FIV positive and negative mixed households????

I have seven FIV negative furbabies. About six months ago, Momma Cat showed up in our backyard with three babies. I noticed that one baby had a sore on her face. I took her to the vet and she had a warble in it. The vet removed it. She tested FIV negative. I brought her in for two weeks and found a home for her with my neighbor. My neighbor had her for about two months. My neighbor came down to me one evening and said she thought that the cat wanted out. She decided to take it on a walk. She said the collar broke lose. I found the kitten in my backyard. It was hiding in the bushes. We couldn't get her to come out. So the neighbor decided the kitten wanted to live outside and got another kitten. The kitten lived in my back yard for the past month and a half. I caught her last Thursday evening and took her to the vet Friday. She tested positive for FIV. She has been at the vet since Friday. She got fixed today and I will pick her up tomorrow. I have been unsuccessful in finding her a home. Her mom and siblings are still in my backyard. I have cathouses with straw and feed them twice a day. The kitten is the most docile cat I have ever seen. She will lay on my lap and just purr. I spoke with a FIV friendly vet who has advised me against mixed the kitten with my other seven. My two oldest are eleven years old. She said older ones are more susceptible to infection. I would die myself if I ever made them sick. I am already attached to the kitten since I have known her for about six months. I have a raccoon family in my backyard that I worry is going to get the cats. Some of my indoor cats do not always get along. My one eleven year old sometimes gets crazy and goes after the other ones. What should I do? Is it safe for all of them to live together? My seven are unvaccinated. Have any of you had a transmission in a mixed household? Thank you.

FIV is transmitted through deep bites.  As long as there are no serious deep puncture wounds given by her, you shouldn't have any issues.  I know that many people have FIV+ and FIV- kitty households.

Hi Ralphscats...I adopted a stray FIV+ female kitty and already had 4 FIV- cats at home. She had been needing a home for months and after weighing the pros and cons, I decided to let her live in my large bedroom with small sitting area, while the others remained in the rest of the house. She loved the undivided attention she received in my bedroom, sleeping next to me, the extra love and toys, and especially loved extra cat nip in her toy mouse. She would get so excited when I came home and into the bedroom, she would zip here to there, all over tbe rooms at break neck speed! Could your bedroom possibly accomodate her?

My girl took interferon (?sp?) med and excluding one episode, she lived to be 8 years old. We kept her apart from the other cats and she never wanted or tried to leave my bedroom. She was happy. Between years 2-6, she was so healthy, we had her retested for FIV and each were oddly neg. She did, however, die as a result of FIV complications. I miss her so much.

Good luck. I hope you're able to figure something out for the poor thing. Your neighbor didn't need another cat after abandoning the first!

@LDG has an FIV+ kitty living with her brood.  She can give you a lot of information on integrating an FIV+ kitty into your home with FIV- kitties.  Also, if you're on FB, Cole & Marmalade is a great resource.  Cole & Marm lived together for awhile before Marmalade got sick.  While at the vet, they learned Marm was FIV+.  He's doing well now, and Cole has his friend back.

Here are a few 'classic' threads on living with an FIV+ cat and how to manage the FIV.  The first two are from LDG and the last one has some really good info in the comments.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/217397/help-charlie-is-fiv

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/259351/how-i-am-treating-chumleys-fiv

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/297209/considering-adopting-an-fiv-cat

Thank you. I will definitely read the links. I need to find out everything I can before I decide to keep her. Eight cats is a lot for one household, so I'm not sure how this is going to go. I know she doesn't have good chances of finding a good home though. Right now, we are taking it one day at a time.

The bottom line regarding your current cats becoming infected is, The ONLY way for them to become infected is if she not only fought with the others but actually bit deep enough to draw blood.

That is pretty uncommon in a home, so with proper introductions done slowly, they should do just fine together.

I know of many homes who have both pos and neg with no issues at all.

Catwoman707, can you please tell me what source you have found that says that biting is the only way that it can be transmitted? I'm reading things that are all over the place, and I just want to compare all the site sources. Thank you.

Ralphscats said:

 
Catwoman707, can you please tell me what source you have found that says that biting is the only way that it can be transmitted? I'm reading things that are all over the place, and I just want to compare all the site sources. Thank you.

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Not understanding what you have been reading that is all over the place, every site states the same thing.

Nearly all are through deep bite wounds, (blood tainted saliva of the infected cat to blood contact of the vicutim cat)

The only other way is rare, which is through an infected mom passing it to her kittens.

Rare because the virus can not cross the placenta.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_immunodeficiency_virus

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/cat-fiv-feline-immunodeficiency-virus

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_fiv.cfm?gclid=CKWvz46N18gCFYphfgodcWoEWQ

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/feline-immunodeficiency-virus-fiv

I could go on endlessly.

Now, FELV is not the same, as can be spread by long term consistent contact, mutual grooming, food dishes, etc but not even as easily as once thought.

FIV is through deep bites.

I've read some places that it can be spread through food and water bowls. I think it was someplace on the Cornell site. Thank you for the links. I will read them later today when I have more time to sit down. Thank you.

My kitten Sophie tested positive for FIV at 6 weeks old.  She actually retested negative at 6 months old, but I did a LOT of research on FIV kitties between that time.  FIV can be transmitted through deep bite wounds, and sometimes from a Momma cat to her kittens. It can't be spread through water bowls or litter boxes - Feline Leukemia is the one that spreads that way.  Also, if your kitten is under 6 months of age, FIV testing generally isn't considered reliable.

I've heard varying opinions about mixing FIV+ and FIV- kittens.  My vet warned me against mixing them, but I also know plenty of people who have FIV+/- cats together with no issues whatsoever. In your particular case, it might not be the best idea, considering you have seven cats that are older.  However, if you wanted to keep her, they do offer a vaccine against FIV, if that's an option you'd want to consider.

In the event that you can't keep her, try to see if there are any FIV Cat rescues in your area that might be able to help you.  Best of luck! 

Ralphscats said:

I've read some places that it can be spread through food and water bowls. I think it was someplace on the Cornell site. Thank you for the links. I will read them later today when I have more time to sit down. Thank you.

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FIV is spread through deep bites, FELV is spread through saliva through water bowls and grooming.

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. She's still in quarantine in the bedroom. My seven don't get along so well all the time as it is, so I'm sure adding another cat will not make the situation any better. However, I know her chances of finding a good home are slim. There is a FIV rescue about 45 minutes from where I live. I hate to send her to yet another place. She is a very good and loving little girl. She just had surgery three days ago, so I think she still needs some time to recover. Maybe in that time I can find someone locally or I can figure out someway to make this work. I've thought about adding another cat tree or wall perches to give them all more room. I guess I'm still just taking it one day at a time.

Ralphscats said:

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. She's still in quarantine in the bedroom. My seven don't get along so well all the time as it is, so I'm sure adding another cat will not make the situation any better. However, I know her chances of finding a good home are slim. There is a FIV rescue about 45 minutes from where I live. I hate to send her to yet another place. She is a very good and loving little girl. She just had surgery three days ago, so I think she still needs some time to recover. Maybe in that time I can find someone locally or I can figure out someway to make this work. I've thought about adding another cat tree or wall perches to give them all more room. I guess I'm still just taking it one day at a time.

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Of course it is your decision, I am just sorry that you have a vet who is not knowledgeable regarding mixing pos and neg cats in a home.

Sometimes vets erring on the side of caution is unrealistic, rather than explaining to you that it would only be inadvisable if the pos cat were aggressive, for instance a former feral male who wasn't neutered until he was older, as some of them become accustomed to fighting and that becomes their way of life. Then it would not be a wise decision.

But a young, docile girl poses literally no threat to your cats.

A good thought you posted, the more vertical space provided, the better your cats will get along. Having 7 at different ages like that can be stressful on them, so the more space they have the better.

I'm in the bedroom with her now. She is curled up on my lap purring away. Maddie is outside meowing, she's not happy when mommy goes in this room and she can't get to me. I've got Feliways plugged in to help with the stress. Even though she is docile, she is a kitten. I don't know how rambunctious she will be once she heals up and can run around. I keep wondering if it's cruel to have her closed up in this room since she was living outside with her family. Thanks for the info. Im still taking this one day at a time.