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Sister's new cat is FIV+

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Brittany0208

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So, for a while now, my sister has been feeding a stray cat in her boyfriend's apartment complex, a few months. And she's decided to adopt him. Yesterday she managed to catch him and she brought him home. She says the cat has no teeth and is pretty old.
Cutting right to the chase: she took him to the vet today for an exam and whatnot, and found out that he is FIV+! This makes me very, very anxious because I have a FIV- cat that will now have to be completely sheltered from the new male, even once he's settled in. As if I didn't have enough on my plate, now this! I have to make sure they never interact. The vet says the new cat is over 10 years old, and my cat just turned 7 and she's very rambunctious. Does anyone have any experience with FIV+ and FIV- cats living together?
 
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faislaq

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Oh Brittany, you have so much on your plate already.
 

Fia Baby

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I was told it's very contagious. There's no treatment that I know of, and my vet doesn't give the vaccine - he says the research isn't really conclusive that it's effective. At 10, the new cat may not live more than a couple years. Don't let your healthy cat near it. Honestly, I wouldn't keep them in the same household. 2 of mine died from it. He will become susceptible to all sorts of opportunistic infections, and it will take some work to manage them. One of mine kept getting abscesses in his feet and face. He was very agreeable to treatment - we had to soak his paws sometimes, and other times I'd lance his facial abscesses and drain them myself at home, but he'd need oral antibiotics as well. He was pretty unhappy at times, and obviously did not feel well much of the time.
 

Brittany0208

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I was told it's very contagious. There's no treatment that I know of, and my vet doesn't give the vaccine - he says the research isn't really conclusive that it's effective. At 10, the new cat may not live more than a couple years. Don't let your healthy cat near it. Honestly, I wouldn't keep them in the same household. 2 of mine died from it. He will become susceptible to all sorts of opportunistic infections, and it will take some work to manage them. One of mine kept getting abscesses in his feet and face. He was very agreeable to treatment - we had to soak his paws sometimes, and other times I'd lance his facial abscesses and drain them myself at home, but he'd need oral antibiotics as well. He was pretty unhappy at times, and obviously did not feel well much of the time.
:sad9: This makes things extremely complicated for me. I appreciate your honesty.
 

Sylvester

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Yes, and it can be a success story. First of all make sure the other one is up to dates on his FIV shots. The disease is not easily spread through water, food, or litterboxes. It is transferred when an infected cat bites and breaks the skin of the another cat Just make sure there is no fighting or biting.
 

Brittany0208

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Yes, and it can be a success story. First of all make sure the other one is up to dates on his FIV shots. The disease is not easily spread through water, food, or litterboxes. It is transferred when an infected cat bites and breaks the skin of the another cat Just make sure there is no fighting or biting.
I'll schedule my cat for another appointment. The thing is, she plays very, very rough and I know they could never be left unsupervised together. I was hoping for a better outcome but I just can't take the risk, even if transmission is difficult.
 

Sylvester

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It's like living with a person who is HIV, the risk of spreading the infection is very low. But I understand your concern, especially since one kitty likes to play rough. Also, please have your sister test her cat again with another vet. My own vet recommended that to me after he ran some tests on my Siamese and the results came back HIV positive. He told me that the results from these tests aren't always conclusive.
 

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I had a vet tell me it could be passed through a window screen if the cats both licked it or the infected one sneezed at the healthy one. I'm not sure how much of that is true vs scare tactic though, and that was probably 10 years ago
 

Brittany0208

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I had a vet tell me it could be passed through a window screen if the cats both licked it or the infected one sneezed at the healthy one. I'm not sure how much of that is true vs scare tactic though, and that was probably 10 years ago
That sounds a lot like FeLV which is transmissible through casual contact.
 

Brittany0208

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It's like living with a person who is HIV, the risk of spreading the infection is very low. But I understand your concern, especially since one kitty likes to play rough. Also, please have your sister test her cat again with another vet. My own vet recommended that to me after he ran some tests on my Siamese and the results came back HIV positive. He told me that the results from these tests aren't always conclusive.
I will definitely talk to her about it. Thank you
 

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:gbh:
 

Ribbit21

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The risk of spreading FIV is very low. It's sort of a misunderstood disease. It's fairly common for FIV + and - cats to live together now. In the past they were euthanized, but research has been done that shows it's not easily spread. Most cats that have been properly introduced don't bite each other. I have had cats that play rough but that's not the same as biting. The un-neutered male strays pick it up easily because they are always fighting for mates. Don't try introducing them until both cats are neutered and the older cat has had time to settle in. If he is in fact 10 years old then most likely he is a only a carrier and he might never even show symptoms. Carriers can live long healthy lives. I would recommend he gets tested again, because there are often false positives.
 
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