Living with Rambo

Hello some of you may all ready know my story, i am posting to all my current situation and seeking any advice. I'll start with a bit of history, I was feeding a feral/stray male adult for almost a year- twice a day at 5 am and 5 pm. He always kept a distance from me and would never eat until i left the area. He was jumpy and frighten by everything-sometimes causing him to run away and not be able to finish his food. He always arrived alone with no other cats until this past August/September. One rainy week in the dark at 5am, I noticed 5 or 6 younger cats peeping out at me from under my shed. i called a local TNR, who assisted in the TNR. Unfortunately I was told, only one kitten was able to be socialized and adopted. Everyone else including the adult male that i had been feeding was released back to my home yard in the wooded area where they came from. I always had a soft spot for the male, his eyes were so sad and I felt that he did not want to be outside. The person who trapped him said he was a true Tommy and named him Rambo. After TNR he was treated for a hardened facial abscess, broken rib and multiple scabbed/wounds/scars on his body. All the cats received medical attention/shots etc, I was set up with a feeding station and some shelter for them. I continued to put food out twice a day, and I also continued to feed Rambo- he always came to eat no matter the weather snow, rain. Rambo never liked to eat with the other cats that were released, he would always come before or after them for feeding never together. Three weeks ago after some great advice, i re-trapped Rambo with a drop trap, and moved him to my closed in garage. He is in a kennel equipped with bedding, food, water, litter box and space to walk. The first day after trapping him, he slept in the litter box, growled and hissed- but soon learned that the bed was more comfortable. By the second day we could touch him. I have a large puppy gate around the kennel, so we let him out to walk and be social with us-he has never tried to jump or run away. A few times he has given us a warning bite- where he would put his mouth on our hand and not actually bite down. When we told him no, he would oddly flatten out on the floor or hide in the corner. Does this flattening behavior seem strange for a cat that has lived outdoors? He also jumped onto the kennel and i told him no and he quickly jumped down, so he seems familiar with no-the word no seems to frighten him. He has not bitten or scratched us, however, there are days that I can see he is jumpy and extremely cautious- I am not sure why. Where we are now, we can now touch him, pet him-ears, tail etc. we are just starting to try to pick him up. he does not seem to like his hind quarters touched. The person who TNR him this past September, offered to take him to the vet for a re-check . when she first trapped him he was growling, biting etc, which prompted the name Rambo. He was not like that when i trapped him, he was much calmer. what we learned was he has several missing and broken teeth-Is this common for an outside stray/feral? He is 7-8 years old, facial abscess is healing, broken rib no worst and he was boarder line for leukemia and aids. Does this test result make sense? The vet said he needs to come back in one month for re-testing. Other wise he is a strong double pawed healthy cat that does not appear sickly. He is still isolated from my indoor cats I do not want to infect them. I have a 18 yr calico with lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis , a 10 yr female tuxcedo true feral with hemorrhagic renal disease and a 7 yr male tuxcedo that is very infant like-taken from mom too soon and had to be raised by us. Please share your advice/opinions with me thank you charlie

The rescue person that originally trapped Rambo was the one who took him to the vet for testing. And now that I am reading the post from LDG post, and the sentence with  "and the assumption is that they were bitten by an infected cat, but their bodies are fighting it" sounds very familiar. I am almost positive that is what the rescue person told me when I kept asking what does "board-line" mean?? It will be a few days after Christmas when he goes back in for retesting.  I'll keep him isolated from my indoor cats, and I'll continue socializing him.  My garage is closed in, does anyone think it is a bad idea to let him roam the garage? He can't get out and he can't drink or eat anything bad. I would like to increase his space, and I want to see if he'll continue to use the cat box.

Rambo update so far so good. the first day we left him out alone in the garage for short periods of time and we were able to gently guide him into the kennel, buy using our hands around the side of him. we can tell he is not fond of this but he is not biting or hissing. day 2 we decided to leave his kennel door open and let him have free roam of the garage-and check frequently on him. his food is placed in the kennel so he has to eat in there, but the door is open. he is exploring all over the garage and has been coming out to us when called, and stays with us for scratches and pats. he almost consistently is kneading i don't think i have ever owned a cat that kneads so much. tonight was the first night that he actually fell asleep in front of us by my feet on a blanket that i set out for him. my husband and i were talking and i looked down to see Rambo lying down on the blanket sleeping. i can't believe what a good boy he has been-and i don't understand why he was living on his own outside.

today was the day rambo went back in for testing. he is positive for feline aids, not leukemia. I not sure what this fully means yet. but i am very saddened. he does not appear sickly, his coat is shiney and he has gained quiet a bit of weight.  i just had a feeling that he would be positive- he has too many old scars/bite marks on his body. my daughter said that she would foster him/keep him indoors -because he can not come into my home with the other cats. i would appreciate any feed back/experiences anyone can give me on what exactly this means.  I also would like to know what food is best for him. he is currently eating fancy feast dry and wet. i would appreciate any information.