FIV Information

[kittenkiya]

I was at my vets this morning to pick up medicine for Princess Alexis.

We were talking about FIV and she mentioned that they had gotten some information from the AAFP, the American Association of Feline Practioners, and she mentioned that if you choose to have your cats vaccinated, that if your cat gets out and ends up in a shelter, they will test POSITIVE for FIV.

The website is: http://www.aafponline.org/resources/...Guidelines.pdf

I personally would be concerned about that, because you know how fast a cat can run out a door.

My vet has mentioned that she has only had 2 people in the last 5 years with FIV+ cats, so it is felt that at here, there is not a high incidence.

I think that you all should be aware of some of the consequences if you decide to get your babies vaccinated.

PS that url is not showing correctly, there should be a underscore between FIV and Guidelines, not periods

 

[cloud_shade]

Thank you for posting this. If you do choose to get your cat vaccinated for FIV, it is a good idea to get a microchip inserted as well. That way, if the cat does scoot out the door, there is a better chance of you being contacted if the cat is taken to a vet or shelter.

 

[bengalbabe]

I do not vaccinate for FIV and the vaccination for that does not protect very well anyway so why even do it.

 

[kittenkiya]

Cloud Shade, I have found that sometimes a scanner will NOT pick up a certain microchip, or vice versa, the microchip is not compatible with the scanner that a shelter or vet is using.

I have no idea how you can coordinate the two of them, unless you check with your shelter or vet, find out the kind of scanner they have and ask for a chip that is compatible. However, this is useless if you happen to move.

 

[cloud_shade]

I wouldn't vaccinate my cats for FIV regardless, but if someone chooses to do so, then having a microchip will help some. You're right in that the "universal" scanners aren't always universal. The best possible thing is to be diligent about never letting the cat outside and always keeping a collar on it. The microchip is just one more way to have ID on your cat, particularly one that can't be lost or removed.

Both of my kitties are indoor only, and they wear collars with two phone numbers on each. One is microchipped and the other will be soon just as a final precaution in case their collars fall off or are removed by an unscrupulous person. But they will never get the FIV vaccine because of the problem mentioned above.

I only mention the microchip because I took a stray cat to the vet who ended up testing positive for FIV. Because of that plus his other medical issues, he was put to sleep. After the fact, someone tried to claim him. Since he had no ID at all, there wasn't anyway to know that he may have had an owner. A microchip wouldn't have been a guarentee, but it may have helped in this kind of situation.

 

[hareting]

my vet told me the exact same thing about FIV vaccination.
He said the common method for checking FIV would turn POSITIVE if your cat is VACCINATED for FIV. Only by checking the DNA you could truly determined if the cat really has FIV, but most shelter wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t bother about checking the DNA and the cat is going to be PUT DOWN after testing positive with the COMMON METHOD. So heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s against FIV vaccination, as long as your cat is indoor and spayed/neutered.

My vet gave me a simple explaination of why cats that has been vaccinated for FIV would appears to be POSITIVE for the FIV test.

The FIV virus look like this (example)
“_-_- -- __â€
The vaccination for the FIV virus is this
“_-_-“
itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s the first half of the virus, it fools the immune system to think that thereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a virus, and it produces antibodies for the virus.

The common method check for “_-_-“ , the first half, so any cat with FIV vaccination would test for POSITIVE for FIV.

The DNA method look for the 2nd half “--__†of the virus, as long as the second half is not present, the result is NEGATIVE .

 

[sharky]

I didnt cause the vet and some knowledgeable folks here said not too and gave the reasons..

 

[solaritybengals]

Yah any vaccine that makes a test show positive is a no go for me.

 

[julya]

Thanks for the link! My latest addition tested FIV +. I am going to save my money to get the expensive test eventually...to see if he has antibodies from a past vaccination or if he is actually infected with the disease. It's frustrating since I don't know much about his history before I got him. But he's young and healthy right now...and at least he was FeLV negative!