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[madcat]

Kittens do pass away unfortunately, they may be ill but look OK.

Your best bet if you are worried is to talk to your vet. I am not vet trained, just interested and informed on the FIV subject. Your vet will be able to help you more.


MadCat

Don't have a vet thought my sis in training to be one.

[madcat]

She should be able to help you out then


madcat

She don't know nutten yet!

[madcat]

Is there not a vet in your area that you can telephone and ask for advice?


MadCat

Don't think it'll help.

[madcat]

Why not?

Why?

[hillsider69]

I found this forum today because sadly we have just found out that one of our 2 cats has aids.
Tom, or his royal fluffyness as we call him is a 13lb ex-male farm cat of 9 years. We have been here 27 years and had 7 cats as pets and about 5 or 6 that have come in and we have rehomed. So far all have been well apart from our daftest dying from cancer 10 or so years back. They all get a good life here, out at night, food and love during the day, plenty to hunt, plenty of places to rest up.
Of late (2 or 3 years) we have had a real problem with the farm a couple of miles along the road produing toooooo many moggies that are spreading out. They are uncared for and dirty.

Tom is a rehoused town street cat that came to us about 7 years back. He had his nuts off the day before we got him and was in a bit of a state but soon fitted in. He loves the spring and summer when there is a never ending supply of baby rabbits. A couple of weeks back he went lazy and his coat went off condition, worming did nothing and now after a blood test we know why. Maybe it was the wee female that came from the fields 18 months back or one of the "things" from next door.
Hope to get him back from the vet tomorrow, then we have to work out what to do. We need to test our other cat. There is no way they can be kept apart or him indoors, he would go mad! I need to thin out the strays in the area and also think how we can get the looked after if we go away.

Does anybody know what we should do when these cats go to the great moggery in the sky? Do we have to hang on for any time till its safe to get other cats; I would hate to be without.

Years ago I hated cats, mostly because I was allergic top them: then I got vaccinated and now would hate to be without them.

[madcat]

I'm so sorry to read your post. I know what you must be going through, as had the same when we first found out that Jack was infected.

I knows it seems an odd thing to say, but it isn't a death sentence. Jack has been living with FIV for 5 years now. He gets ill often with colds and stomach bugs, but so far nothing has packed up on him organ wise and he gets regular blood tests to check!

Ban our old cat, could not be kept indoors and was also quite an agressive cat by nature. There was no way he would stay inside longer than to eat and sleep occasionally. We made the really hard decision, and it was reall hard, to have him put down 2 days before his 6th birthday. I still miss him, and although he wasnt showing any signs it was the correct decision to be made in his case.

As Jack was a juvenile of 15 months and he was a real pacifist submissive cat we thought he would adapt. After 4 awful months of trying to keep him inside, and him jumping out of upstairs windows we decided for his own safety to let him out. I told everyone in our street with cats about the virus, and to get their pets tested. No-one did...

As you may see from the forum, we got rehomed a new kitten last week that had been dumped in a local park. I took him to our vets to be rehomed and checked out. I had a long chat with our vet and looked at the lastest released facts on FIV and transmission and decided to bring him home with me!

Looking after an FIV cat takes a little more time than a healhy cat. You have to be on top of any wounds or little sniffle. If you were not insured, then be prepared for large sporadic vet bills. Thankfully Jack was insured, as now it has been diagnosed, no insurance company will cover you. Be prepared to become friends with your vet, you could be there a lot! Make sure you have faith and trust in your vets decisions as well...

I think about waiting, you could wait forever and never know if the area is clear. It will up driving you mad.. we decided to go what was right for us, our lives and our cats at the time. If you want another cat, don't wait. Life is short, enjoy your time and your pets and be happy.

My thoughts are with you - Mike and I understand your pain and the hard decisions in front of you.
If you want to talk more but not in the public forum, feel free to PM (private message) me.


MadCat