Bringing stray in with inside cats

brashterson

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Hey guys,
I am hoping for advice on bringing a stray inside.I have 6 inside cats that are (as far as I know) disease free. There is a very friendly female cat I have been feeding that I want to bring inside. She loves other cats as well. I know this because I also feed several other strays and she is friendly witth them. However, about 2 weeks ago one of the males bit her pretty badly and I had to start her on antibiotics and take her to the vet to have the abscess lanced. I have her locked in my spare bathroom for now.
I would like to know what all I should consider before letting her mingle with my cats. Last November I had her spayed and tested for feline HIV and she was negative, but with her having fresh bite wounds I worry she could have been infected with something else. I have also seen several strays (some of which look pretty sickly) eating from the same bowl I leave on the porch for her. She seems healthy as far as I can tell. What all should i have her tested or vaccinated for before I let her out of her bathroom? Besides the bite wound she had, the only other weird thing she does is drags her butt on the floor after pooping... I thought anal glands? She was dewormed with fronted about a month ago...
 

catwoman707

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Well it sounds like the only possibility would be if she were to have contracted felv.

If you know which of the cats bit her, was it one who looks sickly/skinny, ratty/rough fur, a uri, etc?

I would think not, usually when a cat is sick from felv, they are not about to go around biting females out of the blue. 

FIV is not a concern really, healthy cats co-exist in homes perfectly fine with a positive fiv cat, and it is only given by deep bite wounds, so unless she is not good around other cats I wouldn't worry.

If she did actually contract felv from the bite, chances are she will be able to fight it off anyway and be rid of it.

It takes a very long time of daily/consistent mutual grooming, sharing dishes, etc for a chance of your cats getting it.

If it were me, I would go ahead and allow her to be around your cats, have her tested in a month for felv, if she did test positive, vaccinate your cats with the felv vaccine once, and re-test her after a full 4 months minimum to see if she then tests negative, meaning she got rid of it.

Only a small percentage of cats who contract felv will actually come down with it.

FELV is not as common as fiv is in ferals btw.
 
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