Would you adopt a cat that hasn't been tested?

misskitties

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I have 3 foster kittens at the moment. I rescued them, but have teamed with a local no-kill foster rescue program to foster them and get them medical care, etc. I've had them for a little over a week now. They've been to the vet, they're off their eye medication, and they've become far more social than they previously were. They're only about 3 months old and cannot be tested for FeLV or FIV until they're 4 months old (the next vet appointment I'm supposed to take them to). I haven't posted the kittens on Petfinder yet because I didn't feel they were ready to be adopted until they were done with their meds and more social and comfortable with human contact. Now the rescue seems to really want me to put the cats up on Petfinder and bring them to showing at the pet store that they do each week. However, I am now concerned with adopting them out without knowing if they are positive for FeLV or FIV. I know it isn't super likely that they have it, but I worry since they lived their entire first 3 months outdoors and encountered who knows how many of the several stray cats in my neighborhood. Their mother also lives outdoors 24/7 and I don't even know who the father is.
I'd feel horrible if someone adopted one of them and took them to the vet only to discover they had one of these diseases. It's bad enough that their new kitten has a horrible illness, but what if they no longer want it after that? Even worse, what if they already have a cat at home and he/she gets infected?
I don't want the rescue to think I'm being reluctant in posting the cats or getting mad at me for not trying to get them adopted asap. They're mainly a dog rescue, so I don't know if they really think about this aspect of cat adoption.
So, I'm asking my fellow cat lovers if you would want to adopt a kitten, not knowing if it has FeLV or FIV?
 

white cat lover

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I would not adopt a cat that hasn't been FeLV tested for sure. FIV I can deal with, but all my fosters are FeLV tested before they come home (unless they are bottle babies, but I can keep them away from my cats no problem).

Why can't you see when the vet can them in soon to FeLV test ASAP? I mean - is there a reason you are waiting until they are getting fixed to test them?
 

GoldyCat

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Why can't they be tested until they're four months? With my first kitten the vet said she was too little at 7 weeks, but he tested her at 10 weeks when I took her in for her second series of shots (booster).

When I brought Goldy into the house I didn't keep her separated from my cats. I did take her to the vet to be tested, but it was probably about a week later. Since my girls were current on their vaccinations (FeLV, not FIV) I didn't really worry too much about it. That's in addition to the fact that I had not yet discovered TCS and didn't know anything about rescues, slow introductions, etc.
 
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misskitties

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Did I say I was waiting until they I got them fixed to have them tested? If so, I didn't mean to say that.
They cannot be tested until they are 4 months old because the test can be inaccurate before then. The kittens still have a great deal of the mother's antibodies until they are about 4 months old. This means that if the mother has FeLV and the kittens don't, it could still show up as being positive for the kittens. Likewise, if the mother doesn't have it, but the kittens do, it can show up as negative, etc. I am not making this up; it is all according to the vet. I asked about testing right away since I have my own cat who I don't want getting any diseases from these guys.
 

white cat lover

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Ahh....I read it as "they can't be tested until they are fixed". Sorry.


Here we test them ASAP - I've even tested 6 week old kittens.
Different vets will have different policies - I've heard what you are saying from some people, but never encountered a vet who had that policy.
 
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misskitties

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By the way, I'm mainly asking this question to prove my own point about not feeling comfortable adopting them out until they are tested. I can be a bit over-protective with animals, so I'm trying to get some backup. Of course, if you wouldn't care about the cat being tested, I'd also like to know. If I were adopting a new cat from a rescue, I'd expect it to be tested. I just want to make sure others feel the same.
 

lawguy

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I did... but it wasn't really an "adoption" as in I intended to adopt a cat. It just kind of happened by itself and she still needs to get further tests for things like FIV and FeLV.
 

ut0pia

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I thought that if the mother has it then the kittens also have it...
 

lawguy

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No. From what I've read FIV doesn't have to pass from mother to kittens, and supposedly is not as common as I would have thought.
 

ut0pia

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My vet told me that if the mother or father had FeLV and FIV then the kittens will also have it..He said it's like human HIV- it gets passed through bites, mating, or placenta..If that's not the case then I have no reason to test Jake..Maybe I need to research more
 

icklemiss21

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Our vet wont test them that young, he says there are too many false positives from antibodies that result in kittens being euthanised. We usually test the mothers before the kittens are adopted out. We just have a return policy that if there are issues with the kitten we will take it back.

Our kittens go up for adoption at 8-10 weeks and none of them have been tested and very few are positive when tested at 4-5 months by their owners. One that was recently, the owner was happy to keep.

We do however insist all cats in the household are up to date on all vaccines before any of our animals go home (tested or untested)
 
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misskitties

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While it is popular belief that if the mother has these diseases, the kittens will too, this is not always the case. While it is common for a mother to pass it on, it does not always happen.

The problem is that I don't believe this rescue has any policies about bringing cats back and what not. They don't have many strict policies about cats since they are mainly a dog rescue. They started off as a dog rescue and have taken on cats since they are always getting so many pleas for help for cats. Anyway, they don't really have a say in who adopts the cats-only the foster parent does. I still have to have the people fill out an application and everything, but I decide. I don't really know if this means I can make my own "return policies" or not.

And I know that these illnesses are rare in the scheme of things. But as I mentioned, I only really worry about it in these guys since they lived their first 3 months outdoors, their mom is an outdoor cat, and I don't know who their father is. There are many stray cats in the neighborhood that seem to gather around their former house.
I've also seen apparently healthy kittens have these diseases. These guys looks perfectly healthy now, but I cannot know for sure.
 

white cat lover

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katiemae1277 has had FeLV+ cats that she got as kittens. The mom was FeLV- and some of the kittens were, too. Yet still I want to say it is 2 of hers were FeLV+. (I may be wrong on that though - it was awhile ago we talked about it)

They can be FeLV+ or FIV+ & appear healthy - that said....I volunteer at the local humane society. Almost all of our cats are strays (we are county wide impound) - something like 90% of them are strays. In the past year, we've had less than a dozen cats test FeLV+...and we estimate we took in around 500-700 cats in the past year.
 

nurseangel

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I have. Speck hadn't been tested and the receptionist at animal control said I could bring him back for a refund if he tested positive. There was no way I would have taken him back there! Fortunately, he was negative.
 
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misskitties

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

They can be FeLV+ or FIV+ & appear healthy - that said....I volunteer at the local humane society. Almost all of our cats are strays (we are county wide impound) - something like 90% of them are strays. In the past year, we've had less than a dozen cats test FeLV+...and we estimate we took in around 500-700 cats in the past year.
Yes, I do know it is rare; yet, there is still a possibility. I know people who have taken in litters or a single cat into their home that turned out to be FeLV+ or FIV+, despite the low chances.
I will probably put the cats up on Petfinder and if I get any applicants before their next vet appointment, I'll just inform them that they haven't been tested. That way if they want a cat that's been tested, they can move on. I've already decided that I am going to tell adopters that I will take the cats back, no matter what the reason. If something goes wrong with these cats and the new owners don't want them, I don't want my babies ending up being dumped at a shelter. I call them my babies, adopting them out will be impossible!
 

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I replied to your other thread in the wrong place. I would adopt the cat if I wanted it, and have him/her tested at my expense. If the foster person would take the kitten back if it tested positive, then that would be a good arrangement. Otherwise, I would keep kitty in quarantine and find a new home where it might be the only kitty. I would keep the new kitty separate from my current kitty anyway at first, so I don't think it'd be a problem.
 

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I have taken in multiple cats without testing. Is it not really recommended, but if it is to leave t hem out in the freezing cold or take them in and try to help them, I do. The only thing is keep them seperated, don't share food and water bowls, and if possible, litter boxes, where most things can be transmitted through those. Just keep them at a safe distance from one another, especially if not sure if one cat may act agressively towards another. It is best to keep the cat more seperated before introducing him around to the other cats. See how he adjusts and go from there. Then going forward, you can still always get him checked and tested.
 

littleraven7726

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None of my cats were tested before I adopted them. I had them tested at my own expense and kept them separated until they were tested. Only 1 of my cats came from a shelter, but I know that not all rescues/shelters have the funding to test before adoption.
 
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misskitties

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Thanks to everyone who answered. I realize now that I probably should have asked a different question. I love cats very much, like everyone else here. As such, I often take in cats in need, knowing they've probably never been to the vet. However, in this instance, I'm not talking about cats we rescue off the street or those rescued from a pound right before the poor cat is about to be pts.

Let me ask this instead. If you were fostering kittens in your home and you had no time limit on how long you could keep them (i.e. nothing was forcing you to get them out by a certain date), would you want to wait to get them tested before adopting them out to somebody? If you were the rescue that I was working with, would you think it silly for me to not want to adopt them out until I had them tested? Keep in mind that everyone that applies to adopt these kittens will not be like many of us here that have experience with cats, are willing/able to keep them separate for some time, or are willing to deal with certain health problems if they do arise.

Obviously this isn't the same as rescuing a kitty in need off the street or one from the pound that's about the be pts. This is paying $90 for a kitten from a no-kill rescue where the kitten has a nice warm foster home to stay in for as long as he/she needs. (I'm not even sure that if one of them were to get adopted before their next vet appointment, if the rescue would pay for the tests. I know they'll pay for spay/neuter. I need to ask about this.) Of course, there are people that want a kitten as young as they can get them, so they won't really care. Yet, are those the first choice people I'd pick to adopt them...no.
 
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