Need Some Advice for a Feral Cat ASAP

FeLV can be passed through mutual grooming, not FIV. These are two completely different viruses.

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated you all. I have been really busy with school and what not. Anyway, still not much progress, but I won't give up hope yet. I really want to bring another cat in to keep him company. He must be terribly bored, and will continue to be for awhile. I'm looking for an FIV+ cat to take in that gets along with other cats. Anyone know of any FIV+ strays that need rescued around Fort Wayne, IN? FIV+ cats are euthanized if they end up at the shelter or even the acspca.

Thanks!

Oh that would be wonderful for you to take on and care for another FIV+ cat!!! I am sure there are MANY FIV cats that are waiting for someone like you to come along. And I am sure Bartholomew would just LOVE a friend and it might even help him come out more, especially if you adopt a friendly cat. OH how exciting!!!!!! You could just start calling shelters in your area, I am sure you will find a cat immediately Keep us posted to finding another cat....

I'd definitely call around to local shelters.

What a wonderful thing for you to do!

Well I looked around and I found a shelter in Kentucky that has an FIV+ cat. They seem like a wonderful organization, and I'm happy to help them out. He's on his way as we speak, getting here either tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll keep you all posted as to how everything goes.

The funny thing is, I committed to this cat in mid March I think, but of course, the rescue I volunteer for ended up taking in a cat that tested FIV+. So now, I'll have three rascals in my room, hehe.

Since my last posting, I have heard Bartholomew purr! At night he walks around my room and sometimes lays with the dogs. One night I woke up to the loudest purr in the world, I was terrified because I thought he was right next to me, lol. He was laying next to one of our dogs under a table. It was adorable.

Also, he didn't like the one food we got him so we switched him over to Blue Buffalo, and he absolutely loves it. I highly recommend it.

The one cat that my rescue found (Boots) has such a sad story. I have never seen a cat in worse shape that was so loving. Apparently, someone moved and left their cats behind. He has a broken tail, zero teeth, fleas, no hair on one of his legs, has an upper respiratory, and was kicked by neighborhood kids. I feel so bad for this poor guy.

Anyway, I'll give you updates in a week or so

So very happy to see your updated post. You are a saint!!!!! Now you will be caring for three FIV babies . You are a wonderful person and all of these cats are lucky to have you. Poor Boots, people make me so sick. I don't understand how someone could leave behind their cat's to starve to death. Please keep updating on your progress with Barth and now Boots and of course your new kitty from Kentucky. That is so cool that Barth loves sleeping with the dogs. Feral's just seem to love all other animals, at least in my experience. They prefer animals over people, at least in the beginning. for a safe journey for the kitty from Kentucky.

Originally Posted by Feralvr

So very happy to see your updated post. You are a saint!!!!! Now you will be caring for three FIV babies

. You are a wonderful person and all of these cats are lucky to have you. Poor Boots,

people make me so sick. I don't understand how someone could leave behind their cat's to starve to death. Please keep updating on your progress with Barth and now Boots and of course your new kitty from Kentucky. That is so cool that Barth loves sleeping with the dogs. Feral's just seem to love all other animals, at least in my experience. They prefer animals over people, at least in the beginning. for a safe journey for the kitty from Kentucky.

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ALL of the above!

Wow - that is SOME purr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really, this just makes my heart sing!

And OH poor Boots! You're an absolute love for taking him in. he recovers quickly!

I hope the transition of Boots and New Kitty from Kentucky goes smoothly.

I'm happy to say that everything is going very well! We got Ragman (the cat from Kentucky) nearly 2 weeks ago, and the day after we got him, Bartholomew started coming out for hours instead of just coming out for 15 minutes at a time. We still can't pet him, but he gets pretty darn close to us. The odd thing is, Bartholomew and Ragman don't really play or hang out much or anything.

And Ragman is such a sweetheart. I think he's part Ragdoll because he looks like he is and he is the most kittenish adult cat I have ever met. He LOVES to play with everything. And he loves to cuddle as well. It's going to be hard to let him go when the times comes.

We just took Boots in yesterday. (We wanted to wait until his upper respiratory cleared up so he didn't get the other two sick.) Him and Bartholomew seem to get along very well. They were cuddling with each other for awhile. And it seems like Bartholomew tries to protect him or something.

Also, I've talked to the rescue I volunteer for and they are thinking about trying to adopt out FIV+ cats. I just need to get some more information from vets and make sort of a pamphlet for potential adopters so they know what they're getting into. My only concern is that they need more vet care than healthy cats. I want to make sure that whoever adopts them has enough money to cover any vet bills that they incur.

I'll get pictures of all of them soon. Thank you all for the kind words and good wishes.

The sun is shining down on you today!! What great news. I am not surprised at all to hear that Barth is coming out more now. Alot of the time, these ferals really come out of their shell with another friendly cat with them. AND, most ferals will readily accept new cats quite quickly, at least in my experience.

Ragman (love the name) sounds just beautiful. And I think that is very sweet that Boots and Barth have become fast friends. You can try to put them on L-Lysine 500 mg./day for a week then go to 250mg. This will help with Bartholomew and Ragman from possibility getting the URI from Boots. Hope they don't Either way, you certainly are putting yourself out there with saving these cats. You really are a great person with a huge heart. Wouldn't that be great if your shelter tries to adopt out FIV babies!! You are right, though, about the vet expenses and making sure potential adoptors are aware of that possibility. Although, the cats could be just fine too and not have many medical issues from the FIV.

Thanks for the update, as I was thinking of you and the cats. Hope all keeps going well for you

OH, yes, pictures too please!!!!!!

All I have to say (because Lauren said it all!) is AAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

That is FABULOUS news all the way around. Put a big fat smile on my face!

If you want links to information on FIV or help writing the pamphlet, PLEASE let me know, I have great references!

I would definitely like more information about FIV. Pass those links right along I'm not sure if you guys use facebook, but if you want, you can friend me on facebook and then be able to see a lot more pictures of Bartholomew, Ragman, Boots, and all the other kittens that go in and out of my room, as well as my two precious dogs, lol. I just think it might be easier for you to see the pictures and what not, or I could just post links to the albums, whatever you'd like.

Guess who pet Bartholomew for like 10 seconds today? That's right, I finally did it! I was giving him treats and then decided to try to pet him by slowly moving my hand near his face (making sure he saw it so he wouldn't be spooked). Then I started scratching his chin and he seemed to enjoy it. Then he decided he was scared and ran back behind the entertainment center.

He's been very curious about us lately. He sniffs our fingers and always has this cute curious look on his face (head cocked to one side). All of the cats have gotten along well (although Ragman seems to be a bit of an attention hog/bully sometimes). I've decided that Ragman must be an eternal kitten, because he is more playful than most kittens I've met, and he's 3-4 years old.

They all seem healthy, so Boots' upper respiratory must have passed before we got him. Last Sunday, I started brushing him and some of his hair was falling out (around his neck) and I noticed that his tummy was extremely bloated, so I took him to the vet Monday and they said that his fur was probably due to allergies (he had gotten some waterless shampoo baths before I got him) and they wormed him. He definitely was less bloated the next day, so it must have been worms. His hair is growing back now, so he'll be a handsome boy soon enough.

Just let me know if you want to friend me on facebook or if you want me to post the albums (I just have a lot of albums because each new set of kittens gets their own). Or I guess I could just make a new album just for Bartholomew, Ragman, and Boots. Either way, just let me know

YEAH for finally getting to touch Bartholomew. Once he realizes how wonderful pets are, you are on the fast track with him. Wonderful news all around. I don't go on facebook . I just do TCS... that is about all I can handle and wouldn't even have time to facebook and no real desire either .

I am sure LDG will come on and see your post and be able to pass along some more FIV info. for you. Glad your crew are doing well, keep updating

I have a FB account but can't remember the last time I was on there.

on petting the boy! I know that cocked head, and it is just TOO CUTE!

He did need friends to watch interact with you.

OK, here are links.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/living-with-fiv/
I'm intentionally linking to the sitemap on this one - this is a GREAT site with amazing information about holistic treatment - so sophisticated, we're working through it with Chumley's vet (also trained in holistic treatments) in fact. But some of the info isn't so easily found if you go through the main page: http://www.fivtherapy.com/sitemapx.htm

Within the site, there is specifically this information about transmission with FIV+ and FIV- kitties living together: http://www.fivtherapy.com/fiv_casualtransmission.htm There is only one study that indicated a fairly high rate of what appeared to be casual transmission within a home, but the authors discuss this and put it in context.

Easy info for a brochure: http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm

Hope this helps!

2 days after I was able to pet him for a few seconds, I decided to be bold and try to pet him again. I pet him for 15 minutes straight and he loved it! I can go up to him pretty much whenever I want to and pet him now!!! He just purrs and purrs, though sometimes he gets cranky (like any cat) and will bite my hand a little. I never dreamed that this day would come, especially not so quickly. Only a little while longer until I can look for a forever home for him

I've noticed that he has a lot of dirt/ear wax in his ears and they seem to bother him. Normally, I would just hold the cat down and clean out their ears, but I don't want him to regress, nor do I want to lose my hand, so I'm not quite sure what to do. Sometimes I will try to get it out with my finger while I'm petting him, but most of the time he'll run away as soon as I do that. I have ear drops for Boots, but again, I don't want to force him to stay still.

Also, I was able to take a flea comb and brush him. I noticed that he had a lot of dander in his fur. Should I get him some vitamins? I was planning to get all of them vitamins, just haven't had much time to look for any. Any suggestions?

And Boots is spraying in my room (not surprising since he hasn't been fixed yet). Now that I'm more informed about FIV, I'm paranoid about getting him fixed since it will suppress his immune system and I feel like if he does get put under, I should do some tests or bloodwork or something. The only problem is, I can't really put more than $150 max into his neuter. When I took him to the vet for his hair, she said that they would probably want to do x-rays and other stuff, which sounds like it would be way more than $150. Suggestions or comments?

And a few weeks ago, I took in some more kittens for the rescue I volunteer for. They are really wild for being kittens, my guess is that I got them when they were around 3 months. Anyway, are there any tricks to taming them? Should I just try to grab them and then pet them, or should I just be patient like with Bartholomew?

And as promised, here's a link to my album for the fiv kitties. I promise I'll get more pictures soon, school has just been kicking my ass this semester.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...9&l=c1e32ba436

Oh and I forgot to say thank you for the wonderful links!! They answered so many questions for me. Once school gets out (only 2 more days!) I will be sure to read through everything on those sites.

OH MY the pictures are just awesome and they are such gorgeous kitties . As for Boots neuter, I don't know if the bloodwork is necessary , but I would get him neutered as soon as you can . You don't want the spraying to continue.

As far as those 12 week old kittens, just start picking them up and loving on them and the sooner the better. They are young and need to be handled immediately. You sure have your hands full and I think you are doing a wonderful thing for all of these kittens/cats

If you are just now able to pet Bartholomew, and this is GREAT NEWS!!!! I would not push the ear cleaning yet. But you certainly could try, he might appreciate it. Could you get the Revolution from the shelter for all of the cats? That would take care of ear mites, fleas and worms too.

Why'd they say Boots needed x-rays? That's not normal for a neuter procedure. ???? Are there any low-cost neuter clinics you can get to? His being neutered is far more important than the short-term suppression of his immune system. Think of it like someone that's tested positive for HIV. They're not sick - they just have a virus that is slowly causing their immune system to not work as well. If they need surgery, they get it! Cats with FIV may NEVER have a real problem from it.

Our Billy (FIV-) just came down with some kind of flu like virus. He was sick for a few days. The vet doesn't recommend separating sick kitties - by the time one's sick, they've all been exposed to it anyway. Chumley, our FIV+ guy, didn't get sick.

Try to find a lost cost spay/neuter clinic in your area. I took my feral Shadow there in October and it was $35 total for the neuter, ear tip and rabies shot. I dropped him off in the morning and picked him up in the evening. He had to stay in his trap in the basement for the night, but I was able to release him the next morning.

Yeah we have low cost spay/neuter places around here, I just didn't know if I should take him to a vet instead. The reason she suggested x-rays is because I have noticed since I got him that his stomach seems really bloated sometimes. It feels/looks like he's pregnant sometimes. She didn't feel any masses or anything, and guessed that it was maybe fluid. It's so weird, because it seems it will go away after he uses the bathroom sometimes. I'm not really sure what to think about it.

I went to where he came from today in search of some kittens. I saw another unneutered male cat, he looked like he was in pretty bad shape. His ears had almost no hair on them (my guess is scratching from some sort of infection). Hopefully I can get both him and Boots in to get fixed this week, and then maybe I'll be able to take him in as well.

Boots threw up some salmon colored throw up about an hour ago. After he threw up, he was a bit disoriented and wobbly, but was fine after about 20 seconds. Any ideas on what it could be? I took pictures if you want to see it.

Aw poor Boots, the only thing that worries me about the bloated/pregnant looking tummy would be possible FIP??? But I think the vet would have mentioned this to you during the exam if she suspected this. Or could he have some worms? as this could cause a bloated tummy.

As far as the salmon colored puke, what do you feed the cats? If it is, let's say, Friskies or Meow Mix dry, these dry foods have some coloring additive to them so when the cats throw up it can look pink. I only remember this from the barn cats that would throw up occasionally and were fed the lower end brand dry cat food.

Good luck with everything and that would be wonderful to get that other male cat neutered and treated, the poor sweetie . Thanks for all you are doing for the cats.