FIV kitty advice? (long)

My next foster cat was supposed to be Phoenix, who some horrible
person had
rubber bands put on one of his front legs and he had to spend a lot of
time in the vet
hospital as a result. It turns out that Phoenix needed more care than
I could give
him (working full time during the day) and one of the vet techs at the
vet's office was
able and willing to foster him and take him to work with her several
times a week to
clean and bandage his leg. So far so good with keeping his leg. If
things continue
to heal well, he is able to use that leg with minimal difficultly and
pain, he will not have
to have it amputated. Good news!

So, on to the Subject. SPCA of Northern VA has taken in an older cat
with FIV
whose owner had to attend to family emergencies in CA and asked us to
care for
him for a while. We helped him when Sammy was initially rescued 3 or 4
years
ago and he decided to give Sammy a home despite his FIV. This is why
he
contacted us again a few months ago. Unfortunately, now this person
won't be coming
back and can't take Sammy there. To make things difficult, this
person let Sammy
get very obese and he also seems to have developed kidney problems.

Since I didn't have a foster cat now and the foster person caring for
Sammy short term
was moving out of the area and didn't want to adopt Sammy, I offered
to care for him
for a while. He is a very sweet cat, quite calm (as long as you don't
try to clip his nails),
and very sedentary. They estimate that he is 8-9 years old. Like I
mentioned before,
he is very obese. He moves around with some difficulty, even lying
down and getting up.

I have 5 cats of my own and am concerned with the contagiousness of
FIV. I have spoken
to one of the vets that we work with, who said that the virus isn't
contagious with casual
contact (same as HIV), but can be passed through blood or biting. I
usually keep my
foster cats in a bedroom separate from my own cats since my cats are
pretty tired of fosters
coming it and out, so I am not concerned with the FIV passing to my
cats this way. I try to spend
time with the fosters so they don't get lonely and isolated, although
it is not perfect.
Fortunately they don't usually stay more than a month or two. Since
Sammy is a very
social cat, I have also been sleeping in the foster room. My cats
aren't too happy with
this of course, but I feel that Sammy needs more attention and it
seemed comforting for him.

I just wondered if others have had experience with cats with FIV and
the difficulties
of mixing them with non-FIV cats. Since Sammy is obese AND seems to
have
some kidney problems, I am trying to get him to be more active and to
eat the
kidney food he has been prescribed, as well as monitor the amount he
eats so he can
lose weight, but not too much at one time. All moot right now because
he definitely will not
eat the kidney food and barely even eats regular food. So now I'm
concerned about him
getting fatty liver disease. He has been with me only a week so I'm
sure he is still
settling in and I am probably worrying prematurely.

This is kind of rambling, but it has been on my mind all week. He is
older, he has
FIV, he is obese, he has kidney problems, he has no home, but he is
just as sweet
as he can be. Who will adopt him? I already have 2 cats with health
problems and
I don't want to take on another for financial reasons (although the
SPCA NoVA might
let me take him on as a "forever" foster and cover his medical
bills). Could he even
mix with my cats without endangering their health? That has to be my
first concern.

It is a quandary and weighing heavy on my mind. If you have any
experience, advice
about any of these issues (especially with FIV and/or obesity) I
would appreciate
you taking a few minutes to pass it on.

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Debbie

no advice but will purr, Lee
wrote in message
...

My next foster cat was supposed to be Phoenix, who some horrible
person had
rubber bands put on one of his front legs and he had to spend a lot of
time in the vet
hospital as a result. It turns out that Phoenix needed more care than
I could give
him (working full time during the day) and one of the vet techs at the
vet's office was
able and willing to foster him and take him to work with her several
times a week to
clean and bandage his leg. So far so good with keeping his leg. If
things continue
to heal well, he is able to use that leg with minimal difficultly and
pain, he will not have
to have it amputated. Good news!

So, on to the Subject. SPCA of Northern VA has taken in an older cat
with FIV
whose owner had to attend to family emergencies in CA and asked us to
care for
him for a while. We helped him when Sammy was initially rescued 3 or 4
years
ago and he decided to give Sammy a home despite his FIV. This is why
he
contacted us again a few months ago. Unfortunately, now this person
won't be coming
back and can't take Sammy there. To make things difficult, this
person let Sammy
get very obese and he also seems to have developed kidney problems.

Since I didn't have a foster cat now and the foster person caring for
Sammy short term
was moving out of the area and didn't want to adopt Sammy, I offered
to care for him
for a while. He is a very sweet cat, quite calm (as long as you don't
try to clip his nails),
and very sedentary. They estimate that he is 8-9 years old. Like I
mentioned before,
he is very obese. He moves around with some difficulty, even lying
down and getting up.

I have 5 cats of my own and am concerned with the contagiousness of
FIV. I have spoken
to one of the vets that we work with, who said that the virus isn't
contagious with casual
contact (same as HIV), but can be passed through blood or biting. I
usually keep my
foster cats in a bedroom separate from my own cats since my cats are
pretty tired of fosters
coming it and out, so I am not concerned with the FIV passing to my
cats this way. I try to spend
time with the fosters so they don't get lonely and isolated, although
it is not perfect.
Fortunately they don't usually stay more than a month or two. Since
Sammy is a very
social cat, I have also been sleeping in the foster room. My cats
aren't too happy with
this of course, but I feel that Sammy needs more attention and it
seemed comforting for him.

I just wondered if others have had experience with cats with FIV and
the difficulties
of mixing them with non-FIV cats. Since Sammy is obese AND seems to
have
some kidney problems, I am trying to get him to be more active and to
eat the
kidney food he has been prescribed, as well as monitor the amount he
eats so he can
lose weight, but not too much at one time. All moot right now because
he definitely will not
eat the kidney food and barely even eats regular food. So now I'm
concerned about him
getting fatty liver disease. He has been with me only a week so I'm
sure he is still
settling in and I am probably worrying prematurely.

This is kind of rambling, but it has been on my mind all week. He is
older, he has
FIV, he is obese, he has kidney problems, he has no home, but he is
just as sweet
as he can be. Who will adopt him? I already have 2 cats with health
problems and
I don't want to take on another for financial reasons (although the
SPCA NoVA might
let me take him on as a "forever" foster and cover his medical
bills). Could he even
mix with my cats without endangering their health? That has to be my
first concern.

It is a quandary and weighing heavy on my mind. If you have any
experience, advice
about any of these issues (especially with FIV and/or obesity) I
would appreciate
you taking a few minutes to pass it on.

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Debbie

It is a quandary and weighing heavy on my mind. *If you have any
experience, advice
about any of these issues (especially with FIV and/or obesity) *I
would appreciate
you taking a few minutes to pass it on.

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Debbie

I have several friends who have a mixed FIV and non FIV household, my
current vet being one of them. The FIV negative cats have never caught
FIV from the positive cats. You just need to be more aware of the FIV
positive cats potential for getting infection. If they are non-
agressive, and are unlikely to mate or have deep biting wounds, then
you don't need to stress. Purrs for a good outcome.

Helen M

wrote:

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Wish I had any advice for you, but at least we can purr hard for the
best solution for Sammy.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

We have had an FIV cat (Monty) living with my non-FIV cats. There were
no dramas as they would never bite each other. When cat fight they
don't bite unless things get really bad, and biting is not all that
common.

In regards to Monty's health, he was fine until the end and he could
have lived longer had the vet given him the correct antibiotic. If you
get Sammy's weight under control, give him a sensible diet and keep
his teeth in reasonable condition, he should be fine for much of his
life. Your idea about keeping Sammy as a permanent foster may the best
alternative if it reduces your vet bills.

Dewi

On Dec 29, 5:08*am, Dewi wrote:
We have had an FIV cat (Monty) living with my non-FIV cats. There were
no dramas as they would never bite each other. When cat fight they
don't bite unless things get really bad, and biting is not all that
common.

In regards to Monty's health, he was fine until the end and he could
have lived longer had the vet given him the correct antibiotic. If you
get Sammy's weight under control, give him a sensible diet and keep
his teeth in reasonable condition, he should be fine for much of his
life. Your idea about keeping Sammy as a permanent foster may the best
alternative if it reduces your vet bills.

Dewi

I'll completely agree with this. My FIV cat (Tuppence RB 9/2005) had
it for many years. I was lucky, I had a vet who knew that an FIV cat
can have a long and happy life. He helped me with her treatments
(interferon mixed with her tuna), and basic care.

The last couple of years, she stopped grooming, so I had to pick that
up for her. She got horrible teeth problems (combination of not
wanting or eating dry kibble and her illness), but with cleanings and
monthly anti-biotic treatment she did well until her last bought of
what I always called the wobbles (she'd wobble and fall over when she
was feeling poorly). She was 16 when she went to the bridge, the
hardest decision I ever made, but she was ready, and so was I (even
though I still cry over my lost baby).

She never gave it to any of the other cats. When she felt "okay", she
rarely fought, but she would bap the heck out of anyone who got too
close to her. No reason to expect any problems with your animals,
unless they are serious fighters (like one of my boys now) who like to
bite.

I'd recommend taking him in, he sounds like a sweetheart.

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Thank you for the purrs, Lee. They do help.

Debbie

On Dec 28, 4:16*pm, "Stormmee" wrote:
no advice but will purr, wrote in message

...

On Dec 28, 4:29*pm, wrote:
It is a quandary and weighing heavy on my mind. *If you have any
experience, advice
about any of these issues (especially with FIV and/or obesity) *I
would appreciate
you taking a few minutes to pass it on.

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Debbie

I have several friends who have a mixed FIV and non FIV household, my
current vet being one of them. The FIV negative cats have never caught
FIV from the positive cats. You just need to be more aware of the FIV
positive cats potential for getting infection. If they are non-
agressive, and are unlikely to mate or have deep biting wounds, then
you don't need to stress. Purrs for a good outcome.

Helen M

Hi Helen,

Thanks for the information. Sammy is very sweet and way too fat to
chase my cats, but I definitely have to learn more about FIV. I
really have enough cats (I'm sure others feel that way too) and was
certainly not looking for another, but I doubt that we will be able to
find him a good home with FIV, obesity, and kidney disease. As long
as my cats will be safe, he is welcomed here. I think the SPCA will
agree to pay for any medical treatment that I can't afford if it comes
to that.
He is our responsibility.

I still have some learning to do about FIV. I never really paid that
much
attention to it before.

Debbie

On Dec 29, 3:57*am, Marina wrote:
wrote:

Thank you for your ideas and please purr for Sammy and a good
resolution to his
problems.

Wish I had any advice for you, but at least we can purr hard for the
best solution for Sammy.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Thanks for the purrs!

Debbie

On Dec 29, 7:08*am, Dewi wrote:
We have had an FIV cat (Monty) living with my non-FIV cats. There were
no dramas as they would never bite each other. When cat fight they
don't bite unless things get really bad, and biting is not all that
common.

In regards to Monty's health, he was fine until the end and he could
have lived longer had the vet given him the correct antibiotic. If you
get Sammy's weight under control, give him a sensible diet and keep
his teeth in reasonable condition, he should be fine for much of his
life. Your idea about keeping Sammy as a permanent foster may the best
alternative if it reduces your vet bills.

Dewi


Thanks Dewi. I'm glad to hear that several people have been
successful in
mixing FIV kitties with FIV neg kitties. I'm going to talk with a
couple of
other people I know with more FIV+ experience. Right now Sammy
is probably lonely, but he is eating a healthy (and reduced calorie)
diet, I spend some time with him and sleep with him. He doesn't seem
unhappy. He LOVES to be brushed so we do a lot of that. Now if I
could just teach him to brush my hair!

Debbie