The Ballad of Oscar Doodle

I'm a cat lover. That's putting it mildly. I have four cats - each with their own unique story of how they came to find me. But for today I think I will share the story of my 3rd cat, Oscar, as it is the most interesting.
Micah and I found Oscar in August 2004 under a rent house we were renovating. We had seen a white, flame point Siamese kitty hanging around, but he never came up to us. One day I managed to lure him into the house with food - as it was apparent he was starving to death. After a few days of trust building, we brought Oscar home to our house to live. Since we already had two indoor kitties, we gave Oscar the garage (w/ a kitty door to outside) to live in. All was good for awhile, Oscar was putting on weight and becoming more trusting. About a month later he got sick - really sick. As it turns out, Oscar has F-HIV (Feline AIDS). Working with a great vet, we managed to get Oscar back to good health even though his life would probably not be as long as other kitties. Also, we could not think of bringing him inside because of the risk of him transmitting the AIDS to the other kitties.
You would think that would be enough for a poor 3 year old boy, right? No. Last May someone SHOT Oscar on our front porch. He was shot through the shoulder with a big pellet gun. Once again, our vet came to the rescue (he teaches surgery at the local vet school). Basically, our choices were to put Oscar to sleep, amputate the leg or try to pin it all back together. We chose to try and pin it. Now, 3 months later, Oscar is doing well. Against all odds, his AIDS has not flared up and he walks with only a little limp. We have decided to bring him inside though, as he is now quite a little investment on our part! We got the inside kitties vaccinated (not foolproof) against the F-HIV and try to keep them from biting each other. So far, we have been pretty successful. Oscar has definitely blossomed as an indoor kitty - it has put on weight and become very handsome. However, I do think he has a fair amount of trauma from all he has been through...as he often cries all night and has a bit of separation anxiety.
The moral of the story - love your kitties all you can...and hope that some asshole does not shoot them.