Seeking advise on FIV Cat

aswient

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I have been feeding a stray for a few years, a male, he was not neutered so I was going to catch him and get him done. But there were times I didn't see him and then I noticed he seemed to be neutered. So I figured someone must own him. However, he has been coming around my house for some years, I judge him to be about 6 to 7 years old. I feed some ferals that I had caught and spay/neutered. I've been noticing that he has been in my garage for a while now, he sleeps in there, I have a container in there for him with a blanket. I noticed when he eats he jumps away and has been drooling. He seemed to be in pain. For the past 2 weeks so I figured owned or not, which I don't think so. I brought him to the Vet. She said he had a mass on his gums and a couple of bad teeth. So they took the mass off and took the bad teeth out, which now he has no teeth but his canines. Make a long story short, they found him to be FIV positive and the mass could be cancerous. They sent it to be tested. I have absolutely no experience with FIV. I have other cats so I can't have them in together so for now I have a spare bedroom I will put him in. He at least will be out of the bad weather and I'm sure out of a lot of the pain he felt. He lost some weight because of his bad teeth. A couple of questions I do have, is do you think its safe enough for my other cats with him in another room? If its cancerous what are his chances? Iis there any supplement I can give him that would build him up? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
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aswient

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Thank you so much for your fast response and for the link, I'm sure it will give me some answers. I just picked him up from the Vet with some pain killers and antibiotics, I guess right now its just waiting to see how the test results go.
 

blaise

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Originally Posted by motoko9

Bless you for taking care of this guy; you are his angel...
I'll second that!

Here's a site that may help (click on FIV)....if I were doing this, I would also get some real expert advice from the people on here or, perhaps here.
 

bonnie1965

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Sebastian is FIV+. I think he got it from fighting when he was an indoor/outdoor cat. He used to defend his territory very well.

FIV+ cats can be kept with other cats as long as they are all friendly. FIV is transmitted by deep bite wounds (like you see with serious fight-to-the-death behavior). It cannot be spread by casual contact with other cats; eating, playing, grooming.

The thing I have found is that Seb cannot fight off an infection the same way as a non-FIV cat. This is because his immune system is suppressed. When he had even a sniffle, I would get him on antibiotics right away. He could fight off most any bug then.

Lately, he has been having some health issues. My vet says that FIV+ cats have a 5X greater chance of developing cancer. This makes sense if their immune systems cannot fight as well.

Sending lots of vibes for your boy and you. It is a hard thing to deal with. Do what you can and just keep loving him. In the end, that is what makes them feel the best.
 
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aswient

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Blaise

Thank you so much for your help these links look very good. And I appreciate your kind words


BMW Kitty Cat

Thank you so much for your good thoughts and vibes.

Bonnie 1965

Thank you so much for the information you gave me. He is on an antibiotic now as well as a painkiller because of the mass and his teeth being removed.

He is such a sweet little guy, all he has been through and he still purrs and rubs up on me when I come into the room. It breaks my heart. The only thing that helps is its cold outside he's warm in a room with food and water, no more than he deserves. I named him Stripey, you guessed it, because he's all stripes, original, isn't it
Thanks again to all. I really appreciate it.
 

lilyluvscats

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What a great thing to do. I hope Strpey gets some better news on the mass. Either way you are giving him love and a home whether it's for weeks months or years.
 
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aswient

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Originally Posted by lilyluvscats

What a great thing to do. I hope Strpey gets some better news on the mass. Either way you are giving him love and a home whether it's for weeks months or years.
Thank you. Your right for what ever time he has left. Its probably the only home he ever knew.
 

blaise

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Originally Posted by aswient

...I named him Stripey, you guessed it, because he's all stripes...
Well, now, wouldn't some pictures be nice...........
 

nance

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Awww isn't he handsome......bless you for taking him in....I hope you get some good news about his health....his story is a sad one....with a happy ending I hope
 
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aswient

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Originally Posted by Nance

Awww isn't he handsome......bless you for taking him in....I hope you get some good news about his health....his story is a sad one....with a happy ending I hope
Thank you so much. I hope it will be good news.
 
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