Need Some Advice for a Feral Cat ASAP

Here you go.

This site is, overall, one of the best resources out there for FIV. It has a course of therapy (two actually, the 2nd one being preferred/recommended and using more natural supplements) that actually reduced the viral load to BELOW DETECTABLE LEVELS. The problem? Many of the herbs interact with each other, doses aren't discussed, and you really need to work with a holistic vet to help navigate when and how to use them. But you CAN be active about "treating" the FIV before it progresses. Anyway, here's excellent information on the issue of casual transmission: http://www.fivtherapy.com/fiv_casualtransmission.htm

Directly addressing your question - How Good Is Your vet? http://www.v63.net/catsanctuary/vet_question.html

Another great overview: http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm

I, too am surprised to hear your vet say FIV is contagious by exchange of saliva, urine and feces, grooming. Are you sure the cat didn't test positive to FeLK? FeLK can be tranmitted by those means.

That is a very good sign that he didn't hiss or spit at you today!! It will take a couple of weeks after the neuter for the hormones to dissipate. Then taming will go even quicker. I know this is challenging now due to his diagnosis and the fact he is feral on top of that. If it is FIV, you could still bring him to your house and in your room in a cage where the kittens can't interact with him. I think this would be safe to do, since FIV can't be contracted through saliva and it is not airborne. It sounds like the kittens would get adopted quickly and then you would just have this cat as your only foster at the moment, easier on you then. This could turn out to be a very special cat for you and you will develop a deep bond . We are here to help and want to give you support during this trying time, as you are really making a difference in this cats life!! Let us know what you find out from the vet about that diagnosis, maybe a second opinion would be in order? I don't know, it worries me that the vet thinks FIV can be transmitted this way.

I called the vet today to double check that he was FIV+ and not Felv+. They confirmed that he was FIV+ and said that the test was a faint positive. I'm not really sure what that means, but it sounds good at least. I think I'm going to wait to bring him into my room for at least another week, just because I'm paranoid about the kittens getting sick, though I'm really starting to believe what you all are saying. Even if I'm 99% sure, it's not enough for me to justify putting them at risk. I've decided that I will work with him, and then find him a rescue to go to.

His urine smells very strongly. Is there anything I can do to make it not so awful? He has clean litter (Tidy Cats Clumping for Multiple Cats). Will it go away with time?

He's scheduled to get fixed on Friday. I put him down as a feral cat, so he will be ear tipped. Is that wrong for me to do? The only reason I did is because it is cheaper, but if you think that would hinder his adoptability, then let me know and I'm sure I could just ask them to change him to house cat and pay the extra fee.

Ear tipping won't make him less adoptable; and, if a person doesn't want to adopt the cat because of that issue alone, then, frankly, I wouldn't let that person adopt the cat.
Ear tipping is mainly to help people who deal with stray cats--if they see a cat on the streets that has been ear tipped, then they know that that cat has been spayed/neutered/given rabies shot and is in fact feral or stray.
I am a caretaker of a feral/stray cat colony whose members come and go. I am also in the process of rehoming/resocializing some of the stray [formerly owned] cats in a private home. Many cats in the colony look similar; I can tell some of the apart simply by looking to see if they have been ear tipped.

Ok well now we have a firm diagnosis of FIV. Although I have not heard of "faint positive". But LDG would know. I understand about you being cautious with bringing him to your room. As far as I know, one of the ways to pass on FIV is through a deep bite. That is how many FIV positive cats outside pass it on is during fights which involve serious bite wounds. So if you kept the cat in the cage and the kittens away, I think it would be just fine to do that.

Oh, the smell of potent intact cat urine!!!! Once neutered, it will take a couple of weeks for the urine to be less concentrated with the hormones. You could add that tidy cats litter box deodorizer to the litter, but I wouldn't want it to be too strong so the cat stops wanting to use the litter box. But since you are using tidy cat litter, then you could try it. I just put up with the smell and know in a few weeks it will go away .

As far as the ear-tipping. If he goes into a shelter environment, sometimes, not always, people will pass over a ear-tipped cat. Not so much because of the way it looks, but they are wary of the fact that it was once feral. They just don't understand that once they are tame, they can be the most loving cats, even more so than a home-raised kitty. If you think there is a possibility of this cat being returned to a feral colony, then I would do the tip so he wouldn't have to get re-trapped. Currently I have two feral kittens at a shelter. One with no tip and one with the "V" shape tip. The "v" tip is exactly that, a V cut in the top of the ear. It isn't as severe looking as the straight across cut. Although from a distance, the V tip isn't as visual as the straight tip. You could ask the vet what type of tip they do?? Hope he is doing ok today!!!

I wouldn't add any type of scent to the urine. He is a tom, and they have strong scent so that it carries to the females and to the other toms. If you want to PM me your address, I have a small unit I can send you that takes care of this without scaring kitty away from the litter pan. The inventor is a friend of mine and he sends me units all the time, so it won't cost you anything. You can see it here: www.citypet.com I know what it is to deal with tomcat pee and not have the monies to do something about it.

The smell will go away about a month after the neuter. You will still want to keep him away from any intact females for 4-6 months because he can still get them pregnant. That's how long it takes to clear out the plumbing.


MA

Originally Posted by alexisanb

I called the vet today to double check that he was FIV+ and not Felv+. They confirmed that he was FIV+ and said that the test was a faint positive.

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Not sure what that means either. If it was a SNAP (Elisa) test done at the office, you still can't be sure he's actually positive for FIV. The only way to confirm it is via the Western Blot test, and that has to be sent out and takes a few days to a week to get the results back, and is expensive. The Western Blot checks for two specific antibodies. Our Chumley tested positive for one, and that is called a "transient positive." When we have an extra $135 to spare, we'll get a retest done (it's been longer than three months since the first one, so we're good to go).

Originally Posted by alexisanb

His urine smells very strongly. Is there anything I can do to make it not so awful? He has clean litter (Tidy Cats Clumping for Multiple Cats). Will it go away with time?

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Only after he's neutered. When Chum was neutered, it only took three days for the smell to go away.

Originally Posted by alexisanb

He's scheduled to get fixed on Friday. I put him down as a feral cat, so he will be ear tipped. Is that wrong for me to do? The only reason I did is because it is cheaper, but if you think that would hinder his adoptability, then let me know and I'm sure I could just ask them to change him to house cat and pay the extra fee.

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No, not wrong. He's certainly not a pet for you, it's not like you're taking advantage of the program. And ear-tipping doesn't seem to affect their adoptability.

Bless you for being willing to care for and foster this boy!!!!

I decided to come up with a name for him, and thought that he definitely looks like a Bartholomew. I got some pictures. but they aren't very flattering, so I'll try taking some later. He went in to be fixed today, and will be done at 4:30.

Instead of making him wait until the kittens are gone, we've decided to build him a completely enclosed cage out of wood, and then plexi glass on the front. I'll post pictures of it once it's done. We'll drill small holes in the top for breathing purposes.

I just figured that the sooner I can get him into my room, the quicker he'll come around. And since the cage will be completely enclosed (except for the small holes on top) I can be 100% sure that the kittens won't get FIV.

Bartholomew did not enjoy getting into the cage this morning. He was swatting and hissing at it. I felt so terrible. Thankfully, after today he won't have to go back in the cage for quite some time (hopefully until he goes to rescue).

The urine smell was completely gone yesterday. I don't know if it was just so strong from him being dehydrated or what. There wasn't much water that he could get to in the warehouse he was in. Most of the water available was melted snow with salt in it.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know how his surgery went and I'll post pictures of the cage once we're done with it.

all goes well today!

Great name, Bartholomew!!! Wonderful plan on the enclosure!! Make sure there are lots of holes for ventilation! And I do think it is best that you get him relocated into your room as quickly as possible. Much better for the taming process. Good luck today with him at the vet.

Can't wait to see some pictures

The surgery went well I think. We're still trying to finish his cage. It sounds like he has some chest congestion, is that normal? It almost sounds like he's purring, but you can tell he's not.

Not unusual at all, though it can mean several things. It's the wrong time of year for lung worm, though if he'd eaten any slugs or snails over the summer, he could have lung worm. It can be seen in a fecal. Otherwise it shows up on an x-ray and looks like it's maybe pneumonia or asthma (which it could be either of those too). You really can't tell without a vet check.

However, if he was born feral, it's not at all uncommon for them to have scarring of their turbinates from having an untreated URI as a kitten. A vet can usually tell after listening to them with a stethoscope - if it's up in the nasal cavity, and they're not congested, it's just former damage to their respiratory system. It makes them sound a little snargly.

So glad all went well with the neuter!

Good luck with the pen for him.

It could also be an upper respiratory starting from all of the stress. Just put him on L-Lysine powder 500 mg. Per day for a week then go to 250 mg. I just bought a large container from NOW ( the company that makes it) and keep my cats on it since I have had so many additions lately and brought in the ferals. It really helps them to fight off a virus. You can also get Lysine at health stores but the tablet form needs to be crushed. Glad the surgery went well. Good luck with the enclosure you are building, can't wait to see pictures

The vet gave me some medicine that I have to give him every day. It's liquid, so it's going to be a pain in the ass. It's Clavamox. It has amoxicillin in it. Will that help with a URI? The vet was very helpful. She said he's probably around 3 years old, he has a broken lower fang, and she cleaned off his paws where they were bloody from trying to get out of the live trap. She said that the medicine should help to clear up any infection.

Any advice on how to give him the medicine? He is going to hate me.

We always ask for meds in pill form when possible. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get liquid down a feral - and if they don't like pill pockets.... hissy recommends spray cheese. But again, this requires a pill.

Sorry!

If you cant held him at all (easier when they are caged then when they are free running in a room).
IF you try to held him, use to wrap him in a terry (turkis) towel. This is the trick done with reluctant home cats...

I think a try may be to let this fluid medicine on his side or lower back. With all probability, he will lick it off...


Good luck!

Very difficult!! Oh dear, I am not sure at all on this one. Other than putting it in some really stinky tuna or sardines and mash it up. I think it will be too hard on you and Bartholomew to get it down his throat. I don't think that would have worked with Yogi, he was very feral. Try putting it in the stinky food.

Here's a bit of an update for everyone:

I haven't noticed the congested sound since Friday night, so hopefully, it just had something to do with the anesthesia. We gave him his medicine yesterday morning by carefully turning his box and then putting a blanket over the front and holding him down with the blanket. He did great with the medicine, but when we were trying to put him back in the cage, he flipped out went and hid under my entertainment center. It took FOREVER to get him out of there.

After that traumatic event, we've decided to just put it in some wet food. We just leave the food with the medicine in it in his food dish and don't give him any more until he eats it all. I check frequently to make sure I can give him food as soon as it's gone. He only eats when we're gone or sleeping though.

He has definitely lost trust in us since we gave him that medicine, and I don't want him to be scared forever, so I think that giving him the medicine in the food is probably the best way.

The vet told us to get some high quality food, so we went to Petsmart and got "By Nature Adult Cat Food". It was a little more expensive than Blue Buffalo, but they had it on sale, so we figured we would at least start with that.

According to the neuter certificate, he weighs 11.2 lbs and the vet thought he was around 3 years old. He has a ton of battle scars and a broken lower fang.

The pictures aren't very flattering at all. He has the cutest flat face, I'll see if I can get a good picture of him turned sideways. Ignore all the mess in my room please

Oh he is DARLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry about the medicine trauma.... but glad you figured out an alternative.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aw yes, the scared peer over the litter box, I know that one all too well. He is so adorable and does have a great face. I am sorry about the episode today and I was worried about that happening. IN the wet food is best.

I forgot to mention this yesterday. The evening I picked up Yogi from the vet after his neuter, he made that same raspy breathing noise too. I thought he was sick, but was a bit better the next day. I think it is from the contraption? they put in the cat's mouth during surgery. It dries out their throats.

You could also add the L-Lysine to his wet food, but don't add in the same feeding as the medicine, maybe the Lysine could be given mid-day with more wet food as a snack.

The enclosure is soooo cool!! You have done a wonderful job with this guy