First - to SadButGrateful - that photo is so special - I'm sure I'm not the only one who got tears in their eyes. Thanks for putting it up.

Leo is so lucky to have had you to care for him. We can't forget that stray cats are the result of people of the "human" race being irresponsible and cruel. No stray cat deserves to spend their life on the street, and even worse, end up with a fatal disease. Given the numbers of cats who are NOT being sterilized for one reason for another, the number of unwanted cats who are being born and the number who are being left at shelters and rescues compared to the number being adopted - add to that the lack of donations from the public (a lot of whom are causing the problem in the first place so will obviously not give a nickel) it is really next to impossible for a shelter or rescue to take in a cat with Leukemia or FIV as they will rarely get adopted and they just don't have the money for the vet bills that are sure to follow. I have a friend who has 7 cats with FIV because they were dumped on our shelter - we average one cat with FIV adoption per year but we take in many more than that because we test our cats before adoption. Like you, if I were to take in a cat and then find out they had Leukemia I would go the distance, as I have with my cats who have had renal failure and cancer. Luckily there are many people who would do the same, but not nearly enough. Bless you for helping Leo and being his forever home - giving him the love he and all other felines deserve.