Heartbroken

A year ago I had an unpleasant encounter with a negligent neighbor over his lack of care for his animals.  Over time, the companion cat to the one who caused the encounter moved to my porch, where, provided with food and shelter, he has grown into big, affectionate boy.  The little grey and white kitten that I saw in the background while I was standing at the neighbor's door also got put out, and, after a period of time of being terrified of everything, also moved to my porch.  Very affectionate and playful, he became delightful company when I was outside.

With 4 cats inside now, I couldn't bring any more in, but a friend asked to take them both - Lil D and Tommy were obviously best friends and we didn't want to separate them.  So, after keeping them isolated in a spare bedroom for a few days to get them used to being inside again, I took both Lil D and Tommy off to be neutered and inoculated today.  Also for blood tests, although they both seemed so healthy I didn't think there'd be a problem.

But it turns out that Tommy had feline AIDS.  He could never be around other cats again without risk of infecting them.  I had to tell them to put him to sleep.  My heart is broken.