to stay at our house as long as he needs to. He has become the humane society mascot and loves to be on a harness. He goes to every adoption event, his buddy Bob keeps track of him on his leash while the rest of us do adoptions. After a few hours, they both get tired and take a nap in the chairs. Oh, by the way, he LOVES catnip...

Sadly, Leo passed away on April 7th 2009 after an illness related to his FIV disease. He contracted lymphoma of the bone marrow, liver and kidneys. He died quietly at home with his loved ones around him. He will be excrutiatingly missed by all who knew him.