Kitten tested positive for FIV, but the vet says false positives are very common in young kittens. We sprang for the Western Blot test — results due in a week — which should give us a more definitive answer. The alternative is a redoing the ELISA test in 6 months. Don’t want to keep kitty separated from the rest of the gang that long.
Even if he’s positive, the vet says in a “peaceful household,” the risk posed by an FIV positive feline to the rest of the family is minimal. Apparently the disease can only be spread through “intimate contact” and blood. If kitty doesn’t fight with anyone (or vice versa), we may not have anything to worry about.
Still .. it’s a kitten. They play hard. So not sure what we will do if the Western Blot comes back positive.
In the meantime, kitty is in our spare bedroom and, other than being very malnourished, is in good health, all things considered. The bare patches on his shoulder and a squinty right eye appear to be trauma-related. Since we don’t know where this little guy came from, your guess is as good as mine.
So… we need a name. Any ideas? Oliver, Frankie, Willie are in the running … or, we might just name him Kevin. No one names their pets Kevin.
Southern Beale 
Congrats! The medical condition will sort itself out. Be patient–and enjoy the experience. As to a name, I offer the following advice from TS Eliot of my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis:
“The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey–
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter–
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover–
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
One more thing on the name–As it appears that it is indeed a Tuxedo Cat, may I suggest Tux.
Isn’t there a personal care product named Tux?
He’s not so much a tuxedo cat as our other one. This kitty is mostly black with white lambchops and white toes.
Oscar. I don’t know why, but he looks like an Oscar.
I suspected he might be a boy, possibly because his big fuzzy face reminds me of Keaton’s. If his paws look about five sizes too big for his current body, you may have a Maine Coon mix on your hands, which of course means that the Kitten Fairy really, truly loves you.
Yup!! That’s what we were thinking too! We already have one Maine Coon, he’s tilting the scales at 19 pounds right now … but is a sweetie!
The Song of the Jellicles
Jellicle Cats come out to-night
Jellicle Cats come one come all:
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright –
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.
Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.
Jellicle Cats have cheerful faces,
Jellicle Cats have bright black eyes;
They like to practise their airs and graces
And wait for the Jellicle Moon to rise.
Jellicle Cats develop slowly,
Jellicle Cats are not too big;
Jellicle Cats are roly-poly,
They know how to dance a gavotte and a jig.
Until the Jellicle Moon appears
They make their toilette and take their repose:
Jellicle Cats wash behind their ears,
Jellicle dry between their toes.
Jellicle Cats are white and black,
Jellicle Cats are of moderate size;
Jellicle Cats jump like a jumping-jack,
Jellicle Cats have moonlit eyes.
They’re quitet enough in the morning hours,
They’re quitet enough in the afternoon,
Reserving their terpsichorean powers
To dance by the light of the Jellicle Moon.
Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats (as I said) are small;
If it happends to be a stormy night
They will practise a caper or two in the hall.
If it happens the sun is shining bright
You would say they had nothing to do at all:
They are resting and saving themselves to be right
For the Jellicle Moon and the Jellicle Ball.
T. S. elliot
I second the name–OSCAR! Definitely fits!!!!
I have to agree with the Oscar sentiment here.
First of all, Happy Birthday!
Second, I think he looks like an Oliver!
I like Bob.
LOL
From the Andrews Sisters’ “Beat me Daddy, Eight to the Bar”
The people gather around when he hits the stand;
And when he plays he gets a hand;
The rhythm he beats puts the cats in a trance;
Nobody there bothers to dance;
And when when he plays with the bass and guitar
They holler, “Beat me up Daddy, Eight-to-the Bar.”
Name him Daddy!
I believe in simple names (expeshly now, since I have a hard time remembering my own!), You found him, you took him in, you’re fed him and vetted him–I’d say he’s Luckyashell or Fortunyat 1.
Ink. His name should be Ink.
If you’re the kind of person who gives their cats two names, how about “Oliver Hardy”?
His markings are a photo-negative of the real man’s face and tiny mustache.
And the diminutive “Ollie” will fit if he stays tiny or gets roly-poly.
Zorro. Definitely Zorro.
Husband is warming up to Oscar. But I was thinking Wyatt. He’s got white “lambchops,” makes him look like a Wild West character.
Osker Squigglepuff the Highly-Flexible. 😀
You do know that black and white animals are scientifically cuter, don’t you?
I swear you took the cat in so you could write more cat posts!
Nailed it!
We went with the more scientific naming for our stray take-in: Cat.