FIV+ stray cat with enlarged heart

[queenof3]

Hi,

My only stray cat Jax is facing some health issues. Three days ago, I noticed that he was missing hair from the brow area above his right eye. I suspected he'd had a fight because the area where he was missing hair was shaped like a scratch. I started looking for more signs and found two bald spots on the side of his body. One spot was larger and I could see a scratch mark that seemed to be healing. Tiny hairs could also be seen growing back. That night he was fine, he ate, and used the litter box but I still planned to bring him to the vet because I feared he might have an infection inside his body. The next morning he refused to eat breakfast. I offered him food again a few hours later but he refused again. For most of the day, he laid around, not doing anything and looked cold. I was desperate for him to eat so I gave him chicken morsels, which he ate. Later that night, he looked like he was in better spirits and decided to eat. I fed him twice during the night and he finished most of his food. He seemed more active and asked to be petted. Yesterday, we finally got to see a vet at the humane society of NY. I explained the whole situation to her and she ran blood work, took x-rays, gave him the rabies shot, and she also did the FIV/FeLV tests in the office.

Unfortunately, Jax is FIV positive and the X-rays showed that he has an enlarged heart. The vet said she heard a murmur during the physical exam. Sometimes Jax has this cough, it seems like he's about to throw up a hair-ball but nothing comes out, and the vet said it could be related to his heart condition. Jax also has dental issues and requires cleaning but now that he's been diagnosed with this heart problem, could I even consider the dental cleaning? The vet told me to bring him indoors but I have 4 cats of my own and my parents won't allow me to bring in any more. To be honest, he's sort of indoors because he lives on the first floor of my house (we live on the second). He has a bed there, and a litter box. I bring him up when it's time to eat, and let him walk around my portion. Sometimes he plays with my cats, running after them and sniffing. There's never any aggression between them. The vet said that as long as there are no deep bite wounds, it's ok for him to be around my cats. She went as far as saying they could even eat and drink from the same bowls (they currently don't do that; everyone eats from their own dish). Can they share a litter box?

I want to give Jax the best care possible so he can live as long as possible and enjoy his life. I want him to be happy. Does anyone have any experience with a FIV positive cat who also has heart disease? I'm wondering if I should change his diet or maybe add a supplement to it? Someone recommended B12, which I will talk to the vet about. What else should I do? I am talking to a few people right now to see if I can find him a home so he can be fully indoors. Currently, he's mostly indoors but he does go out for a little while and anything can happen during that time. Now that I know he's FIV+, i'd hate it if he infected some other cat during a confrontation. He patrols the area from time to time to chase away other cats and he can be territorial, I've seen that side of him.

I got a call from the hospital today and they said there's nothing alarming in his blood work, maybe a slight infection. the vet is going to call me tomorrow about it. They want me to get an ekg and an abdominal sonogram, which I probably will schedule after speaking to the vet tomorrow. For now, I am just feeling really heartbroken and helpless, and looking for any information that would help Jax live a decent life. Does anyone have any experience caring for a cat facing similar medical issues?

Thanks all!

 

[ondine]

I have a friend with a 16 year old FIV positive cat who is indoor-outdoor and shares food and water dishes and litter boxes with her nine other cats. Like the vet said, unless there are deep bite wounds, or sexual contact, your other cats will not catch it.

I would give him as much support as you can - the best food possible and a stress free environment. Follow the vet's advice about dental work and any other issues he may face. i imagine the vet can offer a course of treatment and medicines that may help (L-lysine comes to mind). Eventually, you will have to judge his quality of life and make appropriate decisions for him.

Thank you for helping him! It sounds like he really needs you now.

 

[queenof3]

@Ondine, thanks for sharing that story! It cheered me up. I will do everything in my power to help him along. He's such a sweety! I took him to the vet yesterday for the first time and he gave me no trouble getting in the carrier and then when we were finally there, everyone expected him to go wild but he remained calm throughout everything.

All my cats and Jax are neutered/spayed. There's no aggression among them and no desire for sexual activity. I have been giving him L-lysine for a year now, once a day. He eats fancy feast, chunky chicken from the classic line. I am thinking of switching him to a better brand of food. If you want to make any suggestions, that would be great.

 

[ondine]

You are more than welcome. It sounds like you are providing him with everything he needs. I figured all your pets were fixed - just wanted to point out how FIV is transmitted. Too many people think it is caught a lot easier than it is.

I'd try getting some grain free wet food and see if he likes it. Our cats won't touch it - they are junk food addicts, I think! But any really good wet food will be good for him.

He's a lucky cat to have you!

 

[queenof3]

Awwwww   

​

My regular vet at the Humane society called me today to tell me that she looked at Jax's blood test results, and she said they look pretty good and he does not need any antibiotics. She also said that she's not sure if he has an enlarged heart but he may very well have the murmur. I am taking him back to see her in two weeks and we'll take it from there. If she tells me we need an echo then we'll do just that.

But I am so curious now, the vet we saw initially said that Jax has an enlarged heart looking at the X-rays. Not only that, she said  that on the x-ray side-view of the body, she can see some darkened area, which could be a tumor or mass of some sort in one of the lungs. The dark spot is not visible on the front view and it's in a region where the heart and the lung tissues overlap so she was not sure if that's something serious or not. Hopefully, I can get some answers when I bring him back in two weeks.

He's doing much better now, and eating regularly

 

[ondine]

So glad to hear he is eating. He needs all the nutrition he can get. X-rays are tricky, which is why there are specialists to read them! Unless he shows other symptoms, I would let him alone until the next vet visit. At that point, you may have more info. Perhaps your vet can consult with a heart specialist or get a second opinion on the X-Rays.

Either way, just give him as much love and attention as he can tolerate.

Praying all goes well.

 

[queenof3]

Ok, I will do just that. Thank you for your advice.

Since last night, there's another issue. Jax has a litter box of his own downstairs where he lives but when I bring him up to eat and hang out with me, he uses my cats' litter boxes as well, which I don't stop him from doing. Last night, he came in and went straight to the litter box, he urinated but 5 minutes later he was back in there urinating again. Each time the amount was small. A little while later, maybe 20 minutes, he came in my room. I have one litter box in there also but instead of using the box, he peed on the floor. It was a very tiny squirt. He was standing up, kind of like a dog, and then there was some shaking of tail. I cleaned that up. Another 20 minutes later, he peed again, this time in the kitchen. I have a tall metal mesh bin that I keep plastic bags in. He walked over and peed on it, standing with one hind leg up and then the same shaking.

The night before I took him to the vet, he did the same - peeing against the mesh bin. I forgot to mention it to the vet. I don't know why he's doing this? Is he marking his territory? He gets along fine with my cats so I don't know why he needs to mark anything. The other thing that I'm thinking of is a bladder infection. He's not squatting each time he pees outside the box. He's using the box and​​​​ peeing outside, so this is confusing me.

Any ideas? I can't get in touch with the vet now. I have to wait until tomorrow morning because the hospital is now closed. For now, how should I approach this situation? I am so afraid of letting him in now because then I have to follow him around to see where he's peeing so I can clean it up. I'm also concerned about my other cats - I don't want them to be upset. At the same time, I don't want Jax to be alone downstairs and get bored and depressed.

So confused

   

 

 

[ondine]

Sounds more like he is marking. He smells the other cats and can't have their scent on "his" new territory. I would mention it to the vet next time, just in case but you may have to keep him downstairs until he's all cleared. Clean all the spots with a good enzyme cleaner to get rid of the smell. Otherwise, you may find your other cats marking to cover up his stink!

Cats can get along fine but not be able to tolerate sharing, so this may be it. If he must stay downstairs, can you spend some time down there with him? That might help keep him from being bored. Otherwise, play some music or a low-key talk show for him.

 

[queenof3]

Last night I used Lysol to clean up the urine but I was nervous about its toxic effects on cats, so a little while after cleaning, I scrubbed the area with water. Do you know of any enzymatic cleaners that may be safe to use around cats? Is he ever going to stop marking?

He has his own litter box. If he's marking the area where the other cats hang out, can they ever live together?  

Yea, I can go downstairs and hang out with him. I bring him up so he can have a change of scenery since he doesn't go outside anymore. It also makes it easier for me to feed them all, lol.

 

[queenof3]

I was wondering if outdoor cats are vaccinated against FIV at the time of neuter/spay? Jax was ear-tipped when I met him so I'm assuming he was part of someone's TNR and had a human care for him at some point. I wonder if he was vaccinated and because of that he's testing positive. Is that a possibility?

 

[ondine]

Use straight white vinegar until you can get some Nature's Miracle or something similar - available at Petco or PetSmart.

He may be marking until he gets used to the rest of the crew. If they are getting along now, there shouldn't be any future issues. I would give him time to adjust -lots going on his life right now!

You may be right about the FIV vaccination. From what I understand, it may cause a false positive when a cat is tested. Not sure if that is life long or not. Someone with more experience than I have might be able to answer that one.

Whether he was vaccinated or not would depend on who got him neutered. It's an additional cost and not all caregivers can afford it.

 

[queenof3]

Yea, you're right about the FIV vaccination. I read that there's really no way of finding out whether the cat is testing positive because of the vaccine or because there's an infection present. 

He has an appointment to go back in about a week to see our regular vet. I'm making a list of all the questions/concerns I have. I've noticed he has a lot of dandruff in his lower back/lower spine area - very large flakes! Not sure if it's the food or he's lacking something in his diet. Other than that he's making good progress - he's more active each day, very alert and interactive. Today he managed to run outside. I can't say I'm happy about that but I don't want to stress him especially now with so many changes going on in his life. I suppose it's better if he go outside during the  day when he's less likely to cross path of other cats and raccoons. The traffic is not bad on my street, it's generally quiet and I've seen him mostly hang out in the backyard or front yard within the fenced area.

 

[queenof3]

So Jax has stopped marking.

 

He's really sweet, wants to cuddle all the time, something my other cats are repulsed by. I was wondering if anyone knows about this interesting behavior - anytime he hears a kitten meowing, he shoots up and starts meowing and then walking around to look for one. I remember when I rescued my cat Inky when he was a kitten, Jax was so interested in him, following him around everywhere. What does this mean? Does he like kittens? I've never been around a cat who takes such interest in kittens. They're usually very scared of kittens.

 

[ondine]

Glad to hear about the marking. Re: the kittens. You never know. We have a cat who so hates other cats, she has her own room. Yet, when I foster kittens, she absolutely adores them. Maybe you can carefully introduce them and see if he can help you.