This weekend was marked by the good news that Alex, the new kitten, does not have feline leukemia which is the cat version of HIV/AIDS. This is great news because, for the most part, indoor cats are not exposed to the feline leukemia virus, and therefore, are not vaccinated for it. Indoor/outdoor cats are due to the higher likelihood of exposure. Kittens are usually vaccinated for the first year due to their constant desire to escape to the outdoors to explore. Once they are over a year and less likely to try to escape, they no longer need the vaccine if they will be 100% indoors. Since all of our cats will be 100% indoors, they are not vaccinated. Alex had to be kept separate from Julia and Boris until we knew he was feline leukemia negative. Since false negatives almost never happen, a negative test is truly negative. Therefore, we are assured he is not infected. This has made things easier and more interesting since Alex does not have to be sequestered in the front room any longer. Boris and Julia are not always enthusiastic about having a new sibling. Though, cats aren't ever really excited about anything, except meals. At any rate, they are tolerating the kitten being in the house. He is behaved, for the most part. We are working to train him to not use our hands as toys. The scratches on my hands show how well we are succeeding. I have clipped his nails once already. He did pretty well. Boris and Julia have hissed and growled and smacked him around, but his kitten energy levels and his obliviousness have made the situations relatively comical. Boris will pop him on the head, and he'll turn around and bite Boris on the ear. He tries to get Julia to play, and she'll sometimes play along. Odie sometimes tolerates him. Overall, I think we'll be in a better place in a couple weeks, but introductions are going well at this point.
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