Arrgghh! My meezer is a lemon!!

My meezer TT is sick...again, because of her stupid byb who was only interested in $$$ at TT's expense! TT should not have been allowed to breed cause now God knows how many of her offspring have ongoing chronic healths issues!
Money is not the issue with me, it the ongoing chronic healths issues...it seems like everytime i look at her she is sick no matter what i do!
*end of vent*


I had a gut feeling for a couple of weeks that something was *off* i could not put my finger on it so i watched her like a hawk, everything appeared to be OK eating,drinking,pooping,peeing......bugging the holy heck out of Misty as normal. Until yesterday she was beside me and she sounded congested like she had pneumonia.....she had that last May, called my vet up and was seen right away.

I was partly right she does have a respiratory infection, lymph nodes are a bit swollen and she had a broken canine that has to come out. Her gums are swollen, back of throat so that tooth has to come out before i move June 1st.

The vet gave me some Lysine,florentero for the next 2 weeks and on Mon she goes in for a check-up, my vet thinks it a classic case of Feline- Aids with TT so there is a blood test sometime soon.....

Awww poor TT, she can't seem to catch a break

I hope she starts to feel better soon

Aw the poor thing. If it is FA, she can live a long life with good care which you obviously provide.

Originally Posted by farleyv

Aw the poor thing. If it is FA, she can live a long life with good care which you obviously provide.

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I have thought about giving her away but it would take someone who is committed to her for life! $$$$wise it can get pricey and i'm not sure if anyone else would put that much effort in keeping her alive and healthy....

Hi, I hope you don't think about giving her away
I too have one kitty like that, due to poor breeding... His name is Bugsy He has become the love of my life though, and I would never, ever give him away.
One thing that I would highly recommend you doing with her, is getting Pet Insurance - it will save you a LOT of $$$. Get is now before she is diagnosed with anything chronic. URIs as not deemed pre-existing condition, as long as it has been treated and "cured", so you should be fine.
I have Pets Best, and have used a lot with Bugsy... I have spent a pretty penny with him with deductibles and co-pays, but Gosh, if I didn't have insurance... I seriously don't know what would be of us. Pets Best has been fantastic.
Another thing: You mentioned his gums - Bugsy was diagnosed very early on with Stomatitis, I would have your vet check him for that to be on the safe side. If he was poorly bred and his gums are inflamed, I would definitely consider this possibility. Stomatitis would also explain the swollen on the back of the throat. It is a very painful condition, so you want to deal with it sooner than later...
If you have a vet who has experience with if, great - if not, ask for a referral for a dentist. It is not going to cost you more, but stomatitis treatment is not something every vet does. Your $$$ would be better spent in a dentist IMHO.
Unfortunately Insurance doesn't pay for dental...
For cats like this, keeping the stress level at a minimum, a good diet, preventive care is essential.
Problems will come, but you will have long long runs without problems too once you get to figure out how to keep her immune-system in check.
L-Lysine is great, a daily maintenance dose, if she has herpes, can keep her URI free in the long run. I give all my cats 500mg/day for life.
Bugsy eats an allergenic diet, as he has digestive problems, and plenty of wet food. Grain free food and stress resulted in an UTI for him, so no more of that here. He is also on Strong probiotics. He can't have several medicines - Clavamox for example, gave him 5 months of diarrhea. I am actually still kind of dealing with it... He is right now, this minute having a dental with extractions, and I will have to give antibiotic injections, as his digestive tract is already too messed up for anything oral. He has reactions to vaccines, unless he takes purevax. Can not take Depo Medrol... As you can see... I call him my little Murphy's Law kitty
In spite of some things that go on from time to time, he is a strong, happy, and the best cat ever, what some people call "heart kitty". It is all very worthy, and I would never, in a million years give up on him.
I know it can be frustrating... I know sometimes you just want a healthy cat.... Believe you me I know.... But you will not go through this all the time.... Things will settle down... The love and companionship this little girl will bring into your life will be priceless, that much I can promise you...

With me once i have a cat its for life, TT is more my DH's cat and they adore each other, this is TT's 3rd home so far i've owned her the longest out of all the 2 other owners.

Honestly i could never give TT even if i wanted too, i might say that from time to time but could never do it....

I really should look into getting it....it might come in handy and save me a few bucks.

If you are in the US, I would strongly recommend you having TT tested for feline herpes virus. IDEXX labs does a test that's extremely accurate and can at least let you know if he's got it. If so, there are MANY things you can do to improve his health and cut down on the number of flare ups.

If TT has any discharge, I'd ask the vet to do a culture of a specimen and then do a sensitivity test. The culture will tell you what kind of infection you're dealing with and the sensitivity test will tell you which medication(s) will most accurately treat the infection. It could be that there's a secondary infection and you're only treating the symptoms of the primary infection.

My Hannah was deathly ill when we first got her. She had a very nasty URI & pneumonia that landed her at the vet's office for the first week we had her. They didn't think she'd make it through the first night, but she's a fighter and she did, much to their delight. It took us almost 2 months to get her well. Then a year later, after having her annual exam and shots, she got another URI. We'd treat with antibiotics, it would go away, but it came back. One thing we did was get the Real PCR/URD test and it came back positive for feline herpes. We started dietary changes and that helped. Finally after about 8 months of sneezing and icky colored nasal discharge, we found a vet who suggested the culture & sensitivity test. Come to find out, Hannah had a pseudomonas infection and that's what was causing all the other problems! We treated with 2 rounds of antibiotics and she's been doing fantastically for the past couple of years. She still gets the sneezes and the sniffles, but she's been very healthy.

Between the dietary changes, some environmental changes, and through keeping our routine in check, she's done beautifully!

Sorry, just to get this straight... TT's mom has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus? (FIV?) Or it's actually progressed to AIDS stage? This is sometimes called Feline Aids, but if she's "just" FIV positive, calling it "Feline Aids" isn't really not a correct "translation." I happen to be biased against it, because it helps promote "fear" in people who aren't familiar with the disease.

And TT is how old?

FYI, FIV is not usually passed from mother to offspring. It can happen, but it's not frequent. FIV is passed primarily through deep tissue bite wounds - but there's no point in testing for it until a cat is older than 6 months, because they do carry the antibodies from an FIV+ mother until they cycle out of their system - which can take as long as 6 monhts.

But if TT is frequently sick with URIs, seems you should consider putting her on a daily maintenance dose of L-Lysine once this URI clears up. A lot of us use the NOW powder. 1/4 teaspoon is 500 mg, which is the dose to give when they're sick (split into an AM and PM dose, they eat it sprinkled on wet food. ). (Although you got a cat scrip version from your vet. ). But daily maintenance can be done all the time, just make it 250mg split into half in the morning and half at night.

for your TT!

Just sending for TT. Sorry she is sick... We just had a kitten at the shelter test negative for FIV at eight months who tested positive at four months. She was born to a FIV positive mother. LDG's information is spot on!! FIV is usually not passed on to the kittens from their mother, it is contracted from a deep bite from another cat. Hope TT feels better soon, you are taking great care of her

Originally Posted by LDG

Sorry, just to get this straight... TT's mom has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus? (FIV?) Or it's actually progressed to AIDS stage? This is sometimes called Feline Aids, but if she's "just" FIV positive, calling it "Feline Aids" isn't really not a correct "translation." I happen to be biased against it, because it helps promote "fear" in people who aren't familiar with the disease.

And TT is how old?

FYI, FIV is not usually passed from mother to offspring. It can happen, but it's not frequent. FIV is passed primarily through deep tissue bite wounds - but there's no point in testing for it until a cat is older than 6 months, because they do carry the antibodies from an FIV+ mother until they cycle out of their system - which can take as long as 6 monhts.

But if TT is frequently sick with URIs, seems you should consider putting her on a daily maintenance dose of L-Lysine once this URI clears up. A lot of us use the NOW powder. 1/4 teaspoon is 500 mg, which is the dose to give when they're sick (split into an AM and PM dose, they eat it sprinkled on wet food.

). (Although you got a cat scrip version from your vet.

). But daily maintenance can be done all the time, just make it 250mg split into half in the morning and half at night.

for your TT!

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TT is a 4 year old seal point siamese, she was a former queen and she had quite a few litters before the age of 2. My vet suspects that TT may be FIV+ or as to quote my vet *feline-aids* TT will be tested in the near future for FIV+.
I am fully aware of the what FIV+ is, just never put 2+2 together......
TT is on L-Lysine now.

Just a word of caution then... if your vet is referring to it as "Feline Aids," you might want to think about another vet if she is FIV+. No vet familiar with the disease refers to it that way.

Originally Posted by LDG

Just a word of caution then... if your vet is referring to it as "Feline Aids," you might want to think about another vet if she is FIV+. No vet familiar with the disease refers to it that way.

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I think she refers to it with me because i am in the medical field and my vet knows where i work....so she is comfortable using that term with me. IMO its 6 in one or half a dozen in the other saying either way for me.

She has many,many,many patients(cats, lol) that she treats all the time, plus she rehomes FIV+ cats.

Originally Posted by LDG

Just a word of caution then... if your vet is referring to it as "Feline Aids," you might want to think about another vet if she is FIV+. No vet familiar with the disease refers to it that way.

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That's exactly how my vet described them to me when I got Memphis tested for FIV/FeLV. The vet called them AIDS and leukemia. He is an all-cat vet and the best in the area; I know he was only telling it to me that way to explain in terms most people would understand

Originally Posted by rad65

That's exactly how my vet described them to me when I got Memphis tested for FIV/FeLV. The vet called them AIDS and leukemia. He is an all-cat vet and the best in the area; I know he was only telling it to me that way to explain in terms most people would understand

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That's really sad. Most people know what HIV vs Aids is... too bad he didn't refer to it as feline HIV. "Aids" has such a stigma attached to it and it doesn't accurately portray what the disease is.

Originally Posted by LDG

That's really sad. Most people know what HIV vs Aids is... too bad he didn't refer to it as feline HIV. "Aids" has such a stigma attached to it and it doesn't accurately portray what the disease is.

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Feline HIV would make no sense because the "H" stands for "human" but feline AIDS makes sense and also many sources do refer to it as "feline AIDs".

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Feline HIV would make no sense because the "H" stands for "human" but feline AIDS makes sense and also many sources do refer to it as "feline AIDs".

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I think what Laurie wants to say too, is that is a difference in between having the virus and the disease. Having HIV is not the same as having AIDS. You can have a very very long life being HIV positive. Once you have the disease (AIDS), things gets complicated. That is when your immune-system is crashed and your body will get attacked with all sorts with opportunistic diseases; your chances or surviving from here on are slim. AIDS is the final stages if HIV, the most advanced stage... it is not the same, and to be confused with HIV.

Same thing for a FIV cat. An FIV+ cat has the virus, not necessarily feline AIDS. I think that is the point Laurie was trying to make, if I read her post correctly.

I'am just stunned that people in this day and age would be *afraid* of AIDS or some who is HIV+ then to apply that same fear to animals. who are FIV+.....

I work with cancer patients while not the same as HIV+ patients there still is alot of stigma behind having/being ill with cancer, anyone who is ill should have to live in fear of of being shamed,shunned just for being ill.
IMHO

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Feline HIV would make no sense because the "H" stands for "human" but feline AIDS makes sense and also many sources do refer to it as "feline AIDs".

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OK. "Feline equivalent of HIV." Better?

Originally Posted by Carolina

I think what Laurie wants to say too, is that is a difference in between having the virus and the disease. Having HIV is not the same as having AIDS. You can have a very very long life being HIV positive. Once you have the disease (AIDS), things gets complicated. That is when your immune-system is crashed and your body will get attacked with all sorts with opportunistic diseases; your chances or surviving from here on are slim. AIDS is the final stages if HIV, the most advanced stage... it is not the same, and to be confused with HIV.

Same thing for a FIV cat. An FIV+ cat has the virus, not necessarily feline AIDS. I think that is the point Laurie was trying to make, if I read her post correctly.

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You did, and this is exactly the point.

Originally Posted by CherryBlast

I'am just stunned that people in this day and age would be *afraid* of AIDS or some who is HIV+ then to apply that same fear to animals.

who are FIV+.....

I work with cancer patients while not the same as HIV+ patients there still is alot of stigma behind having/being ill with cancer, anyone who is ill should have to live in fear of of being shamed,shunned just for being ill.
IMHO

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I totally agree. It is so very sad. Honestly, I didn't know there was a stigma associated with cancer! Especially as it's not something that can be spread between people. But HIV can be transmitted (under certain circumstances, though not casusally).

But inform someone a cat is "FIV+" and for the most part, that kitty becomes unadoptable as they get worried about their other cats. Tell them it has AIDS, and they're just scared, period. Most shelters and rescues have them euthanized. We can discuss whether "Feline Aids" is a good way to communicate the cat's illness or not... but the fact of the matter is that if a cat tests positive for FIV, if at a rescue or shelter 99% of the time, that cat will be immediately euthanized. And THAT is why I argue the semantics, and want to focus on education. Because if that cat was bitten two days before being taken in and tests negative, it'll go to its new home, and 8 - 10 years later, they'll figure out it's positive with FIV, wonder where it came from, none of the other cats in the home will have been infected, and they'll do whatever they can to keep their baby well. And had that bite been six weeks before being rescued, that cat would have been murdered.

Sorry for my passion, and I didn't mean to hijack your thread, but to me, the semantics of the situation CAN mean the difference between hope of a changing attitude and education about the problem, and the difference between life and death.

Most of the shelters I know of will adopt out FIV positive cats, the cat shelters generally have a room for FIV cats. I know some do euthanize FelV cats, but not FIV, around here.

That's great, and very encouraging. They still euthanize them around here. There's one FIV sanctuary in New Jersey, and it's wait list is about two years.