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

[catwoman707]

With the shaved triangle, that's pretty indicative of an owned cat who has been to the vet, so despite how odd it is to hear of tattooing the side of a spayed girl, it might very well be that a vet or vets in the area chose to tattoo there, if it's low enough to be seen if the cat were to be shaved for a spay again.

It just seems so much more sensible to tattoo on the tummy.......(?)

Go figure!

GK does sound owned.

 

[harleyq143]

Congrats on your 5 week anniversary as an indoor cat Orville!...& to his mommy! Aw, I love how he is slowly but surely being accepted by the other two.

So I guess it will be Chaucer sitting at the very top of the cat tree? The seat for the alpha cat! Chaucer sure is a lucky cat to not have experienced the curse of hormones haha! Your description of fear that GK brings upon your kitties is hysterical, not because they get scared but because I'm imaging them to literally be "scared-y cats" lol.

I wonder why they didn't mark Orville? After this whole experience of entering the world of strays, I'm feeling like I should get Harley micro chipped. She has nothing that indicates she's fixed and owned if she ever was to get loose from my house, God forbid. We let her out in our backyard once in awhile (it's fenced up) but one of us is always out there with her or close by to monitor her if she ever did escape. A couple of times she was able to escape but she never got far enough for us not to catch her. Our neighbors know her too after seeing us run after her outside like frantic maniacs lol.

 

[chaucer]

Yes, all the cats are wary of Grey Kitty. She (?) is at least 15 pounds and long. This cat makes Orville look small.  It may be different vets do different things here. I've only lived in the area for a little over 2.5 years. 

All three of my cats are micro-chipped. Chaucer had a mild reaction to it and developed a hard bumpy area at the injection site, but the vet said that can happen. The place went away a couple of weeks later.  Orville got out once in the early days of his move-in, and Henryetta ran out the door when she saw another cat eating. That poor cat darted into the road and was hit by a car. It didn't kill the cat but I know she was injured. She was definitely feral and ran. I think I saw her a year ago walking with a crooked gait, but I haven't seen her since. I felt terrible!  Henryetta, after the cat chase, disappeared for a bit much to my dismay. I was sure she had run off. No, she showed up next door about an hour later and came trotting home when I called her. I was glad Henreytta was microchipped at the time but she is so scared of other humans - and she still is to some extent-  I don't think anyone would have caught her, and that's the same with Orville right now. Chaucer would go to anyone. Because of Henryetta's and Orville's adventures, I realized how important microchipping is. If they were trapped or if they were injured and found, the chip would ID them and me. Where I'm living, though, the vet told me that it's not done much and that it was more of a "socio-economic thing" in my small town. Make of that what you will.  I want to add that I think with the FIV cats it's a good thing to microchip simply because some shelters will euthanize them no matter how healthy they appear. With a chip, it definitely tells them this is  someone's lost pet and they can contact that person and prevent the cat from being put down.

 

[harleyq143]

Wow, ok you really convinced me. I really need to get them micro-chipped! Harley has her next vet appt next month so hopefully I can get it done for her. Oz too is still scared of other humans, he's just starting to be more comfortable with my daughter now. But when anyone visits he stays upstairs. Even when I approach or sneak up on him, he still gets a bit wary and takes a couple steps back. Funny thing is he's not scared of the vacuum running!

 

[chaucer]

I'm getting over the FIV thing with Orville, almost forgetting he has it. He is fitting in so well and no longer seems to want to go outside. And why would he. He's warm, dry, and safe, and he has plenty of food, a very cushy bed (and a choice of all the furniture and the other cats' beds too), three litter boxes from which to choose - they all use each of them, an assortment of toys,  a large rather open house where he can run and play, windows - some up higher, lots of affection, a male cat who will play and wrestle with him, and he's even got a female cat to pursue!

 

[catwoman707]

  

  

Love hearing you say this!

 

[zed xyzed]

What a absolutely wonderful update. It makes me so happy knowing that Orville has a loving home and is safe 

 

[chaucer]

Orville has started going around mewing, trilling, and purr-meowing to me. The other day he was talking so much, following me around and going to all the windows and doors that I eventually figured out he didn't think the boxes were clean enough. As soon as I cleaned them, he went. Today, though, he is doing all except following me. He acts like he wants to go outside, almost to the point of jumping up at the door handles/knobs. The boxes are clean. Could this be because he has Spring Fever and any remaining hormones are stirring him up a bit?  When he isn't going window-to-window, he's sitting up in the higher windows that are open (with screens) a lot. Henryetta is doing this too. Interestingly, Chaucer is not.

Henryetta is bonding more with Orville. She only hisses once-in-a-while, and he is able to eat with her, sit next to her in the window and will swat her in return for her swats.

 

[zed xyzed]

Do you have any recent pictures of your crew?

 

[chaucer]

 
Do you have any recent pictures of your crew?

If I ever have a camera handy when they are all three together, or will stay together when I take the picture, I'll post one.

So far, things are still going well.  Henryetta is accepting Orville and no longer hissing and growling at him.  Orville and Chaucer wrestle and play. Sometimes Orville seems like the Alpha but when they "play fight" Chaucer chases Orville off.  Orville has lost his "outdoor" fur and he looks less huge in the face, but he is still large. He looks younger in the face too, without all that heavy fur,  so maybe he's around three. His teeth were still good when he was at the vet.

Orville is a lover and not a fighter so I'm glad he is now an indoor kitty. The one thing that bothers me is that he is absolutely terrified of humans, despite being such a loving, trusting cat with me. Henryetta was scared of people, and still is, but Orville is so terrified that he won't come out after people leave. I have to take food back there and tempt him.  The other day it was so bad. The Terminix rep was here. (Squirrel in the attic that damaged insulation - long story) and the man was checking the house for termites while here.  We went in the guest room and in the window behind the bed was Orville. The man slowly pulled the curtain back, Orville freaked and tried to jump to the bed so he could get away, but instead he got caught in the velvet curtain when he jumped and nearly pulled it off the rod when he got free. I felt so bad. The next two days Terminix was in the attic all day and then the day after was spraying outside. Poor Orville hid the entire time. I had a meeting here as well one of those days too and Orville was frozen behind my bed. Is this just his semi-feral behavior kicking back in?  Henryetta isn't quite this bad. Chaucer isn't scared of anyone and slept through the Terminix things and came out to visit with everyone at the meeting.

 

[foxxycat]

I have a cat who is terrified of other people. She often tinkles on herself at the vets from fear. I've had her since she fit in my palm of my hand. She hides under my bed for hours.

 

[chaucer]

@foxxycat   Orville has to be sedated at the vet, but I'm hoping that won't always be the case. I don't know what will happen when my friends from out-of-town come to stay the weekend in a month or so.

Another thing I find intriguing is that Orville wants to be with the other two cats. He craves being near them. From the time he moved in about seven weeks ago, he has wanted nothing more than to be next to one of them. He wants to curl up next to either Henryetta or Chaucer and sleep. Henryetta is now allowing this and they are curled up together on the sofa right now. It has made me wonder if he was part of a feral community for a while and feels very comfortable being part of a group. I know that ferals have colonies. He craved being with my neighbor's two cats while outside, but they were less receptive and only tolerated his presence.  Frankly, I think he is in love with Henryetta.

He goes with her to the food bowl and lies down next to her while she eats. It's just interesting to see how he wants this closeness with Chaucer and Henryetta.

 

[foxxycat]

Awww that's so sweet.

If you have company over he will probably hide for the first night. Then when everyone is sleeping he will come out and sniff. Pumpkin face does this at our summer camp. Hides during the day then sniffs everything when we are sleeping. He will be fine. Also if everyone ignores him the first day he will trust easier. Kind of like that time you were getting him used to you outside. By ignoring them they don't see us as predators. I think its awfully sweet to see him wanting company.

 

[chaucer]

Here is the end result of all the worrying. As requested by

I have no room on the sofa.

Couple.jpg

• chaucer
• Mar 25, 2016

Couple? Lovers? Friends? Siblings?

Trio.jpg

• chaucer
• Mar 25, 2016

Look out duty!

 

[zed xyzed]

wonderful pictures!!! they look so comfortable and content. I love it!!!

 

[catwoman707]

Squeee!! I LOVE this! 

  

 

[chaucer]

If I'd only waited, Henyretta rolled onto her back and reached out to grab Orville's tail.  Chaucer continued to lie in his spot. For the record, Chaucer has a very long tail and Orville loves to play with it.

Orville has now lost all his outdoor fur and look smaller than he did, but he is still long and heavy. I do worry that he is looking a little thinner, but hope that's just the fur loss. I still can't shake that he was someone's cat, or at least someone was feeding him. I understand there was a colony somewhere in the green landlocked area on the edge of the neighborhood behind me, and then there is a huge field across the street from me behind the house where I know Henryetta was living. It is possible he was part of one of those groups. I have stopped putting out food because I don't see any other cats, except for my neighbor's two, and I worry about them a bit. They show up here to eat, and get a pet or two, sometimes  more than a couple of times a day now.  This makes me wonder if they are getting food over there now that I don't see the elderly lady to whom they belonged. I can't take on any more cats, other than giving these two a handful of dry food a couple of times a day.

 

[chaucer]

I don't know if anyone is still following this topic but I have an update that is kind of important, at least to me.  Chaucer and Henryetta went for their Feline Leukemia shots and Chaucer had lost over a pound since his last weigh-in visit in November. He's been coughing some over the last month or so, as well, and his appetite has decreased some. Because it has been suspected he has IBD for a couple of years, the vet gave him another steroid shot to see if it will increase his appetite and interest in food - he's hasn't been eating as much, particularly since Orville has joined us. I feed Chaucer on a table to prevent Orville from taking the food, but it's not just this. Chaucer doesn't seem to want what wet food is put out for him, other than a few choices, and he isn't really eating much of the always-present dry food. He comes to me wanting to eat, but then doesn't eat much. The vet has said that if his appetite does not return, she will have to run tests for various things, including FIV. She said while it's a small chance, it's still there because of Orville's situation.

Henryetta got a good report - she's over 11 pounds now, but actually should only weigh about 9, which is what Chaucer did weigh before his weight loss.

 

[zed xyzed]

I always look forward to updates, I just try not to pester you too much. That is a little worrying about Chaucer I hope he gets his appetite back soon. Please keep us up to date on the crew. 

 

[chaucer]

Thank you.   I hope he is going to be okay, too. I gave him some beef wet food just now and he ate a little of it, but not nearly all of it. The thing is I can't just leave the food sitting out for him as I used to do. Orville or Henryetta will jump up on his table and eat it all.