FIV feral kitten .., any advice to care for her

I got a feral kitten that i finally been able to take to vet and get checked out . Well she has FIV ... I have my 2 and a half cat that was just tested negative thank god for it .. Any advice to how to deal with FIV positive kityy and to calm any of my fears with the 2 together . However long the feral cat lives, i want it to have a good life . Any advice would be great

Alycia12 said:

I got a feral kitten that i finally been able to take to vet and get checked out . Well she has FIV ... I have my 2 and a half cat that was just tested negative thank god for it .. Any advice to how to deal with FIV positive kityy and to calm any of my fears with the 2 together . However long the feral cat lives, i want it to have a good life . Any advice would be great

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Can you handle and hold the kitten?  If yes then she isn't feral.  "Feral" is a developmental condition whereby the cat is no longer able to be socialized, and can't accept humane contact.  Until and unless this becomes a fixed condition, then as kittens at worst they are under socialized or un-socialized "street" kittens.

But to your question, it is very unusual for one cat to give another cat FIV,usually requires deep bites.  Most cats get it from the mother in Utero.  If you do a slow and careful introduction you should be fine if you want to keep the kitten.

How old is the kitten?

Also see this thread on FIV+ with FIV- cats:

www.thecatsite.com/t/310433/need-input-fiv-and-fiv-cats-living-together-risks-concerns/

edit: typos, etc

Also, do avoid stresses and strains on that kitten.  As mentioned, a fiv+ cat can often live many years of good life, without problems.

Being stressfri and good friednds with the other cats, makes also the risk of them fighting for real and deeply biting is practically null.

So, slow and safe introductions, etc....

 a heavy stressful situation may cause the dormant infection to become open.  This is btw similiar for quaite a few other virus infections and conditions, even rheumatism...

Sometimes the first test result isnt reliable, so test again when the kitten is a little older.

Also, the cheap quick tests, arent completely reliable.  They are good in this they DO discover an infection, but sometimes they give false alarm too.  That is the reason to do another test befroe you do anything decisive.

@StefanZ  makes a very good point, the kitten should be re-tested in a 2-3 months, and might re-test negative.

Yes definitely retest. I had a kitten test postive and then retest months later and was negative. There are lots of false positives in kittens. I also totally agree that even if a kitty is FIV they can have happy lives.

I went on a google and information seeking binge when I got the news. From what I read they can live anywhere from 2 years to 20. It really depends. If this is going to be an indoor cat then it needs to be the only cat. If its ferel and going back outside that is a bit trickier. I am not sure how to handle that.