1. I also seem to recall this story some time ago, as you say, probably by Elisa. Seems to me we all got into a discussion about the merits of FIV+ cats and senior cats – recall because Shadow is now 13 yrs and is FIV+ – never a problem.

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2. Wonderful cat, lucky cat, Mr B justly landed on all 4 paws!

   Fiv+ ferals & strays have the hardest time of all cats in the UK. Too many rescues and vets here kill them automatically and deliberately mis-inform stewards about FIV.

   Our local Cat Protection woman has any stray or feral killed immediately and openly boasts about it.

   Many vets will neuter a rescued cat, only testing afterwards, so they can charge for the neuter too, rather than just the much cheaper snap test.

   I wonder how many donations to cat charities and rescues are spent on neutering then killing cats?

   The level of knowledge about FIV amongst vets, vet nurses and rescues is lamentably poor. Ignorance, hysteria and prejudice are responsible for so many deaths.

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3. Thank you for sharing Mr. Belvedere’s story, Michael. I had never read about him before. What a happy and comfortable life he has finally found in his forever home. 💜💜🐾

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4. Despite the word feral cats have lived alongside humans for centuries. I think we should start seeing feral cats as potential companions instead of lost causes. It’s in there to be near humans. Lots of people don’t need their pet hanging off them like a sticky booger. I have never had a feral cat on this property that did not learn to respond rather quickly to a kind word. Sometimes the narrative is wrong and I’m beginning to believe that of most feral cats.
   Just as there is a completely different method for socializing feral horses brought in from BLM herds there is a distinct and different way to handle a feral cat than one raised in your home.
   My experience with both is these animals form a very deep bond with their personal humans and can be quite fractious with strangers who want to handle them or even other family members or riders.

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   • You make a very good argument and I agree with you. There are a lot of great cat companions out there in the feral cat community. And in Asia they they have semi-feral cats which are part of the community. It is arguably a better arrangement than the model that we have in the West. I see a lot of failure in cat domestication. You could argue that cat domestication as a whole has been a failure in the long term. It might have been better if it had never happened and humans had cared more for the welfare of small wild cat species in the wild like the N. African wild cat. That’s the PETA model and I agree with it.

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