Dearest "Tuxedo" Talyn. With all the attention Chiana gets, it’s easy to forget about him—unless he's underfoot because he's hungry or hiding in plain sight (because, well, he can and does).
He's the rescue cat who adopted my cat-hating husband. The mouser who got an early taste of hunting and now has the perseverance of a true stalker. Talyn was born on 11/14/2021, and we adopted him on 3/6/22. Known at the rescue as "Bad Bunny," we took him in before Chiana and, because I was fostering other kittens at the time, vaccinated him against FeLV.
One of the toughest decisions we made early on was how to handle the situation once Chiana tested FeLV positive. How could we keep both of them safe? Should we rehome one? Although not bonded, they get along quite well and we love their almost daily "zoomie" antics.
In the end, we acknowledged the risks (which are very low) and decided to keep them together in what's known as a mixed household. We're treating Chiana, and Talyn is vaccinated yearly. We take good care of both of them and are doing the best we can.
Here are more specifics about their lives: They play and groom each other, and we have three litter boxes for them to use. They eat in separate rooms, and we try to keep their food separate—another reason for this is that Talyn tends to overeat and had to lose some weight (he started at 12 lbs and is now down to 8+ lbs).
I try to keep their treats separate but acknowledge that it doesn't always work. They drink from the same water bowls. Overall, we don't regret keeping them together. After doing all of this and learning more about FeLV and mixed households, I came across a webinar that discusses this issue and others in greater detail.
You can view it here: Mixed FeLV Households – Can You? Should You? Will You?
It was presented on September 28, 2023 and is 1 1/2 hrs long. https://youtu.be/yi1jAptf9xg?si=YsXBHr5dasGj3nEC
