I'm after some advice (very ill FIV+ rescue)

Hi there I'm in need of some advice.

On Monday afternoon I saw a post on fb asking for someone to help a cat who was suspected to have been hit by a car. They needed someone to take him to the vets so I got in my car and went and picked him up. When I found him he was hidden under a bush, hardly able to move. I wrapped him in a towel and put him in a carrier and went straight to the vets. Once at the vets it was discovered how very sick this little boy was. His temp was a shocking 35.2(Celsius), he was severely dehydrated and emaciated. He has an abscess on his face and one on his tail. We put him on a hot air bed and started treatment of antibiotics and IV fluids. Overnight his temp climbed to 36.5. On Tuesday they shaved his tail and found many (10-15) puncture wounds on his tail. His condition improved slightly. He sat up twice and one of those times he drank some water. His temp it at 36.8 today, he was hydrated enough to be able to take bloods. These tests showed that Quinn (which is what we have named him) has tested FIV positive. He has had bloodied diarrhoea today, the vet thinks that's linked to possible intestinal lymphoma. He has high kidney enzymes which could be an indication of kidney failure but it may be linked to severe dehydration. His protein is severely low which is most likely related to severe malnutrition and dehydration. The vet said the prognosis is currently not good but he's been saying that this whole time. Quinn is not microchipped and no one has come forward so we are under the impression that he is a stray, the medical expenses are covered by myself, and I feel terrible saying so but my finances will eventually run out, and even if he does make it I have two cats at home which are both FIV negative. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to prolong his suffering, but I want to give him the chance to make it. It sounds terrible I know, does anyone have any advice regarding this situation.

It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Awww!! Poor thing!  Thank you soooo much for rescuing this poor fellow!

Does your vet take Care Credit? Info about that here http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

Contrary to popular belief, FIV is not that easy to spread to healthy cats. One of our members suggests this link on this: http://www.v63.net/catsanctuary/vet_question.html  Personally I would not fear his FIV status in regards to your other 2 kitties, it's much more of an issue for him alone, as it compromises his immune system and his ability to fight back illnesses.

So that leaves the "can you afford it" as the big question. Maybe the vet would work something out with you since he knows this was an extreme rescue. See about the care credit too.

I, personally, would do, as you are doing, everything possible to see him through this. IF possible. I believe fate sent you to him. Sending you good that he recovers, he deserves to! Please keep us posted.

I don't know, this is a toughie.  At the shelters I've worked for we've always discouraged people from adopting FIV+ cats when other cats are in the home but I'm not a vet and don't really know the chances of it spreading to your two cats.  I do know it can be spread through biting so if you do keep the cat you're going to need to be extra extra careful about introductions and making sure they don't get aggressive.

Honestly, if I were you (especially being that you have 2 resident cats that you need to consider) I'd carefully consider what I could afford to spend on this cat. I'd tell the vet this amount and ask him or her to work with me as best as he or she can within those parameters, and then if the money ran out that would be that.  It may sound callous, but at a certain point, however much we love cats, we can only do what we can do. My situation may be somewhat different than yours though because I cannot take on a third cat even if I wanted to due to my lease (convincing landlords to let me foster was hard enough), so keeping this kitty would not be a possibility for me in any case.  If you do want to keep him, perhaps look into care credit as suggested above.

tulosai said:

 It may sound callous, but at a certain point, however much we love cats, we can only do what we can do.

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I agree. It does not sound callous at all. We have to be realistic when we rescue. Unfortunately, it takes money and lots of it to save some of them. Do what you can and don't be hard on yourself. You definitely saved this kitty from something worse by getting him to a vet and not leaving him outside to suffer. That you should feel very good about.