Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

[MutantFrogLover]

Hi,
I just found out my 9 yr old cat Tommy has FIV and Diabetes. I am really in a quandry now. I have 5 cats, all strays. Tommy is the only one that is showing any sign of illness. I wonder if this is something that he had since birth, and the diabetes could have weakened him so that he got ill, and came out of remission so to speak.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Melissa

[Tigger]

Hi,
I just found out my 9 yr old cat Tommy has FIV and Diabetes. I am really in a quandry now. I have 5 cats, all strays. Tommy is the only one that is showing any sign of illness. I wonder if this is something that he had since birth, and the diabetes could have weakened him so that he got ill, and came out of remission so to speak.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Melissa

I just found out that our Midnight has the virus also. He is one of many outside. The only glimmer of hope is that we have only had him for about a year. He belonged to the neighbors and when they moved they couldn't find him. I don't know when he had all his shots or if he has had the FIV vaccination. We are waiting for the report to come back to make double sure that it is the virus. I hope it was only positive because of the shot. He has no symptoms. He always got into fights with another neighbors cat but always seem to come out with only a few boo boos.
My vet wants to put him down if the test come back still positive. I told him that we will make that choice when the time comes. I have lots of cats outside and don't want any of them to come down with it. He has never fought with any of our cats only the neighbors cat. If the test do come back positive should I put him down? I don't want to. This cat is our baby he just sleeps on the porch. We had him fixed last month.

[MutantFrogLover]

Is there any way that he can become an indoor cat? Our cat Tommy has always been an indoor cat. We've had him since he was about 4 weeks old.
I'm still trying to learn about all of this, but since this is basically like the feline version of HIV, I wonder if you keep him inside, so he can't infect other cats and so he can't catch other things from other cats that would compromise his immune system, if he could lead a somewhat normal life?

Right now we are feeding Tommy jars of babyfood meat, and it seems to be helping him pick up weight. He had gone from 14 lbs to 7 lbs in 2 yrs time.

If your cat doesn't have any symptoms of the disease, and since it can't infect humans or other species like dogs, etc, it sounds like your cat could probably do pretty good. I know that this is something that can't be fixed, I mean it won't go away, but it sounds like it can be managed.

I was really freaked out when I found out about our cat having it. But I'm a person with Multiple Sclerosis, so I know about having to manage symptoms of a disease.

I hope that since your cat doesn't have any symptoms, that he is able to do well with this. We are going to keep working with Tommy, and try to make his life as normal and comfortable as possible.

I hope that you come back here and let us know how your cat is doing. I'll do the same.

Melissa

[Tigger]

No, we have 5 inside. We are going to turn our kids playhouse into a condo just for him. That way he can have lots of room and we can go in and love on him. My kids never use the playhouse anymore, so now it will have a useful purpose again. This is his favorite spot to take a long nap anyway.
We will find out in a couple of days if he has it or not. I pray that he don't, that the previous owners had their vet give him the FIV shot. That way he want have to be confined, even if it is a lush condo.

[1701berry]

I adopted a cat from the SPCA that was full grown and weighed about three pounds. He was very sick when we adopted him and they told us that he had an upper respiratory infection and giardia which causes loose bowel movements. We took him to the vet the very next day and got the horrible news that he did have giardia and he had FIV as well. We have had him almost two years now and we have been very careful to not allow shoes in the house or to allow anyone who had been contact with another cat to pet him. All of this has been for nothing. I took him to the vet yesterday for what I thought was a cold and an upper respiratory infection. I found out that he had a severe heart murmur and that there was fluid around his heart and in his lungs. The congested sound I was hearing was actually fluid in the lungs preventing him from breathing properly. Our baby Casper is only 3 years old and yet I will have to have him put down on Monday because the vet says there nothing more that can be done for him. I brought him home because I thought that through everything he had been through, he was strong enough to get through this as well. I realise now that thought was selfish. To look at him you would never know he was sick. He is playing and eating, drinking water and being his normal self. However he has blood coming from nose that is coming from his lungs and I know that if he is bleeding internally that he has to be suffering. I know that everyone here loves thier babies as much as we love Casper but sometimes we have to let go for their sake. I hope that everyone gets good news about test results, but if not, remember that this doesn't have to be a death sentence for them, unless they get to a point where they are going through what we are experiencing.

[LadyDarya]

Having a cat that is FIV+ is not the end of the world. I have had Alcoa for about 5 years now, she is 10 years old. She is a rescue that I rescued off the interstate. When I took her into the vet the vet ran the tests and they came back positive for FIV The vet immediatly wanted to put her down and I said absolutly not and went out to the internet and did a lot of research. Initially - when you just get a hint that they are sick and then get them tested it does seem like the end of the world but FIV+ cats can live to the ripe old age of 18 or 20 if taken care of. Alcoa is symptom free and will hopefully remain that way. Another thing to take into consideration is what type of test was it? Was it an in-house test? Those are notorious for coming back with a false-positive. The best thing to do is get a "real" blood test and send it out for testing - that is the only way to know for sure. Also, if you have a cat that is FIV+ the only best thing you can do is keep them indoors - and just cause you have other cats who are not FIV+ is no reason not do so. Alcoa has lived with FIV cats for the last 5 years, sharing food bowls, water bowls and litter boxes with no issues and no "cross-contamination". In reality the most likely cat to get FIV is an intact male because they like to roam fight and blood interchange is the easy way to get it. It can also be given from Queens to their babies. A really good source to look at is an artical on the web about FIV called "A bad case or rumours". I don't have the address or I'd put it here but it is a good place to go. Of course, I also have an agreement with Alcoa that if, at any point, her quality of life become poor and she want's to go to the rainbow I will help her, but as I stated earlier she is sympom free (I actually came here originally because I think she may be having a health issue that is non-FIV related - hopefully).

[MutantFrogLover]

Thanks for sharing your story! Our guy Tommy has been going through a really rough time recently, but he seems to be perking up a bit. His biggest problem since being diagnosed has been trying to get his weight up. He has surprised me today, and has been eating well. I guess we just take it one day at a time.
Anyhow, thanks, cause all the stories that are being shared really give me some hope.

Take care,
Melissa