Feline AIDS :(

[LuckyNumber7]

I just took my older kitten, Maximus, to the vet and they did a blood test, and told me that he has Feline AIDS.

Our vet told me that he cannot pass it to our younger kitten from sharing a bowl or grooming each other, only through deep bites, but there seems to be conflicting info on that on the web.

Maximus is 4 months old, and from what I'm reading, kittens can show false positives until they are 6 months old, from antibodies in the mother's milk. Hopefully this is a false positive. We're having him retested in a couple of months to make sure.

Anyone have any info or tips about FIV?? I don't want my baby to get sick. We keep him indoors, and we're going to make sure that the cats don't play too rough together.

Right now he's perfectly healthy, which is good. If anyone has any advice on how I can help him stay that way, please let me know.


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e64/ifallapart/Maximus/DSC_7807.jpg

[Pawla]

No advice. I'm just so sorry. ((HUGS)) I sure hope he's a false positive.

[kittycats_delight]

We are all hoping and praying Maximus tests negative at his retest. My Vixen is FeLv+ and I know the devastion you feel. She is now 3 and still very healthy and happy. She contracted it through her mother and then passed it to our other cat who passed on from complication from the disease at 18 months old.

Here is a link about FIV - Feline AIDS (http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&articleid=213) I like this site I linked for you as it seems very complete and correct. When you retest Maximus be sure to test for FeLv too. FeLv can be passed on through inter-grooming and sharing food and water dishes.

I hope all turns out well and he is a false positive. But remember even if he isn't he can still live and happy, healthy and normal life.

(((HUGS)))
Michelle

[LuckyNumber7]

Did your cat give it to your other cat through a bite wound, or from routine contact? I'm so sorry that happened :(

Thank you for the link - I feel like I'm reading every link on the internet about it right now!

He was tested for FeLv too, and it was negative, thankfully.

[kittycats_delight]

I don't know if you would call it routine contact. They were very close. When Vixen (feLv+) was little (5 -8 weeks) she was just learning the litter box and never covered her things or cleaned back there so Lilith (RIP) would do that. She took on the role of mother even though she was just 8 weeks older. Lilith was always grooming Vixen. They would eat together and drink together. I had even seen Vixen pick up pieces of food from the dish and bring to Lilith and vice versa. The contact was rather intimate more like a mother and baby cat. It was from this contact the virus spread. This can happen with FeLv but I have not heard the same for FIV.

Even though this happened with Lilith at such a young age I would not trade it away. She was the most incredible girl. She turned my husband who was a dog person into a true blue cat lover. She was very unique. So gentle and loving even as a baby. I also would not give up having got Vixen. She was a terror as a kitten but the relationship between her a Lilith was astounding. And she has turned into the most loving baby you could ask for. She still has her 'ways' about her but since Lilith's passing she has taken on so many of Lilith's behaviors. It is like I have both my girls in one special kitty.

Maximus chose you because he knew you were the one to give him every good chance in life. FIV+ or FIV- you are the one for him...for life. I know he will bring more to your life than you can even imagine. The *special* ones can change your life. :)

((((HUGS)))) to you and rubs & kisses for Maximus.

Michelle

[LuckyNumber7]

((HUGS)) Thank you Michelle. We're going to do everything we can to keep our baby boy healthy and happy for as long as possible, that's for sure. I'm praying that it's just a false positive, but the vet really stressed that that was unlikely - so we'll see. I made an appointment to have him neutered on 7/11, so we're going to have him retested then. I'll definitely keep everyone posted.

Your cat Lilith sounds like she was such a sweetie. She was lucky to have you, and vise versa. :)

[Lizzie]

I have 5 FIV+ cats and they are extremely healthy and active, and they live alongside both very young and very old non-FIV cats. You would only have to worry if your cat was extremely aggresive, which I very much doubt. Calling FIV "Feline AIDS" really puts the wind up people unnecessarily. Cats with FIV do not get cancer any more easily than any other cat, nor do they get other disorders such as renal failure any more easily. They need to go to the vet for quick treatment if they come down with any kind of infection or get a wound so they can be started on antibiotics right away, and the course of treatment is usually longer. They can get sore gums and fragile teeth more easily. That's it.

Here's a very useful website:

http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/petcare/cats_fiv.cfm

Maximus is very beautiful and looks a lot like my Cattulus - hmm! two tabbies with Latin names.

[LuckyNumber7]

Thank you for your post Lizzie, it made me feel so much better.

I keep reading that it is very rare for a mother cat to infect her babies - I can't think of any other way Maximus could have contracted it. He was never in a fight, and we got him as a 10 week old kitten, and he's been kept 100% indoors. :confused: Maybe it's a false positive, I'm hoping it is.

That's awesome to hear about your cats there - it helps a lot to know that this isn't come kind of immediate death sentence for him, and I don't need to separate my other kitten from him. They do sometimes wrestle, but never THAT rough, and they definitely don't bite each other hard enough to puncture skin.

We adopted Maximus from a woman whose cat had gotten pregnant, and had an unwanted litter. I don't know if the mother was FeLv negative or positive, I should have asked. I don't know if she would have known - but I still should have asked.

I'm going to wait until he's after 6 months old and retest him, to be sure. If he is positive for it, whatever - we'll love him just as much as we have all along, and care for him well, to give him the best chance at a long, normal life - just like the rest of our animals.

Do you have any tips for a high quality cat food that we could feed him? A lot of these sites encourage feeding a very high quality food to help them stay healthy.

Right now we feed them science diet dry kitten food, mixed in with some wet Wellness food.

PS - Our other cat is Commodus, my 2 latin boys :)\

- Liz

[kittycats_delight]

I feed my cats Royal Canin with Immunity Boost. It was suggested by my vet. We were told to feed high quality food and try to have a low stress environment. She is pretty laid back so not much stresses her out and the high quality food is like I said Royal Canin Fit 32 and Beauty & Care 32 with Immunity Boost. She also gets a completely all natural wet food called Almo Nature.

[LuckyNumber7]

Is that available at most pet stores, or would I need to go to a vet for that? Thank you all so much for the tips...I was seriously a wreck when I came home from the vet, but these posts and links have calmed me down a lot.

[ratchet22]

I am first hand when it comes to FIV in kittens,. I rescued a momma that was FIV and she had 3 kittens. 2 POS and 1 NEG. I was just distraught. BUT as you said it is VERY RARE for them to get this from the momma, I continued to test monthly and then one day 1 tested NEG, and the following month the last one also turned NEG. So yes it was pretty well 6 and 8 months before this happened. BUT IT DID HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!
So yes it was probably a test that turned positive from the mothers antibioties, which show up for along time. Keep testing you may just find out that the kitty is TRULY not POS.
In Fact VERY LIKELY not POS

Carrie

[kittycats_delight]

Is that available at most pet stores, or would I need to go to a vet for that? Thank you all so much for the tips...I was seriously a wreck when I came home from the vet, but these posts and links have calmed me down a lot.


I am not sure if you can get it in pet stores in the U.S. I am in Italy and I purchase it at my local pet store. The vets here do not carry any type of pet food even prescription which is why the pet stores carry it. I would suggest taking a look online at the pet stores websites in your area.

[jennielynn1970]

Many of my fosters are FIV+, and one of my own guys, who I adopted from fostering, is FIV+. Honey, my guy, is about 12-14yrs old at the last guesstimate. He's low on teeth (typical for an FIV kitty)

[catmandu]

I Remember When They First Diagnosed Feline Aids And Thanks To Misinformation From Early Newscasts A Lot Of Healthy Cats Were Taken And Left At Shelters.
We And Praying For Your Dear Little Cat That She Will Be Healthy And Well.

[Freedom]

Liz, I know exactly how you are feeling!

Bobby went in for his blood test this afternoon. The good news: he does NOT have feline leukemia. The bad news: he MAY have feline aids. Bobby is the 8 month old with the tilted head that I kept from the TNR project.

For a postive on the test, there should be a bright spot. His test has a faint spot. So he has to go back in one month for a recheck. A negative would be no spot at all on the test strip. Sigh.

Sometimes kittens will test positive if the mom has aids; but as they grow, they fight it off and test negative. But he is 8 months old, and that usually clears up by 6 months old. I asked the vet the chances that he will test negative in a month. She replied, "it does happen sometimes." That doesn't sound good to me.

My vet said that if he does have aids, that would explain his head tilt, as kittens with the disease often have neurological damage.

The vet wanted me to keep him segregated from the rest of the cats for the month. Not sure if I will do that or not. The only way it can be spread is fighting - a bite, with salive to blood contact. So far, none of the other cats has any interest in bothering with him.

I'm going to post the info I received from our sponsor at PawsWatch in a moment.

[Freedom]

Here is the info I received back from our sponsor at PawsWatch when I notified her of Bobby's test results.


YES, it's good to know if your cats tests positive, which would mean that the cat had been EXPOSED to FIV (different from symptomatic, "has" FIV). You want to know this information, because you would want to provide the cat with enhanced supportive care if cat ever has a problem such as a secondary infection, because cat's immune system may need more assistance.

About contagiousness: OK -- I'm going to go on record with some equally important research results, from extensive work done in the last several years. Both Tufts Veterinary and Angel Memorial have endorsed this. Extensive testing was done to determine the likelihood of lateral transmission of FIV among adult cats - that means from one adult to another. Cats were put in constant contact of all types with each other, and did not transmit the disease. Then, to test the likelihood of contagion via bodily fluids, healthy cats were actually INJECTED WITH contaminated fluids -- and they still did not contract FIV. Both Angel and Tufts recommend that FIV positive cats can live with the rest of a household.

However, just as the nation is always in a total panic about the chances (about 1 in 7 million) of contracting rabies from a cat, vets and shelters largely jumped to taking the quick way out, which has become something of a witch hunt, in which anything that tests positive for FIV is isolated or killed.

So it would be worth your while to look into this further before deciding to isolate or kill your cats. Perhaps you should speak to one of our volunteers, xxxxx. When xxxxx adopted an FIV positive cat, she herself did extensive research on the subject. I have cc'd her here, in case anyone would like to talk to her.

Sandie, about Bobby specifically:
Since the caretaker said that Bobby was FINE until, at age 8 weeks or so, all of the kittens got a semi-diagnosed URI, and all were blanket treated together -- AFTER WHICH Bobby developed his equilibrium problem, this contraindicates the head tilt coming from neurological damage. It also points instead to a different diagnosis of inner ear infection damage. Did the vet know that when he gave his diagnosis?

Yes, I did. the vet only said this could be another expalnation, not that this would be conclusive.

Finally, about the test.
$50. for the test? That's very high. We buy them for about $8. EIGHT DOLLARS! Please can Bobby have his recheck through your group?

[kb2yjx]

I am so sorry to read that Maximus is + right now!! However, MANY prayers that when he is negative when he is retested....

[LuckyNumber7]

Ratchet, that is very encouraging, thank you so much for the info. I'm trying not to get my hopes up TOO much that it's a false positive, but it sound slike it really might be. He's only 4 months old, and from what I've read, and from what Freedom said, after 6 months is supposed to be fairly accurate, so we'll retest then and hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

We just went and got some Wellness cat food at the store that had immune system building ingredients, and also got some Wellness "Welltabs" that have all kinds of great vitamins and acids in them. Hopefully they will help!

Freedom, how awful that you're going through the same thing too. I don't see the point in segregating my 2 cats from each other - they do wrestle, but they are not vicious and do not bite each other, so I don't see the issue. I so hope that your test in a month comes back negative as well :(

It was REALLY expensive to have the test done at my vet as well - $60 I think. Crazy! Maybe I can find a place to have him tested that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for! :o

It seems there is a lot of misinformation out there about FIV, how it is spread, and what to do if you find out your cat is FIV positive. It's crazy how many places will just put a cat down, or advise that you do so if the diagnosis is made. I would never do that. If he has it, he has it, and we'll deal with it the best that we can, and hope that he lives a long, happy life with us.

Freedom ((HUGS)) - I'm so sorry you're dealing with this as well. Please keep us posted as to Bobby's next test.

[cassiesmom]

MORE prayers that little Max will be negative at the time of his retest! Do FIV tests use a Western blot to verify a positive ELISA, like human immunodeficiency virus tests do?

[LuckyNumber7]

Yes, they can do a blot test, and I'm going to request that they do one if the next test that they do also comes back positive. From what I've read, it's entirely possible to get a false positive OR a false negative with these tests, as they are not 100% reliable.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I just wanted to say that I hope that Maximus's results were just a false positive and that he'll eventually test negative. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent his way. He sure has a wonderful home and I know that you'll love him no matter what.:)

[smokey the elder]

We had some FIV+ kittens last year, and the volunteer who had them paid for the Western blot test (more expensive, but more specific). They were negative.

[ratchet22]

EXACTLY! Negitive is very commen, you just have to give it time. Id bet my dollar he is NEG. Just hang in there. I hate testing. I have had Feline Leukemia POS test, but if you do the IFA test, they are NEG, meaning your cat was exposed, but not truly POS. So I have had ALOT of learning on testing. I am in it over $10000.00 in testing. So I am first hand at testing, even my vets office has learned alot about testing and how it ALL works.
AGAIN FIV kittens are RARE and will typically test NEG at 6 months, sometimes even 8 months. I have not Seen 1 yet that came back testing POS later........Im sure he is NEG

[LuckyNumber7]

I hope you're all right and that he is negative.

Yesterday I was talking to my next door neighbor and I told her that he had tested positive, and I couldn't believe it - she said "How old is he?" I told her 4 months. She said "Well why don't you just put him to sleep and try again with another one?" I almost fell over! I wanted to yell at her and tell her that was the meanest thing I've heard in a while, but I bit my tongue and simply said that we're going to do the absolute best that we can for him, and would never put him, or any of our other animals for that matter, to sleep unless they were suffering needlessly.

Some people :rolleyes:

[Freedom]

Oh Liz, that's all you needed to hear just now!

Make a note to start educating that person. It will be a slow process but hey, its a neighbor, she can't get away! evil :D

[LuckyNumber7]

I know, right?

She really is a weirdo. The other day, 2 women were coming to my house to adopt a dog that we were fostering here. They brought along their border collie, who is 4 years old, to make sure that she got along with the dog before adopting him.

They're walking up to my house, and the lady yells out "Well THAT'S an old dog, huh??" They're like "Uh, no, she's only 4 years old". As if that's not weird enough, on their way OUT, she starts ranting on and on to them about how there is a patch of yard which I neglected to rake, and how she was sick of having to do my yard work for me. All of this, to 2 women who she doesn't even know, who are GUESTS of mine! Psycho! Oh, and, I had just broken my foot - I couldn't be outside doing yard work, and she knew this! :rolleyes:

[jennielynn1970]

Many of my fosters are FIV+, and one of my own guys, who I adopted from fostering, is FIV+. Honey, my guy, is about 12-14yrs old at the last guesstimate. He's low on teeth (typical for an FIV kitty)

Sorry 'bout that post! cat on laptop and laptop died or something in between there. I didn't think it had even gotten posted, lol.

Anyway, as I had been typing, my old guy has bad teeth, typical of a FIV guy, and he had very bad paw pads, which is also indicative of FIV. I've fostered a number of FIV guys, and they've all basically shared these traits, and the vet had gone over things with me when I had my first FIV fosters and was concerned about certain things.

Mac and Bear were the first boys I had with FIV. They were the sweetest guys in the world, and I loved them more than I can ever say. Mac was usually in good health, just had hyperthyroid and was on meds for that. Actually the longer he was with me, the better get became and his medication decreased until it was 1/8 of what it had been. He gained weight and his coat was gorgeous.

Bear was not so lucky with things. He always seemed to be suffering with an upper respiratory, and was off and on Baytril a lot. He also had entropian, where his eyelid and lashed rolled over and his eyelashes were growing into his eye. A vet associated with the shelter did surgery on him, but it wasn't super successful (he was her 1st patient for this...), he had some scarring left from the entropian, and his eyes were always crusty. Other than that he was a large and goofy cat and was such a love bug. He was my buddy and I loved him to pieces. He was missing a lot of teeth, and usually gummed my fingers when he was feeling spunky.

I took in two other FIV boys later in the summer. Woody is a Russian Blue mix and is quite skittish and is not fond of people, even today, 2yrs later. I can hold him and cuddle him, but not for an extended period. He's got rough paw pads, and is missing a few teeth as well.

Piglet came from a house that had been broken into and the he and his housemates had been left behind by the couple who rented it. Teens broke in, killed the one cat, the other disappeared, and only Piglet was left, hiding in the basement for about 2-3weeks. I took him in as soon as I heard about him. He was a gorgeous white cat with black spots like a cow (so why they called him Pig, I have no clue). he had tested positive when he was a kitten 2xs, and once about a year before I had him (he was about 1 1/2yrs old. I had Piglet for about 1yr and decided to test him and Woody again... I just had this odd feeling about Piglet. He was tested 2xs. Both times NEGATIVE, and by different vet clinics.

I was told by the vet, you can have a false positive, but you cannot have a false negative.

Frankie I took in back in Jan/Feb. and he is also the picture of health. He's almost like a little bowling ball cause he just eats everything in sight and is super playful. He's got the rough paw pads as well.

Bear and Mac passed away last year. Bear in July, and Mac in December. Mac was 15ish, and Bear was 5-7yrs old. Mac had been adopted, and Bear just had a broken heart, I'm still positive of this. He stopped eating and just gave up. Mac was returned about 3 months later, and Bear was absolutely beside himself and was all over Mac, but it was too much for his little body to recuperate, and he crossed the bridge from kidney failure on July 5th. Mac was re-adopted and was living very happily until a tumor formed in his chest and it just grew very quickly. He crossed the bridge around Christmas in the arms of his new meowmie who just adored him. He had 6 happy months with her.

Piglet was adopted and is doing great. Woody is still here with me and has never shown any signs of being ill at all. He gets a goopy eye once in a while, but that's so rare. He's a handsome boy, and I hope someone will see past the FIV stigma and grow to love him as I have. He's a wonderful cat.

This is Woody... he's so handsome!
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Woodyandfeathers.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Woodyserious.jpg

Here's Frankie Baby.... he's as soft as a bunny!
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Frankieonblanket.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Brighteyes.jpg

This is my RB Bear..
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Bearrelaxed.jpg

Here he is with his buddy, Mac
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/macandbearrelaxed.jpg

And this is Piglet, who ended up NOT being FIV+ after testing + 3xs!!
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/Piglet2.jpg

[jennielynn1970]

Yes, they can do a blot test, and I'm going to request that they do one if the next test that they do also comes back positive. From what I've read, it's entirely possible to get a false positive OR a false negative with these tests, as they are not 100% reliable.

See if you can get into one of the shelter clinics and say you want him tested for FIV/FeLV. MUCH cheaper!!!!