Need input - FIV+ and FIV- cats living together. Risks/Concerns

chaucer · Dec 27, 2015

juleska said:
I'm with you. I have several FIV+ cats and as long as we keep them healthy, there have been no transmissions to our FIV- cats.

Thank you. Love the photo! Orville seems pretty healthy. He's well-fed, has clear eyes and is playful. If only I could get him to come inside. It's stormy with flash flooding in my area now and later this week it will be in the mid-lo 20s (F). I put him inside the door several times this morning and he squirmed in my arms and rushed back out the door before I could close it. I want him to come in of his own free will but he won't. It seems I'm going to have to trap him again to get him inside. I don't want to have to do that.

chaucer · Dec 27, 2015

Ralphscats said:
You are right about the cold weather. I just had my FIV girl to the vet a couple of weeks ago for a check up and to put soft paws on her claws. My vet said it is stressing for them to have to go through the temperature changes. Granted I'm in Ohio, so I'm sure it's much harder on cats up here than down South.
In doing my research, I probably talked to close to 75 people who have mixed households. I have found that there are hundreds, if not more, homes that have mixed households. There is currently even a study where they are trying to get 1000's FIV cats to see their living arrangements and health issues. The last time I checked they had over 600 cats signed up. The leading health issues so far are dental and respiratory issues. FIV cats can have other issues, but so can any other cat. Last year I had to put Kitty to sleep due to cancer. She did not have FIV.
If you google Maddie's fund, I believe, they recently did a study on mixed households.
As I have said, I have spoken to a lot of people. One of the people that I spoke to owns a FIV rescue in Georgia, FBC FIV Cat Sanctuary. She has been doing this for over twenty years and has probably had hundreds of cats in the sanctuary. She told me they have had one transmission, which she is still upset about. It happened as a result of a cat aggravating another one and just kept at it until there was a horrible fight. She said it took the cats months to recover, it was bad. In another group I found someone that did have a transmission but they let their cat in and out of their home, so it is very possible that it picked it up from a cat outside the home. There was another case where the cat got it but I believe was 18 when he tested positive. He is now 19. I think there was one other case. She wasn't sure how it was transmitted, but she thought there might have been a fight, but she wasn't sure.
I wanted to hear and learn from people who are actually doing this. I listened to my vet at first, and then I started researching. In my opinion, vets have some knowledge but they aren't living this day in and day out. Most vets say euthanize, so if you don't have a FIV friendly vet, they are only going to go on what they learned in vet school and that isn't necessarily always correct.
I thought, how are all of these people doing this? From talking to everyone their experiences were not at all what I had expected after listening to my vet. One vet tech wouldn't even let me come and visit my little girl. They had her in quarantine! After much thought and prayer, I called the vet and said I was keeping her. From that time several months ago to now, the vet's office I believe has done some researching too. The last visit wasn't all doom and gloom. It was take her home and love her for as long as you can, just like your other cats. Will she need more care? Probably, but that's why it's important to be proactive and help them stay as healthy as can be.
When I started to talk to these other FIV owners, I was expecting a bunch of sick cats. Talking to them made me realize that FIV cats can live like other cats. I realized that they could live with other negative cats too. Otherwise, I thought, I wouldn't have found what I found. There weren't a bunch of sick cats. Is there a chance that one of our negatives may get it? Yes, but that is why you do the slow introductions.
I also asked these other people how they fed them. The majority of people have their cats sharing the same food, water and litterboxes. I think that where the vets and others get confused is with FIV and FeLV. FeLV is spread by food and water dishes. I have even found some people who house positive and negative FeLV cats together without transmission. That is something that I personally would not be comfortable with.
Everyone has their own comfort level and amount of risk that they are willing to take. What made me decide to mix was that I just didn't see the evidence of not to mix. Now if I would have found 50 or even 25 percent transmission, then that wouldn't have been something that I would be comfortable with. I didn't find anything close to that. I'm not saying it never happens, but it's not what I was expecting.
So now I am taking steps to keep all of my furbabies in the best health I can. I feed grain free kibble as a treat. Their main food is either grain free canned or raw that has been treated with HPP. My FIV girl loves raw!!
Oh, on another note, my Maddie who is FIV negative, had blood in her stool too. I put her on raw and Primal goat's milk and it went away.
I'm also working on finding a good probiotic and I got some coconut oil today. The coconut oil is supposed to really help their mouths. I'm also researching water additives to help with dental issues. I'm doing these things as hopefully preventative measures not just for my FIV girl, but for all of them.
I'm sorry I've rambled on. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask and I will do my best to help!

Thank you for this informative post. If it were just Orville and Henryetta, I'd be less concerned. Chaucer is the alpha cat in the house and he rushes at Orville sometimes, but mostly they just play through the crack in the door. There is no growling or hissing. Sometimes Chaucer has a fluffed tail and ridged back, but his ears are forward and no growling or hissing. Orville appears healthy but his sides are extended possibly due to eating a lot. He's got one more round of tapeworm meds to take too.

It's just so sad to see him staring in the glass door but it's frustrating to have him not wanting to be inside. My other feral/semi-feral wanted to be in the house but she was frightened of the house noises. When I brought her in the first time after the vet visit, she plopped on the laundry room floor. The differences were that she was pregnant at the time and probably had more recent human interaction prior to when I started feeding her several months earlier. She also spent the next nearly five months in the storage room caring for her five kittens. Orville may have had some interaction but it was a long time before I started feeding him a year ago.

Thanks for the tip about the diet and stool. So far, so good for him after the last steroid shot. Main concern now is figuring out how to get Orville in the house and help the boys get along. (Orville won't be the problem in that respect though. He doesn't seem to be an aggressive cat.

juleska · Dec 27, 2015

Re: How are we doing it

Most of the time FIV lies dormant and the cat looks and acts perfectly healthy (and in fact is perfectly healthy) except for this illness. Just like Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, FIV does not make them sick, per se. It suppresses their immune system so it makes them more likely to get sick (thus the respiratory problems, the mouth issues, etc.). When they get sick with something like respiratory infection, they spread FIV by sneezing on other cats. When symptoms like this are present, it means the virus is likely "active" and thus more likely to transmit. Depending on the cat's overall health, they may get these symptoms several times a year, once a year, or once every 5 years.

I had two FIV+ cats years ago (when we understood far less about the virus or how to prevent it). Both lived well into their teens despite being diagnosed at 3 and 5 years old. We recently lost Maxine, our resident grandmother kitty, who was FIV+. She lived to the ripe old age of 15. I've had others who weren't so lucky, though they were generally much younger (still kittens) and battling a host of other problems as well.

So how do we manage it with our 30+ cats? (we have a ton of rescues). We follow a few simple guidelines:

1) All the cats need to be friendly with one another. Aggressive cats start fights and fights can lead to transmission. Follow guidelines for introducing cats and helping them to acclimate to one another and most of the time this isn't a problem. If the cats are fighting, they need to be separated until that problem is solved. (obviously spaying and neutering helps)

2) You must be vigilant when the symptoms present. As soon as the FIV+ starts sneezing, seems lethargic, has a diminished appetite, quarantine them from the other cats and disinfect all surfaces they normally lay on with a simple bleach solution. Wash any bedding in hot water. While just the quarantine should be enough, the other steps help ensure you're killing off any latent non-FIV virus that may be causing the symptoms. And get them to the vet. If the sneezing goes on more than a day, or you notice lethargy or diminished appetite, get them to the vet to rule out anything more serious.

3) Boost immune health with vitamin supplements. Talk to your vet, they usually have some options. Add some supplements to your FIV+ cats regimen (or all of them if you wish) just to help them be less susceptible to flare-ups. Also making sure to feed them quality food (as I'm sure you do) helps boost their overall well-being.

4) Keep them all up to date on their vaccinations. That also helps protect them from other maladies which can impact their immune response and make them more susceptible to other infections.

It's really that simple. If you're a responsible pet owner and you're vigilant about any symptoms that present, your cats should cohabitate beautifully for a long time.

FIV is persistent. We do all we can to prevent it, but in and of itself it is not a death sentence for your kitties...be they pos or neg.

bonepicker · Dec 27, 2015

Chaucer said:
Thank you both!

Orville, the feral, is friendly now, but Chaucer my indoor male can be aggressive as occurred just a little while ago with his "sister." They had a rare full-on fight resulting in a sloughed claw stuck in Chaucer's fur. I was very surprised at this because they eat together, play together, and sleep together at times, but she is touchy with him and wants things on her own terms. She is a former feral/semi-feral but has lived inside for the past year-and-a-half. She's very loving to me and I think she and Orville may be related given their markings. She's a Torbie with white and he is a Tabby with white and both green-eyed.

Orville knows both my cats. They have visited through the glass door for a while now. He and Chaucer "play fight" through a crack and once had a wrestle when Chaucer rushed out the door before I could stop him. No hissing or growling though and Orville ran away. I don't have an issue with Orville coming if it was just Henryetta because she would probably just ignore Orville, but after having seen Chaucer pester Henryetta to the point they fought, well, that takes puts a new twist in things.

I don't have a small room in which to contain Orville. My bathrooms have pocket doors that cats can open. My kitchen has them as well. I'd let them hash things out if Orville didn't have FIV. That's basically what happened with my other two, but they also "knew" each other from socializing through the patio door.

My male viciously attacked my female when they both saw the feral girl outside, now I keep them separate and decided to keep feral outside, I made her a shelter and tend to her medical, flea treatments and food. I thought about letting her in but I am afraid my male will attack my poor old girl again.

ralphscats · Dec 27, 2015

juleska said:
Re: How are we doing it

Most of the time FIV lies dormant and the cat looks and acts perfectly healthy (and in fact is perfectly healthy) except for this illness. Just like Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, FIV does not make them sick, per se. It suppresses their immune system so it makes them more likely to get sick (thus the respiratory problems, the mouth issues, etc.). When they get sick with something like respiratory infection, they spread FIV by sneezing on other cats. When symptoms like this are present, it means the virus is likely "active" and thus more likely to transmit. Depending on the cat's overall health, they may get these symptoms several times a year, once a year, or once every 5 years.

I had two FIV+ cats years ago (when we understood far less about the virus or how to prevent it). Both lived well into their teens despite being diagnosed at 3 and 5 years old. We recently lost Maxine, our resident grandmother kitty, who was FIV+. She lived to the ripe old age of 15. I've had others who weren't so lucky, though they were generally much younger (still kittens) and battling a host of other problems as well.

So how do we manage it with our 30+ cats? (we have a ton of rescues). We follow a few simple guidelines:

1) All the cats need to be friendly with one another. Aggressive cats start fights and fights can lead to transmission. Follow guidelines for introducing cats and helping them to acclimate to one another and most of the time this isn't a problem. If the cats are fighting, they need to be separated until that problem is solved. (obviously spaying and neutering helps)

2) You must be vigilant when the symptoms present. As soon as the FIV+ starts sneezing, seems lethargic, has a diminished appetite, quarantine them from the other cats and disinfect all surfaces they normally lay on with a simple bleach solution. Wash any bedding in hot water. While just the quarantine should be enough, the other steps help ensure you're killing off any latent non-FIV virus that may be causing the symptoms. And get them to the vet. If the sneezing goes on more than a day, or you notice lethargy or diminished appetite, get them to the vet to rule out anything more serious.

3) Boost immune health with vitamin supplements. Talk to your vet, they usually have some options. Add some supplements to your FIV+ cats regimen (or all of them if you wish) just to help them be less susceptible to flare-ups. Also making sure to feed them quality food (as I'm sure you do) helps boost their overall well-being.

4) Keep them all up to date on their vaccinations. That also helps protect them from other maladies which can impact their immune response and make them more susceptible to other infections.

It's really that simple. If you're a responsible pet owner and you're vigilant about any symptoms that present, your cats should cohabitate beautifully for a long time.

FIV is persistent. We do all we can to prevent it, but in and of itself it is not a death sentence for your kitties...be they pos or neg.

Can you please tell me where you learned that FIV is spread by sneezing? I have never read this. I've read that FeLV is spread by sneezing, but not FIV. From my understanding the virus is present in the saliva and is transistors by deep bite wounds.

ralphscats · Dec 27, 2015

Chaucer said:
Thank you for this informative post. If it were just Orville and Henryetta, I'd be less concerned. Chaucer is the alpha cat in the house and he rushes at Orville sometimes, but mostly they just play through the crack in the door. There is no growling or hissing. Sometimes Chaucer has a fluffed tail and ridged back, but his ears are forward and no growling or hissing. Orville appears healthy but his sides are extended possibly due to eating a lot. He's got one more round of tapeworm meds to take too.

It's just so sad to see him staring in the glass door but it's frustrating to have him not wanting to be inside. My other feral/semi-feral wanted to be in the house but she was frightened of the house noises. When I brought her in the first time after the vet visit, she plopped on the laundry room floor. The differences were that she was pregnant at the time and probably had more recent human interaction prior to when I started feeding her several months earlier. She also spent the next nearly five months in the storage room caring for her five kittens. Orville may have had some interaction but it was a long time before I started feeding him a year ago.

Thanks for the tip about the diet and stool. So far, so good for him after the last steroid shot. Main concern now is figuring out how to get Orville in the house and help the boys get along. (Orville won't be the problem in that respect though. He doesn't seem to be an aggressive cat.

From my understanding, the FIV cat would have to be the one biting the other cat. It would have to be a deep penetrating bite and get the saliva, where the virus is, into the blood stream.
I'm going to ask on several other forums about the sneezing. I have never heard this, so I want to find out in case I would need to seperate my girl if she becomes sick. The people on the other forums have been doing this for years. The one lady even worked with a University to study FIV and transmission.

juleska · Dec 27, 2015

Ralphscats said:
Can you please tell me where you learned that FIV is spread by sneezing? I have never read this. I've read that FeLV is spread by sneezing, but not FIV. From my understanding the virus is present in the saliva and is transistors by deep bite wounds.

Good question. I should point out that we live in the Philippines. FIV is extremely common among rescues there, more than half taken from the streets have contracted it. Like you, I had only heard of it being transmitted by serious fights and biting wounds (we are Americans). My FIV+ grandmother cat, Maxine, had a bad flare up a couple years ago and was sneezing a lot. She was taking care of 4 orphaned kittens we'd taken in between the ages of 4 and 8 months. All of them had bloodwork done when we first got them and they had clean bills of health except one that had a recurring fungal infection (unrelated). When Maxine's flare-up occurred and she began sneezing around the kittens, I wasn't alarmed at first. Within two days I noticed the kittens beginning to sneeze. We took all of them in for bloodwork and my vet confirmed they had all contracted FIV. None of them had access to the outside and because they were still kittens they were confined with Maxine. Our vet said they had to have acquired it from Maxine because there was no other source, and told us this was a common form of transmission among cats in the Philippines. I volunteer with several animal rescue groups and have heard the same thing from the vets who work with those organizations in Manila.

Perhaps the particular strain of the virus in the Philippines is different from other parts of the world and is more easily transmittable. That would certainly account for the high number of cases as Filipino cats are generally non-aggressive and very family oriented. It's somewhat rare to see a significant fight between strays there.

chaucer · Dec 27, 2015

In keeping with the methods of transmission, Orville has not been sneezing but a few months ago he lost his voice for a few days. Normally, he has a quiet, high-pitched mew which is funny for a cat of his size. He suddenly would just look at me and open his mouth but it was not a silent meow. He was trying to talk because over the next few days his voice became a raspy mew and then back to his normal mew. When he was in his cage after I'd trapped him he had a very loud meow but he seemed recovered from his laryngitis.

I'm not sure I will be able to separate Orville in the house because the house is a rather open-style house with bedroom doors being the only ones that close completely. Bathroom and kitchen doors are sliding pocket doors, and with the shifting of a 60 year-old house the latches don't connect any longer although the doors do slide closed. The laundry room has a door that closes but with all the cleaning supplies, laundry, storage and so forth, a determined-to-escape cat could do some damage to himself and the room, hence a couple of other things adding to my dilemma.

kittyluv387 · Dec 27, 2015

Would you be able to buy 2 baby gates and stack them on top of each other to separate orville temporarily?

chaucer · Dec 27, 2015

kittyluv387 said:
Would you be able to buy 2 baby gates and stack them on top of each other to separate orville temporarily?

You would think so, but I tried this when I had to bring the kittens into the house. I put them in the guest bathroom.. But because it was a sliding pocket door space, baby gates wouldn't fit right.. Since this is an older home, the measurement slots on the back of the gates didn't match the door width. I ended up taking the gates back and making a barricade with a card table, stools and pieces of wood stuck under the door. It was a real pain to maintain for just two or three days. I had to make sure the kittens couldn't get out and Chaucer couldn't get it, but I had to allow Henryetta access at times so I had to keep taking down parts of the barricade and then trying to restack it back to the way it was, and it never worked the same way twice. Henryetta was recovering from her spay operation, which is why the kittens had to be brought in the house and not left alone in the storage room. Orville could probably force the door open if he was desperate to get out of the room. Chaucer can easily open the sliding doors without any barricades, and even he was climbing the barricade to see if he could open the door!

ralphscats · Dec 27, 2015

juleska said:
Good question. I should point out that we live in the Philippines. FIV is extremely common among rescues there, more than half taken from the streets have contracted it. Like you, I had only heard of it being transmitted by serious fights and biting wounds (we are Americans). My FIV+ grandmother cat, Maxine, had a bad flare up a couple years ago and was sneezing a lot. She was taking care of 4 orphaned kittens we'd taken in between the ages of 4 and 8 months. All of them had bloodwork done when we first got them and they had clean bills of health except one that had a recurring fungal infection (unrelated). When Maxine's flare-up occurred and she began sneezing around the kittens, I wasn't alarmed at first. Within two days I noticed the kittens beginning to sneeze. We took all of them in for bloodwork and my vet confirmed they had all contracted FIV. None of them had access to the outside and because they were still kittens they were confined with Maxine. Our vet said they had to have acquired it from Maxine because there was no other source, and told us this was a common form of transmission among cats in the Philippines. I volunteer with several animal rescue groups and have heard the same thing from the vets who work with those organizations in Manila.

Perhaps the particular strain of the virus in the Philippines is different from other parts of the world and is more easily transmittable. That would certainly account for the high number of cases as Filipino cats are generally non-aggressive and very family oriented. It's somewhat rare to see a significant fight between strays there.

Do you think the kittens could have been exposed before you rescued them? They could have initially tested negative if they were recently exposed. Have you had the tests repeated? I will ask on the other groups about the difference of strains and see if they know anything that may help you.
I agree that separating them to help prevent the spread of URI's is a good idea. Is your vet a FIV friendly vet? Are you sure they aren't confusing FIV with FeLV? I'm in the Inited States and I ran into that, so it can happen anywhere. I wasn't even allowed to visit my little girl while she was in the vets. I'm so glad I did my research and found out that petting her wasn't going to spread it.

Chaucer, when I brought my little girl in I had to use a live trap the first time. The second time, she was feeding right outside the door. I grabbed her and put her in a carrier. Then I gave her a calming chew treat and brought her in the bathroom. I kept her in the carrier for a few hours until the calming chew kicked in and she relaxed from the change of being outside.
Stacking the baby gates is a great idea! If you can't do that, can you get or borrow a big dog crate and put him in there until they all get used to eat other?

juleska · Dec 27, 2015

Ralphscats said:
Do you think the kittens could have been exposed before you rescued them? They could have initially tested negative if they were recently exposed. Have you had the tests repeated? I will ask on the other groups about the difference of strains and see if they know anything that may help you.
I agree that separating them to help prevent the spread of URI's is a good idea. Is your vet a FIV friendly vet? Are you sure they aren't confusing FIV with FeLV? I'm in the Inited States and I ran into that, so it can happen anywhere. I wasn't even allowed to visit my little girl while she was in the vets. I'm so glad I did my research and found out that petting her wasn't going to spread it.

Chaucer, when I brought my little girl in I had to use a live trap the first time. The second time, she was feeding right outside the door. I grabbed her and put her in a carrier. Then I gave her a calming chew treat and brought her in the bathroom. I kept her in the carrier for a few hours until the calming chew kicked in and she relaxed from the change of being outside.
Stacking the baby gates is a great idea! If you can't do that, can you get or borrow a big dog crate and put him in there until they all get used to eat other?

Anything is possible. Two of the kittens have since passed away (this was some time ago) and Maxine herself recently passed. The other two in question are still FIV+ according to my vet, not FeLV. And yes, they are positive. They say there is a risk of transmittal but it's rare unless there is a flare up like what I described. We isolated Maxine whenever she had these flare ups and had no other cases of transmittal among our cats.

Again this may be a different strain in that part of the world. I know that several other maladies are much more common and aggressively spread among feral populations there than in Western countries. Just a thought? I'm no vet...only supposin.

ralphscats · Dec 27, 2015

juleska said:
Anything is possible. Two of the kittens have since passed away (this was some time ago) and Maxine herself recently passed. The other two in question are still FIV+ according to my vet, not FeLV. And yes, they are positive. They say there is a risk of transmittal but it's rare unless there is a flare up like what I described. We isolated Maxine whenever she had these flare ups and had no other cases of transmittal among our cats.

Again this may be a different strain in that part of the world. I know that several other maladies are much more common and aggressively spread among feral populations there than in Western countries. Just a thought? I'm no vet...only supposin.

http://www.fivtherapy.com/fiv_casualtransmission.htm?ckattempt=1

I have checked on two other sires that are specifically for FIV cats. Nobody has ever heard of it being spread through sneezing. They all asked if was sure it was FIV and not FeLV.
I'm wondering if it might be FeLV and there is something with the tests they use in the Philipines that doesn't differentiate FIV from FeLV, or maybe the test is being read wrong. My get had a test where one end of the stick was for FIV and the other end was for FeLV. I've read that there is a lot of confusion between the two partly because the test is together.
If you find out anything else, please let me know. I'm a self proclaimed Crazy Cat Lady. I research things like this and feline nutrition.

Chaucer, there is a FB page for FIV owners and a yahoo group for them. They have people on there who know their stuff and have been doing this for years. I've only been doing it for a few months. You might want to check out those sites because they might have some suggestions that we haven't thought of yet.
I had forgotten earlier but in regards to the class and scratching: I have had cat scratch fever. It was not good having a heart defect. I got big lumps on my arm. I was on antibiotics for three weeks. I can't go through that again with my heart, so I had to do something. I took my little girl to the vet and had them trim her nails and put sift claws on them. Tonight, she was resting on the couch and I put news ones on by myself. I have been slowly touching and petting her paws since Ive had her. I did one, and then gave her lots of love. I have her a break and then did the rest slowly, making sure to give her lots of love and petted her head a lot.

catwoman707 · Dec 27, 2015

Again I feel the urge to jump in here, sorry!

It is possible that in the Phillipines there is not a separated test, I'm not sure but this is not the FIV we have here in the US.

It is NOT possible for it to be caught, aside from a deep bleeding type of bite wound. The infected saliva must directly contact the bloodstream to infect.

In neutered cats this is extremely rare and unusual to happen. Cats might not get along well, and even actually get in to a fight, although it would likely be more noise then anything, but for cats to fight bad enough to actually get a deep bite wound just doesn't happen that way. Highly unusual.

Orville is a pretty laid back kinda guy from what it sounds like.

I seriously don't think you have anything to worry about.

Their current space between the door to get acquainted well is perfect.

Think about this, how often do you hear about cats sharing a home who fight to the point of biting where it causes abcesses? They just don't.

Proper, unrushed intros are the key to harmonious co-existing.

maureen brad · Dec 27, 2015

Hi I just wanted to add my voice to those who feel it is fine to have FIV+ and FIV - cats living together. I adopted 6 year old Remy who was FIV+ none of my other cats contracted FIV. I would not hesitate to adopt another FIV+ cat who was friendly. FYI, t is important to remember that it takes a deep bite to spread this to other cats. Sneezing will not spread FIV.

juleska · Dec 27, 2015

It must be the combined test, then. That's the only thing I can think of. Until we moved to the Philippines and began taking in cats, the only other cases of FIV I had were two cats in Alabama years and years ago, when it was just being recognized as an illness. At that time (20+ years ago) vets still believed it was transmitted through much more casual contact, such as sharing a litter box or a food bowl. We know that is no longer the case. I was surprised to learn of transmission through sneezing (keep in mind, I'm talking about highly productive respiratory infections that, apologies for being gross, produced a fair amount of mucous). So if my vet in the Philippines is lumping the two together because that's how their test is designed, then the confusion makes sense.

In any case, my FIV-possibly FeLV+ cat peacefully co-habitated with many other cats in my household for years and never had another case of transmission. So the moral of the story is, don't buy the hype. It can be done.

chaucer · Dec 28, 2015

Thank you

catwoman707 said:
Again I feel the urge to jump in here, sorry!

It is possible that in the Phillipines there is not a separated test, I'm not sure but this is not the FIV we have here in the US.

It is NOT possible for it to be caught, aside from a deep bleeding type of bite wound. The infected saliva must directly contact the bloodstream to infect.

In neutered cats this is extremely rare and unusual to happen. Cats might not get along well, and even actually get in to a fight, although it would likely be more noise then anything, but for cats to fight bad enough to actually get a deep bite wound just doesn't happen that way. Highly unusual.

Orville is a pretty laid back kinda guy from what it sounds like.

I seriously don't think you have anything to worry about.

Their current space between the door to get acquainted well is perfect.

Think about this, how often do you hear about cats sharing a home who fight to the point of biting where it causes abcesses? They just don't.

Proper, unrushed intros are the key to harmonious co-existing.

Thank you, catwoman. I was beginning to worry about other means of transmission although I knew it was just deep bite wounds that most often transmit the virus. Orville is laid back. Chaucer is social and doesn't know boundaries. Henryetta is a hissy girl who will run and hide from Orville should he approach her inside. They all seem to know each other now. It's just a matter of getting Orville in the house and finding a place to put him. It looks like I'm going to have to invest in yet another dog crate where I can put a litter box and some food/water. I was hoping to avoid another expenditure right now.

Orville does not have FeLv and has been vaccinated for it. He's had his rabies shot. Both Henryetta and Chaucer have had their rabies and FeLv shots too. I do know that Orville has been in some serious fights, judging by the wounds I've seen over the past year, but he doesn't seem like he's the aggressor-type.

catwoman707 · Dec 28, 2015

Exactly. It's the unneutered who would be fighting, fueled by hormones of course.

I have cared for many colonies over the years and seen who was fighting who, then as I trapped them, had them fixed and returned, things change, the now neutered cat will avoid the fight with an unneutered guy rather than stand up to him.

It's no longer a case of the 'toughest guy wins the territory rights' but becomes a 'why should I challenge him' since he is no longer driven by raging hormones.

Unfixed males will fight with intent to actually kill, not that they can per se but that intent causes those vicious bites that spread FIV and FELV. Anytime an unfixed cat has an abcess, it's always from another male, this is why they are the number 1 spreaders of these diseases.

When a female contracts FIV it is nearly always from a male cat mating and biting down on her neck too hard, causing a deep puncture wound.

Extremely rare for a mom cat to give it to her babies since it does not cross the placenta.

chaucer · Dec 29, 2015

catwoman707 said:
Exactly. It's the unneutered who would be fighting, fueled by hormones of course.

I have cared for many colonies over the years and seen who was fighting who, then as I trapped them, had them fixed and returned, things change, the now neutered cat will avoid the fight with an unneutered guy rather than stand up to him.

It's no longer a case of the 'toughest guy wins the territory rights' but becomes a 'why should I challenge him' since he is no longer driven by raging hormones.

Unfixed males will fight with intent to actually kill, not that they can per se but that intent causes those vicious bites that spread FIV and FELV. Anytime an unfixed cat has an abcess, it's always from another male, this is why they are the number 1 spreaders of these diseases.

When a female contracts FIV it is nearly always from a male cat mating and biting down on her neck too hard, causing a deep puncture wound.

Extremely rare for a mom cat to give it to her babies since it does not cross the placenta.

I'm glad it's been established that FIV cannot be transmitted by sneezing. Orville sneezed this morning. I've never seen an abscess on him, but I have seen wounds. They healed quickly so I imagine he contracted FIV before I started feeding him.

catwoman707 · Dec 29, 2015

Could have been at any time while he was out there unneutered.

FIV usually takes years before it weakens the system making him more susceptible to viruses, etc.

Now neutered you should not see anymore battle wounds

Need input - FIV+ and FIV- cats living together. Risks/Concerns

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