Caruso has FIV!

I got a scary phone call from Caruso's new mom. She said that Caruso just tested positive for FIV!

The vet told her all kinds of horror stories about FIV. He said that Caruso shouldn't be around children or sick people because he could give them FIV, and said that her other cat (who tested negative) will soon catch FIV from Caruso despite the fact that the way FIV is transmitted is through deep bites or through mother's milk! This jerk had Caruso's mom terrified.

Beyond being royally pissed at this vet, I am furious with my vet because obviously Caruso had FIV when he was in my colony. I asked the vet to do blood tests to make sure Caruso was safe to go to a home with other cats. I assumed he tested for FIV, but apparently he tested only for FeLV!

I spent about an hour on the phone with Caruso's mom and gathered a bunch of great links about FIV and sent those to her. Thank goodness she listened to me, and is no longer freaking out about this.

I feel so guilty giving her a cat with FIV even though I know that this mello boy won't ever bite her other cat. The thought of having someone adopt one of my cats who might then later on become very ill just sickens me.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Caruso's story, here are some old threads if you're interested. The last one has great photos of him in his new home.

I just trapped Caruso
Caruso's new home
Pictures from Carus's new mom

For anyone who is interested, here are the links for FIV information I gave her.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/companion/ofiv.htm#othercats
http://www.blackgiraffe.com/jmight/fiv/fivinfo.html
http://www.blackgiraffe.com/jmight/fiv/fiv.html
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/Public/FHC/fiv.html
http://www.homestead.com/felinecompanions/FIVinfo.html
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/shouldwerelease.pdf

omg I am so sorry to read that . First of all don't feel guildy giving her the cat , you had no clue about that . It was a mistake that this test was not made . So don't feel bad about it . I am glad she is willing to work with that issue of FIV and the cat .

OMG.I cannot believe her vet told her that the cat could transmit it to people.I would definately get a new vet if I was her.

I'm sorry to hear that he has this.I'm glad you sent her those links and got her calmed down after the vet scared the crap outta her.

Those are SUCH irresponsible things for a vet to say - I have an FIV cat, and although we have to be careful, there is no major problem with him.

I'm glad you managed to difuse the situation - and I agree - you've every right to be pissed off at your own vet for not carrying out the checks in the first place!!

OMG Renae!! How horrible what that vet did to his poor Mommy! I'm glad you were able to calm her fears. You couldn't have known, you can't blame yourself. (((HUGS))) to you, Caruso and Caruso's Mommy!

That is awful!! Our vet said not to worry about snowwhite's FIV with people, and just be be careful with her around other cats and keep a close eye on her. If she gets sick she needs to get the vet. If you want to give my email to the person I will be happy to talk to them. I know how scary it is when you first find out, but it is okay now.

Hi Renae,

I'm so sorry I missed the posts about Caruso. It's wonderful that his mum is willing to keep him.

Originally posted by Princess Purr
If you want to give my email to the person I will be happy to talk to them.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll ask her if she would like to talk to you about your experience.

Thanks everyone for your support!

I have a 16 year old FIV+ cat. We do not know how long he has had it, and none of the others has ever caught it from him. We have them tested regularly. He is not a biter, and will not allow himself to be bitten, almost like he knows. My vet says he will be ok for as long as he would be ok anyway. We have been very lucky with him, a he has had very few symptoms. He is getting a little raggedy, but just about the time we think he is ready for the bed in the corner, he proves us wrong. He still plays, and is very much alpha male.

I hope she DOES keep him. Man that's scary!

Talk about vet problems - wow! I so hate hearing that anyone else is having a problem with their vet.

I'm so sorry about this, Renae! What awful news. But you're so wonderful to work with his mum, and I'm so glad she's open-minded and wanting to learn about how to deal with this.

I hope none of the other cats in the colony test positive - that would be wonderful news for the new year for sure.

((((((Hugs))))))!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW - are there ever false positives to testing with FIV? Any reason to get him retested at a place that uses a different lab?

That's a good question. I'm not sure why they even tested him in the first place since he is completely healthy. I can't help but wonder about this vet she took him to and what he is up to.

Then I think taking him to a different vet and getting him retested is certainly in order. Any word? I know it's only been a couple of days, and it's the new year and all, but I've kept Caruso in my thoughts, and I sure hope this turns out to be a false alarm!!!!!!!

I haven't had a chance to talk to Caruso's mom again to see whether she has had him re-tested. She did send this funny picture of Caruso looking very unhappy about having to wear his Santa Hat.

LOL! Poor Caruso!!! Gary was pondering torturing a few of our kids with reindeer antlers - but decided it would be vehemently rejected and decided not to subject all of us to the humiliation. Ferals are so proud, LOL!

Caruso looks gorgeous to say the least..

I hope he tests negative, if he gets tested again.

Renae - with all the discussion of FIV in the SOS forum, I got to wondering about Caruso.... do you know if he was ever re-tested?

I keep forgetting to ask her about it. I'll pop her an e-mail and see.