First Time Owner Of Cat With Fiv...need Help

cheeser

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Wonderful suggestions. I will discuss the iron issue with my vet and see what he thinks...or at the very least he can run bloodwork on Meowki and see how his levels are doing.

If your cat has a tough time with his pill form, I know that another option is to have them do injections once every so many months.

I actually have Feliway in my house already- love the stuff....have been using it religiously for close to 4yrs now. I first used it it for Malina (she was very anxious at night) and I still use it today with the other two cats (it really helps with high strung cats). I believe the main ingredient is valerian root extract...which I would love to know if anyone has tried making their own.
Glad to hear you already have the Feliway diffusers covered. :-)

We used to have a heck of a time trying to get meds down our FIV+ cat. Thank goodness he suddenly developed a taste for baby food, which seems to sufficiently disguise the taste of whatever the vet said was okay to dump into his food!
 
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skratikans

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baby food...that's something I haven't thought to try. What flavor would you recommend using? I have only used the pill pockets...but that is a challenge to use especially if I have to give a powder form.
 

cheeser

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baby food...that's something I haven't thought to try. What flavor would you recommend using? I have only used the pill pockets...but that is a challenge to use especially if I have to give a powder form.
Well, you want to use the meat flavors that don't contain onion or garlic, because those ingredients are toxic to cats. We use the chicken, turkey, or ham flavors from Gerber, since our cat prefers the texture to that of Beechnut. IIRC, the Beechut meat flavors just contain meat and water, so you're probably okay with whatever flavor you choose. But we always double check the labels on anything we buy in case they've changed their formulas. :)
 

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I have limited experience with FIV but my sister has a sassy girl named Ethel who tested positive over 12 years ago. She takes no meds, and is thriving. She lives with three FIV negative cats, but she is not an agressive cat at home. Twice, however, she has gotten out and wrangled with a possum which caused bad abscess wounds she had trouble fighting off due to a weak immune system. And that is the extent of Ethel's problems. She will be 15 soon. Maybe that will ease your worries a little bit.
 
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skratikans

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wow, 15- congrats!!!! That is amazing. Just knowing that something like that is possible really does ease my mind bc that's all I can think of.
 

Norachan

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Wow, what a lovely guy! He looks very happy there. I think the test run might go quite well.

Yes, Gerber's Stage 2 plain meat flavours baby food, also known as Kitty Crack. It's won over many a shy feral and got meds into the pickiest of cats.

:thumbsup:
 
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skratikans

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Lol, I am going to have to stock up on those...I can mix my powdered vitamins and supplements in it
 

Mamanyt1953

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I'm sitting here ROLLING with laughter at that picture. I'd say, and this is just a guess, that he feels just fine about being inside!
 

Mamanyt1953

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The sad thing is that this tells me he was somebody's kitty at one time, and apparently got dumped.
 
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skratikans

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You really think so? He is VERY vocal so I know he has had to have been around ppl. I don't think he was abused but I agree, I don't understand how someone can dump such a sweet cat. He is EXTREMELY sweet. But when I took him to the vet he wasn't even chipped and was infested in ticks and fleas.

He reminds me of a cat I took in named Brownie who was so seriously abused that she had a kink in her tail...starving and I found out that she actually escaped from someone in my neighborhood..their kids would grab her by the tail and spin her. The neighbors actually tried to take her back but I'm sorry, I refused and they didn't ask further and moved away. She actually had a bb shell btw her spine and heart that was discovered by xrays. She was so abused that it took me 10yrs to finally fully gain her trust and not pee herself everytime I would raise my hand. Such a sweet cat. It really makes me mad that we don't have harsher laws for animal abusers.
 

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Poor Brownie! It's horrible to think anyone would treat an animal that way.

I'm pretty sure Gin Kun must have been someone else's feral as he was pretty friendly when he showed up. A lot of people in these parts feed cats and shortly after I got our local feral tom neutered Gin appeared. (I guess the vacant position of intact tom must have been advertised in The Kitty Gazette)

It took me about two years before I could make him an indoor/enclosure only cat. He would come in to eat but them beg to be let out again. We lived in an old Japanese farm house with sliding shutters that wouldn't lock at the time. The cats soon learnt how to work the shutters so I was never able to lock them in.

So how did the overnight trial go? Did he stay indoors until morning?
 
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skratikans

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He behaved really well. No accidents- used his litterbox well (although that room has hard wood floors...I hope he is going to be ok with carpet in the future). He was very sweet, although, he would cry whenever I had to quickly leave the room...as soon as I was back he was quiet again. He stayed till the morning and was quietly let out.

For me, I also have noticed that as soon as one cat is helped out or adopted by me, another cat comes in to replace it outdoors.....the ads in those Kitty Gazettes work well. Much of the time, I don't need to actively look to adopt as they find me instead...and they actually want to live with me, lol.
 

Mamanyt1953

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SIGH...well, you know what they say, you can't change the entire world, but one cat's entire world has changed. You do what you can. If everyone would do that, we'd really have something.
 

czari

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Hi Skratikans,

I'm going through a very similar situation myself. First, this is an article that I found EXTREMELY reassuring about cats that are FIV+ , especially those living with non-FIV+ cats: Can FIV+ Cats Live With Other Cats? Finally, a Study That Says 'Yes' | Catster

In a nutshell, a large gray male tomcat began appearing on my apartment patio about two months ago. (A younger neutered tabby did as well, but that would make a longer story.) While the tabby came and went since I was one of several neighbors feeding these two strays, this cat (now named Raj) stayed on my patio a lot. The neighbor across from me said he slept in front of my door a lot. There is another long story involved in what finally happened that I'll skip over but yesterday I took Raj to my vet to have him tested for any illnesses, have him neutered, get his shots, etc. When I met with the vet after surgery she said, "Bad news - Raj tested positive for FIV." In the morning she explained the difference to me between FIV and feline leukemia (FeLV) and said that most cats with FIV can live normal lives while with FeLV the average is about two years, so I was relieved Raj didn't have feline leukemia.

My vet said her main concern was my 14 year old cat, Kali, a spayed female that I adopted when she was two years old from the Humane Society. She was a Hurricane Katrina rescue and is my little princess. My vet said the only way FIV could be transmitted was via a bite to Kali from Raj. Raj is a very mellow cat; it's Kali who hisses/spits/growls when she sees Raj. I have them in separate rooms at present and plan to work on a socialization process but back to FIV. Based on the linked article above, it appears that, absent the cats fighting/biting, there is no problem having an FIV+ cat living in the same home with a non-infected cat. The virus is not transmitted via shared water/eating bowls, litter boxes, grooming each other, etc. Another thing to consider and which I will be asking my vet on a follow-up visit is that the test for FIV generally used by vets (ELISA) can produce false positives so, according to the research I did last night, another FIV testing modality in the vet's office should be used or the blood sent to a lab. I plan to have this done.

I hope this allays some of your fears. My research also indicates that many vets are not aware of some of the studies of FIV+ cats, such as the linked article. Fortunately I have a fantastic vet; her only concern was the possibility of Raj biting Kali and potentially infecting her.

Thank you for taking in a stray cat. I'm so glad I brought Raj in!
 
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skratikans

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Hi Skratikans,

I'm going through a very similar situation myself. First, this is an article that I found EXTREMELY reassuring about cats that are FIV+ , especially those living with non-FIV+ cats: Can FIV+ Cats Live With Other Cats? Finally, a Study That Says 'Yes' | Catster

In a nutshell, a large gray male tomcat began appearing on my apartment patio about two months ago. (A younger neutered tabby did as well, but that would make a longer story.) While the tabby came and went since I was one of several neighbors feeding these two strays, this cat (now named Raj) stayed on my patio a lot. The neighbor across from me said he slept in front of my door a lot. There is another long story involved in what finally happened that I'll skip over but yesterday I took Raj to my vet to have him tested for any illnesses, have him neutered, get his shots, etc. When I met with the vet after surgery she said, "Bad news - Raj tested positive for FIV." In the morning she explained the difference to me between FIV and feline leukemia (FeLV) and said that most cats with FIV can live normal lives while with FeLV the average is about two years, so I was relieved Raj didn't have feline leukemia.

My vet said her main concern was my 14 year old cat, Kali, a spayed female that I adopted when she was two years old from the Humane Society. She was a Hurricane Katrina rescue and is my little princess. My vet said the only way FIV could be transmitted was via a bite to Kali from Raj. Raj is a very mellow cat; it's Kali who hisses/spits/growls when she sees Raj. I have them in separate rooms at present and plan to work on a socialization process but back to FIV. Based on the linked article above, it appears that, absent the cats fighting/biting, there is no problem having an FIV+ cat living in the same home with a non-infected cat. The virus is not transmitted via shared water/eating bowls, litter boxes, grooming each other, etc. Another thing to consider and which I will be asking my vet on a follow-up visit is that the test for FIV generally used by vets (ELISA) can produce false positives so, according to the research I did last night, another FIV testing modality in the vet's office should be used or the blood sent to a lab. I plan to have this done.

I hope this allays some of your fears. My research also indicates that many vets are not aware of some of the studies of FIV+ cats, such as the linked article. Fortunately I have a fantastic vet; her only concern was the possibility of Raj biting Kali and potentially infecting her.

Thank you for taking in a stray cat. I'm so glad I brought Raj in!

Awww that is awesome!!! So sweet of you to take Raj in and THANK YOU so much for sharing your experience and sharing the article. Please keep us posted on what happens and updates. I appreciate the advice and input bc without this forum I would feel so alone. It really gives me hope and I would love it if you could do updates with how the introductions are going...bc will shortly be doing the same thing and I am trying to read up on the best ways of doing this as I have never introduced adult cats.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Have you seen our articles here on TCS about that? I can link them here, if you would like, including some on dealing with stress in cats. Just let me know.
 
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