We call them many things.
FeLVies. Fee-lukes. Besties. Heroes. Rapscallions.
But we forget to call them “cats infected with the feline leukemia virus.”
And we never, ever call them flukes.
People are sometimes afraid to enter Quinn’s Corner, Tabby’s Place’s wing for FeLV+ cats. This is understandable.
There is a longstanding perception that FeLV is tragic. If you only know them on paper, you might expect FeLV+ cats to be frail wisps, living on borrowed time.
There is no cure for FeLV.
There is one cure for fear of FeLV.
Step off the paper and into the party. Disembark the diagnosis and cannonball into Quinn’s Corner.
The moment you hit these sunny shores, you’ll be greeted by a boy built like a honeydew. Clifford is perfectly round. Clifford is perfectly Clifford.
The circumference of his head is larger than the Equator. The circumference of his heart cannot be measured. He is the color of a mozzarella ball and hopes you brought several.
But the important thing is that you brought yourself. Clifford wishes the entire Earth was filled with selves like you.
At this point, you may rub your eyes. Is this really an FeLV+ cat? Come to think of it, is this really a cat at all, or some plainclothes cherub on shore leave from heaven?
Before you have time to drop your beach towel, Leonardo DiCatrio will splash you with life.
Leonardo is a lifelong learner. He just learned that Tabby’s Place is a tidal wave of love, and he was born to surf. He just learned that he is not on the Titanic after all.
He just learned that FeLV was the worst and best thing that ever happened to him, in that order.
He just learned that some people call cats infected with feline leukemia virus “hopeless,” but Tabby’s Place calls them “FeLVies,” like some kind of huggable Hobbits. He just learned that Jonathan thinks he has the second worst name in Tabby’s Place history (the blue ribbon going to Squentin Tarantino).
Leonardo also learned that one nickname for FeLV+ cats is “fee-lukes.”
This is distinctly different from “flukes,” whichever definition you are using. “Fluke” can mean a mistake, and Leonardo knows he is not one of those. “Fluke” can also mean a flounder, which is a flatfish that looks like Steve Buscemi. Leo would like to meet one of those, preferably in a delicate butter sauce.
As you try to absorb this instant education, Kitty Purry will come to your aid. She is a ribbon of black fur with eyes like pearls. She is, to use a scientific term, a teenage dream.
Sleek as a seal, Kitty has come from afar to draw you near. Her sweetness is more magnetic than a mermaid’s melody. Do not block your ears. Please don’t tie yourself to the mast of old misconceptions.
Let our littlest FeLVie lure you to the shore, where a cat with a retrovirus feels reborn.
Let yourself feel reborn, while you’re at it.
Quinn’s Corner is teeming with life. Far from being a holding tank for hopeless cats, it is the open sea for the loved and the lively. Our FeLVies will drown your fears and lick your forehead. They are healthy and strong, and their horizon is nearly as wide as Clifford’s forehead.
This is not a fluke. This is the future, when love pulls the tides.
Come on in. The FeLVies are fine.