Maxi the tomcat
wants to go outside and catch mice
The white and brown tabby cat Maxi lived with his rescuer in Germany until recently. When he came to her, Maxi was two and a half years old and came from Bulgaria. One day, the street cat was bitten by dogs there and lost his left hind leg.
In Bulgaria, handsome Maxi would have had no chance of finding a new home, so he travelled to Germany.
A veterinary examination revealed that the cat was also FIV positive. This did nothing to change his temperament. There were already some cats living in his new home, also with handicaps. Maxi chased the cats around the flat, who felt increasingly stressed over time. So they began to consider finding Maxi a new home.
Maxi has a distinctive character
Although Maxi has only had three legs since the accident, his energy is not waning. He kept showing his rescuer that he wanted to go outside to catch mice, just as he certainly did in Bulgaria.
The 2.5-room flat probably couldn’t satisfy the former street cat’s urge to move around.
The animal-loving, desperate woman asked numerous animal shelters and sanctuaries to take in the lively Maxi: nobody wanted to take him.
Why didn't anyone want to take Maxi?
We won’t get the answer, we can only guess. Perhaps a three-legged tomcat doesn’t fulfil the ideal of a cuddly cat? Maxi’s FIV diagnosis is too much? He chases cats in the flat and wants to go outside.
The so-called FIV disease in cats can also be translated as “feline AIDS”. The virus triggers an immunodeficiency disease in cats. FIV is transmitted via bite wounds. Humans cannot become infected with FIV.In the so-called carrier phase, the cat shows no symptoms. The infection is only detected in the blood.
Over time, the strength of the immune system decreases and infections of the respiratory tract, digestive system or oral cavity, for example, can occur. The coat looks unkempt, fever can occur and the cat’s eating behaviour changes. Motor disorders, dementia or aggression may also occur. This stage can last for years. In the final stage, the animals lose even more weight, but usually do not die from FIV, but from secondary infections as described above.
Maxi loves his life
What stage his FIV disease is currently at, or the fact that he no longer has his back left leg – none of this matters to Maxi. He usually keeps to himself and doesn’t socialise with the other cats, but you can see that he enjoys his enclosure, his new home, in Traisen.
Let’s wish Maxi a long life. His keepers believe he will.
Everything you believe in begins to exist.
~ Ilse Aichinger
