FIV+ cats - a terrible mistake?

As many of you know, I recently adopted five FIV+ cats from a local shelter. I felt reassured that they would not pass on the virus to Ginger and Nougat who were already in my care, and I felt confident that I could protect the FIV+ cats fairly well from infections. These were the issues brought up by the shelter, and I thought I'd made a good assessment.

Tonight I came home to find Nougat, who was released from her radio-iodine isolation only a few weeks ago, unable to meow. She kept gagging and making horrible noises and I rushed her to the vet. They stayed late to sedate her and check her throat and nasal passages but all was clear. She does, however, have calicivirus and is going to need a lot of care. She has mouth ulcers and will probably need to be force fed for a week or more.

I know they had calicivirus at the shelter and had to close the FIV room for weeks until all the cats were well. So it looks like one of the cats I adopted later is a carrier of the virus and I've introduced this to Nougat and Ginger. Nougat is going to have a tough time but I think, I hope most desperately, she is strong enough to come through this. Ginger didn't get her flu shot last year due to her age etc. so she is totally vulnerable. I've just put her in isolation but it's the proverbial "shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted".

What have I done to Ginger and Nougat?! Was I arrogant and blind to the effect these FIV+ cats might have on them. If Ginger gets this and dies from it, when she was doing so very well, I will never forgive myself. And what about the future? I don't want to take the cats back to the shelter. I can't isolate Nougat and Ginger in a bedroom because of them. I really despise myself right now for what I've done.

Please don't be so harsh with yourself, you mean't well, and were doing a good deed at the time, I am really sorry to hear that the other two kitties may have picked up the virus,this is indeed very sad and I can well understand how you must be feeling, lets us all hope they will be ok, sending you positive vibes and good wishes for the kitties to come through all of this with flying colours.

I just found Thumper, one of the original FIV+ cats, has a drippy nose. Now I've got him in isolation in one room, Ginger in another, and the last room ready for Nougat tomorrow. I can't possibly afford to have swabs taken from each cat's mouth to isolate the calici virus carrier and anyway Raven is still very feral and untouchable at this point.

First off, don't panic! You are just feeling (understandably) overwhelmed right now. ANY home with multiple cats faces this type of possible problem. If you would have adopted only 1 cat and only FIV- cats, this could have still happened.

Just for clarification, is this calcivirus a form of URI? If so, it is just a COLD.

Hang in there, things will get back to normal.

Lizzie, myself and Jack & Sunny are all praying for you and your cats.
I don't think you need to be so hard on yourself, you are doing a wonderful thing by adopting the five fiv cats in the first place, you are opening your heart to give them a home. I'm sure that Ginger and Nougat will be fine and even if they have caught the virus then I'm sure you will nurse them well and they will recover and be fine. If the other cats are living a good life there is not reason why Ginger and Nougat can too.
I really hope everything turns out fine, you are a saint for being so kind to the cats, not many people would adopt a cat with FIV, and even if you may have to return them to the shelter, it will be of no fault of your own. It may be the situation wasn't meant to be but you gave it a try and that's the most important thing that you were willing to help these cats.

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Originally Posted by jenluckenbach

First off, don't panic! You are just feeling (understandably) overwhelmed right now. ANY home with multiple cats faces this type of possible problem. If you would have adopted only 1 cat and only FIV- cats, this could have still happened.

Just for clarification, is this calcivirus a form of URI? If so, it is just a COLD.

Hang in there, things will get back to normal.

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Thank you all for making me feel a little better.

I was rather bouncing off the walls yesterday after going back to work on about 30 minutes of sleep and then coming home to find Nougat sick. Yes, it's a form of URI, but unfortunately it's the one that includes mouth sores which can lead to forced feedings. I'm not so very concerned about any cat getting one cold. My concern is that one of the FIV+ cats, very probably Dude who has to have steriod shots to keep his stomatitis in check, is a carrier and will continue to be a carrier. I started calling him Typhoid Mary this morning :D - which means my sense of humor is coming back.

Thumper appears fine, eating really well, no sign of mouth sores and his nose is dry again. He hasn't been playing as much as when I adopted him a month ago and I've been wondering why. Perhaps a cold is not the reason.

Ginger still looks okay and is eating, though not a lot. It was pretty insane this morning going into four isolation rooms as well as dealing with the main areas - talk about a home shelter!

You should commend yourself instead of hating. You have taken what is considered unadoptable cats and tried to give them a chance in life. Hopefully all this will get better for you soon. I know that overwhelming feeling and you just want to give up. I go through this myself, but like Jen said, it gets better. Hang in there and please keep us updated.

We Are Praying That The White Coats Can Help You.
Its Just Dumb Luck That My Cats Have Not Contracted Anything Fromthe Porchies.
We Are Praying For You, And Your Companions.

Again, thank you all for your support and encouragement.

The good news is that Nougat's temperature is down and she is eating wet food by herself. She's even got a very rusty and small meow back, nothing like her usual Siamese yowl but better than the gasp she gave yesterday. She loves the room where she's in isolation since it gets lots of morning sun and two very cosy beds, so she's okay. Thumper continues to eat quite well but his nose looked a little dirty so I'll try to get him in to the vet tomorrow afternoon.

The bad news is that Ginger has stopped eating. She will be seeing the vet tomorrow and I'm about to give her sub-q fluids. The weather has turned warm and I noticed that she didn't even want to drink water after going over to her bowl, so she needs help. She is yelling at me for attention right now, but nothing like her usual SHOUT. She would be much happier if I let her out of her room so she could sleep with me (I can't sleep on her sofa because she makes really stinky poops) but I don't want to run the risk of more exposure.

I've made plans on paper on how to separate out my "Typhoid Mary" and his pal Raven from the rest by putting them in the main downstairs room, but which group will Macduff join? If he goes downstairs with them, the place where he's lived for 14 years and where he is used to going out and in, he won't be able to cuddle with me very much. If I keep him upstairs, he won't understand how to get back inside and will spray by the front door if I don't allow him outside.

Time to go to bed. My best ideas always come to me first thing in the morning.

I've been thinking about your concern about Dude being a carrier. Isn't it true that once you get a cold, you become immune to it, which would be probably why he's not sick now, right?

Anyway, once you get through this, shouldn't all your kitties be immune just like Dude? Something to ask your vet.

I'm updating this because I don't want others to be afraid to adopt FIV+ cats and keep them with their negative cats. Neither Ginger nor Thumper have cat flu. Thumper spent his time at the vet hospital struggling vigorously with the vet and myself and snorting (he snorts like a pig) as I told a pathetic tale of him not playing any more. After flying out of the carrying case once we got home, he attacked a flannel sheet draped over a chair, chased one of the other cats, and batted around one of his old toys. I guess he was just being a cat. Sigh! Ginger looks great and her lack of appetite may be age-related, she shows no signs of a virus. All the others appear fine.

This means that Nougat could have picked up the virus on her walks in the garden with me at the end of last week, and not from the new cats. Don't blame me for pointing the finger at those poor guys, it was my vet!

Poor Dude, I must give him some extra hugs and apologise for calling him Typhoid Mary.

AbbyMom - I do still need to ask the vet your question, and also how Nougat could have got a very common cat flu virus when she had her booster in March. I would have thought that shot would have covered the calici virus.

Wonderful news.

"I would have thought that shot would have covered the calici virus." Some do, some don't. For clarification, you should find out which shot your baby got, then find out what it covered. There are bunches of combo shots (and even nose drops) in different combos.

My vet told me they can still get cat flue even though vaccinated, just as with humans, they just don't get a severe life threatening dose which they can if not.

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Originally Posted by carole

My vet told me they can still get cat flue even though vaccinated, just as with humans, they just don't get a severe life threatening dose which they can if not.

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Yes, that's pretty much what my vet told me today when I asked about it. He said that it depended on how virulent a strain the virus was, and if the cat was stressed in any way, and also that no vaccine has a 100% success rate. He still thinks that the virus came from one of the new cats rather than outside. I will just have to watch and wait. I still need to let the shelter know what happened.