FIV+ cats - a terrible mistake?

[catmandu]

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.

[Lizzie]

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.

[AbbyMom]

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.

[Lizzie]

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.

[jenluckenbach]

Wonderful news.

[critters]

"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.

[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.

[Lizzie]

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.

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.