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.Originally Posted by jenn_librarian
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!
Here's Frankie Baby.... he's as soft as a bunny!
This is my RB Bear..
Here he is with his buddy, Mac
And this is Piglet, who ended up NOT being FIV+ after testing + 3xs!!
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