Multi Cat Household with FIV cat

Hi Guys,
I went to make some blood tests to one cat that I fostered and will b adopted overseas in 2 weeks, but they required FIV - FELV tests. So together with him I took a cat I adopted a year ago, an adult male.
The new fostered was negative
My cat came positive to FIV
Tests were done with a stick, like a pregnacy test stick not in a lab.
Right now I live in a two story house and my other cats are separated from this cat anyway... where all the fosters are.
I've read that is only transmitable by deep bites?
We are planning on selling the house and move somewhere smaller... if this day comes he'll have to be with my other cats who are not so fond of him... so now I am really affraid of a fight between them
Does anybody have FIV cats with non-FIV cats together ? how does it work ?
I know he can have a long life, my concern is purely about getting contageous.
The other two cats have been vaccinated for FIV and FELV too... are the vaccines really protective ?

Thank you very much for your suggestions

R

I think there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the shots for FIV. Once one is given, the cat will test positive for the remainder of its life. Dangerous if the cat is lost, and retested with new owners. The shots relialability is also in question. Google some of the vet schools here in the United States, such as Cornell University or University of Minnesota. There should be good information there.

Yes, they can live together..like people, it is only transmitted by bodily fluids. Deep bites.

Hopefully, your kitties will get along and you won't have to worry. You are right that a cat can live a long life with FIV. Just have regular well vet visits and pay attention to any problem that may come up.

Hi, I had taken in a kitten over the summer that had tested positive for fiv. I did not know anything about it, but my vet has an fiv+ cat living with his fiv- cats for many years. He said it is mostly transmited from tom cats fighting not the normal indoor kitty roughing around. He said it is spread through very deep wound bites and it is also sexually transmitted. He said in neutered house cats it is rarely spread and they can share food and water bowls without worry. He also was very against the vaccine because it does not give much protection and once a cat has the vaccine they will always test positive for fiv even if they dont have it.

The problem I learned about fiv is alot of people confuse it with felv which is spread much more easily in cats. I even in my research read incorrect information on vets websites. I found the most helpful place for information is on yahoo there are a couple of fiv+ kitty groups you can join and the people there are great about answering questions and giving help. Good luck with your kitty!

I just found this forum yesterday. I have been reading this forum almost whole day yesterday.

I have a stray with FIV+. He stayed outside. He will stay inside when I pick him up from the vet tomorrow. He has been staying in the hospital for 13 days. It is because Oldie, the outside cat has FIV+, the vet suggested Holly, my inside cat has the short for prevention. I did not know that the short did make my Holly become FIV+. Will someone please explain more detail on this?

My vet told me that the saliva will transmit the disease too. So is this mean sharing food and water bowl will transmit the disease. Oldie need to nurse back to health. It is not wise to leave him outside because of his weak immune system. The vet told me that FIV+ has a weak immune system. It is harder to fight all the bacteria. But what happen to my Holly. Now she is FIV+ with the short to prevent FIV+. I do not understand this. I am kind of frustrated now.

I need help!

The shot will not make her have fiv but it will give her the antibodies to fight off fiv. The fiv tests look for this antibody so Holly will test fiv positive even though she is not. This is why my vet did not recomend the shot because if your Holly ever gets out of the house and animal control catches her they could put her to sleep for being fiv+ even though she is not.

I am very upset your vet told you fiv is spread through saliva because it is not unless it is a deep wound bite. Your cats can share bowls and groom each other without spreading fiv. The only way it is spread is through very deep wound bites and sex. Also a mother can pass it on to her kittens but you don't have to worry about that. Even if they bite each other and draw blood it is still unlikely it will be spread.

I was very lucky to have a vet that is very knowledgeable with fiv, he has fiv+ and fiv- cats of his own. He said as long as a fiv+ cat is neutered and an indoor cat they live a very long life. Good luck with your kitties!

This site was posted by another member but I saved it because it had great info!

http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm

Originally Posted by S Han

I just found this forum yesterday. I have been reading this forum almost whole day yesterday.

I have a stray with FIV+. He stayed outside. He will stay inside when I pick him up from the vet tomorrow. He has been staying in the hospital for 13 days. It is because Oldie, the outside cat has FIV+, the vet suggested Holly, my inside cat has the short for prevention. I did not know that the short did make my Holly become FIV+. Will someone please explain more detail on this?

My vet told me that the saliva will transmit the disease too. So is this mean sharing food and water bowl will transmit the disease. Oldie need to nurse back to health. It is not wise to leave him outside because of his weak immune system. The vet told me that FIV+ has a weak immune system. It is harder to fight all the bacteria. But what happen to my Holly. Now she is FIV+ with the short to prevent FIV+. I do not understand this. I am kind of frustrated now.

I need help!

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Wow, I think you need another vet.... sounds like yours is really misinformed...

MaxMommy:
Thank you for your answer. I will take Oldie to check his red blood count tomorrow. I will confront the vet on his misinformation. By the way, he suggested me to put Oldie to sleep when he found out that Oldie is FIV.

Carolina:
Well, I just to this vet 9 months ago.

Sigh!!!!

It sounds like your vet was talking about FeLV that is spread(or can be) through casual contact but I had Attitude and Nuts who are both positive in the house with Maude who was negative. Maude was vaccinated before we gave the 'Tude and Nuts free roam of the house, plus Maude was an older cat, around 10 so chances are she already had enough antibodies(plus the immune system) to not get it(older cats are less likely to catch it, it's kittens you really have to worry about.)

Maude passed from liver failure and was still negative when she crossed the bridge so she was fine and never caught it. In fact the vets said they would test Maude only if she came in sick, they saw no need to test her for any other reason(after her initial negative test) if she was healthy.

My vet was very supportive of not putting Attitude to sleep when I got the diagnosis. He told me his uncle had a FeLV positive cat that lived to be 17 and died of old age. The other vet said he's seen cats at 10+ with it. So it is only important when they are sick(even though I always tell them they are positive when I bring them in.) Attitude has been in enough they know her status. They however didn't like that Attitude was living outside while positive(we have the only cats and 3 kittens from the litter tested positive so they all are since they are all related, except Blue, he came one day and decided to stick around.) They also weren't happy with her living inside with a negative cat so they weren't happy either way. The vets that knew us knew the living situation and were fine with it, it was mostly the techs that took issue with it.

I'd really rather have a FIV+ cat over a FeLV cat, they seem to be hardier. Then again I have 7 healthy positive cats and then I have Attitude, but her's is mainly eye infections and one time she had nasty URI and she had mastitis once(post spay.) She also had a tongue ulcer at his first appointment, until the test came back positive the vet assumed she just ate something she wasn't supposed to and is actually still more likely than the leukemia.

Let them live together, I would take in an FIV+ cat, if there was no risk of him picking up leukemia, or a FIV&FeLV positive cat and I have 2 immunocompromised cats and I wouldn't worry about the FIV at all.

Seriously, get a new vet.

Taryn