- Joined
- Aug 30, 2005
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We found out this year that one of our 8 year olds is FIV positive. We have had him since he was 5 weeks old and neither the shelter we got him from or the private vet he was neutered at bothered to test him. His testing status went unnoticed, since he had always been the slim healthy one in the house, until we had a dental done and they asked if we wanted a snap test test at the same time as the other bloodwork. We thought, hey, why not, we have a lot of cats and something may have popped after we got them home. As it turns out, he is the only + one and he has never been outside, so we figure he was born with it and has been affected this entire time.
He's been on the lanky side all his life and now that he is older it is even more noticeable. Bloodwork showed anemia earlier this year but it corrected over the summer. No red flags medically otherwise. He had to have all his teeth out due to stomatitis but he has been doing well since and the swelling and ulcers have completely resolved. He had a mild eye infection a few weeks ago that cleared up on it's own so his immune system is still working good.
He's just sort of been 'off' for most of the year, and now his coat is turning to a red sable from what was always a jet black, but only from his shoulders back. Is this a normal progression of the disease? The vets sort of think everything is due to the FIV since nothing else seems to be wrong. He is our first and only + cat so I am unsure what to expect. I am a bit concerned it is a nutritional deficiency, but he eats like a horse and is actually rather food aggressive.
He's been on the lanky side all his life and now that he is older it is even more noticeable. Bloodwork showed anemia earlier this year but it corrected over the summer. No red flags medically otherwise. He had to have all his teeth out due to stomatitis but he has been doing well since and the swelling and ulcers have completely resolved. He had a mild eye infection a few weeks ago that cleared up on it's own so his immune system is still working good.
He's just sort of been 'off' for most of the year, and now his coat is turning to a red sable from what was always a jet black, but only from his shoulders back. Is this a normal progression of the disease? The vets sort of think everything is due to the FIV since nothing else seems to be wrong. He is our first and only + cat so I am unsure what to expect. I am a bit concerned it is a nutritional deficiency, but he eats like a horse and is actually rather food aggressive.
