"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
On Sat 18 Aug 2007 04:46:08p, stephcat wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
roups.com:

The bottom line is that FIV is not an automatic death sentence,
and no cat should be put to sleep simply for testing positive
for this disease. Thanks for listening.

I agree. I had one positive for FeLV for a couple of years before his
other problems took him from me. I had two other cats at the time who
were negative. He became positive from a blood transfusion, so I
wasn't prepared to let the vet take him out just to prevent my others
from getting sick. They got vaccinated while Shadow was still here,
and never became sick. FIV isn't as transmittable as FeLV, but both
are often considered a death sentance by some vets. Heck, life is a
death sentance. Good message and good luck with your cats.


I wonder how many vets just read from the manual? Cat has FIV, page 327
says put it down. It was my vet that told me there was no need to put Buddy
down. She said at the time he was more in danger from his liver problem.
And she said that as long as Buddy was not subjected to stress, as long as
he and my other cats did not fight or otherwise bite or scratch each other,
that he could live for a long time and not put the others at risk.

And she was right. But she is by no means typical. Everything I read from
vets on the subject just seem to be a hopeless diagnosis with immediate
euthanasia. I know many years ago my then neighbor had her 14 year old cat
diagnosed with FeLV and he was put down the next day. She was quite
devastated. He was last seen snoozing in the sun and not looking the least
bit sick. I wish she had my vet instead of the one she did. He very likely
could have lived out the remainder of his natural life.

Paul