Stray kitten FIV?

[Calicoandkitty]

Hi, so I found a stray kitten last week. He’s been doing great and we took him to the vet this morning. The vet said he seemed healthy and said we could introduce my 5 year old cat to the 3 week old kitten in a week. He said to just wait and see to make sure he doesn’t have any infections before introducing. He slightly mentioned FIV but didn’t seem too concerned. My family member told me that I cannot introduce them until the kitten gets tested so he can’t spread it. I couldn’t get him tested for another 3 weeks. How common is it for them to get it from their moms? I read that it’s not that common and the vet wasn’t concerned but now I’m nervous about him giving it to my 5 year old.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Mama cats can transmit it to their babies, but yes, it is deemed to be fairly rare. Since FIV is transmitted primarily by bite wounds, transmission from an infected cat to an uninfected cat is much less likely when dealing with a small kitten and an older cat, but you could keep the kitten separated until he can be tested given you have a family member who doesn't want any chances taken. Three weeks isn't so long that you can't wait. You will need to do some sort of introduction process considering your 5 yo cat may not automatically take to a new cat/kitten, so see what you can do to get that going without them being so close to each other than the kitten could spread anything to your cat.
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat [A Guide] - TheCatSite

 

[Calicoandkitty]

The family member is an outside source so they do not live with me. They were just giving insight on the situation. I’m going to wait a while like the vet said but after should it be okay even if he isn’t tested if everyone in the household is okay with it?

 

[Norachan]

It is supposed to be very rare for kittens to be infected from their mothers, but I've had one feral kitten that can only have been infected that way. So even though it's rare you can't rule it out completely.

Cats only spread the virus to each other via bites or sexual contact, but there are other infectious diseases a kitten could have that might not show up yet. I'd advise you to wait a little longer and get the kitten tested when they're old enough. There's no rush, let the kitten bond with you and get used to their new home before introducing them to your other cat.

Did the vet test for intestinal parasites and fleas? Stray kittens usually come with a few "passengers".

 

[Calicoandkitty]

He does have fleas. We’ve been using the flea comb on him and I’ve got about 4 so far off him. I wish the vet would have gave me more information the FIV part of this though because I literally can’t sleep because I’m so nervous about this lol. Thank you for your response!!