I am thinking of adopting a particular shelter cat. At the same time, I've been researching about potential health risks to my resident cat if I bring home a shelter kitty.
I am really paranoid about passing on any contagious/infectious diseases to my cat. A little TOO paranoid, probably.
The cat that I'm specifically interested in is a neutered male, approximately 2 years old. He was found abandoned outside, living under a shed. Despite all this, he is very friendly and affectionate. The shelter said the adoption fee does not include FIV/FeLV testing, so I have to get that done on my own. That is fine, but then I read that the FIV blood test can't distinguish between antibodies from vaccination vs. antibodies from the real disease. This cat most likely was vaccinated very recently.
What do most people do in this situation?
There's no way I can keep them separate while I wait to do another test down the road. Plus, I read that it can show a false positive up to 1 year after vaccination.
Then there is the issue of the herpes virus. I know it generally is not fatal to cats and can be easily manageable with some supplements, but...my cat doesn't have it now and I'd prefer to keep it that way.
I love my cat and he is my first priority, so I am extremely worried about harming him by bringing in a cat of unknown history. But I really want this kitty and he deserves a loving forever home. If I had no other cats at home, I wouldn't be stressing about this at all.
Any suggestions as to what to do or how this can be managed? Anything else I need to be aware of?
I would have the shelter cat brought to the vet the very next day for an examination and blood test (FIV and FeLV). Are there any other necessary tests I should have done asap?
Thanks for reading!
I am really paranoid about passing on any contagious/infectious diseases to my cat. A little TOO paranoid, probably.
The cat that I'm specifically interested in is a neutered male, approximately 2 years old. He was found abandoned outside, living under a shed. Despite all this, he is very friendly and affectionate. The shelter said the adoption fee does not include FIV/FeLV testing, so I have to get that done on my own. That is fine, but then I read that the FIV blood test can't distinguish between antibodies from vaccination vs. antibodies from the real disease. This cat most likely was vaccinated very recently.
What do most people do in this situation?
There's no way I can keep them separate while I wait to do another test down the road. Plus, I read that it can show a false positive up to 1 year after vaccination.
Then there is the issue of the herpes virus. I know it generally is not fatal to cats and can be easily manageable with some supplements, but...my cat doesn't have it now and I'd prefer to keep it that way.
I love my cat and he is my first priority, so I am extremely worried about harming him by bringing in a cat of unknown history. But I really want this kitty and he deserves a loving forever home. If I had no other cats at home, I wouldn't be stressing about this at all.
Any suggestions as to what to do or how this can be managed? Anything else I need to be aware of?
I would have the shelter cat brought to the vet the very next day for an examination and blood test (FIV and FeLV). Are there any other necessary tests I should have done asap?
Thanks for reading!