Lucky update. advice re FIV please.

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Sue - 20 Jun 2005 21:36 GMT

Ok Lucky (aka unlucky the at I rescued over the weekend as I posted
before) is at the vets and scheduled for surgery tomorrow for her leg
abscess (large, but fortunately no maggots apparently a big problem here
in So Cal). They wanted to keep her and clean her up, and make sure she
was fasting before surgery.

The bad news is that although she's Leukemia negative she's FIV
positive. The vet advised against me adopting her, because of the risk
to my current cat. (He's the most robust little guy in the world.) The
vet said that the humane society doesn't take strays and that the animal
shelter would probably euthanize her. So I can't let that happen. I'm
so sad for little Lucky, she really is sweet, it's making me nutz that
this probably could have been avoided if those Losers had either looked
after her or let me take her last year.

Does any one have any suggestions for a shelter (San Diego area) that
would place an FIV positive cat? I'll be covering her vet bills. I just
want to see this little girl get a break.

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PawsForThought - 20 Jun 2005 21:46 GMT

> Ok Lucky (aka unlucky the at I rescued over the weekend as I posted
> before) is at the vets and scheduled for surgery tomorrow for her leg
> abscess (large, but fortunately no maggots apparently a big problem here
> in So Cal). They wanted to keep her and clean her up, and make sure she
> was fasting before surgery.

Hi Sue,
I'm sorry to hear that Lucky has been diagnosed FIV positive and bless
you for taking her in. You might want to check some of these posts,
especially ones posted by Phil P.

http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?hl=en&q=FIV+cats&qt_s=Search

Lauren

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Candace - 20 Jun 2005 22:00 GMT

> The bad news is that although she's Leukemia negative she's FIV
> positive. The vet advised against me adopting her, because of the risk
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> would place an FIV positive cat? I'll be covering her vet bills. I just
> want to see this little girl get a break.

Oh, poor little girl. I am glad you are being such a good friend to
her. It's too bad she is FIV+ but it's probably better than being
FeLV+. FIV+ cats can successfully live with FIV- cats throughout their
lifetimes without infecting them. FIV generally takes a bite wound to
transmit so she could, technically, live with totally healthy kitties
if no one was a biter. I understand, from your other post, that your
cat doesn't like other cats much. If he did, you could keep her. I
know it's hard to not worry about what we expose our existing cats to
but maybe if you discussed it with your vet, she would let you know if
she thinks it's dangerous.

Some people adopt FIV+ exclusively. Maybe your vet or someone can help
you locate an actual person who does that or she could easily live as
an only cat in someone's home or with someone who would not be
concerned about the FIV+. In other words, a shelter may not be her
only option. It would be nice if she could gt an actual home.

You're very nice to help her.

Candace

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Sue - 20 Jun 2005 22:26 GMT

> > The bad news is that although she's Leukemia negative she's FIV
> > positive. The vet advised against me adopting her, because of the risk
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> but maybe if you discussed it with your vet, she would let you know if
> she thinks it's dangerous.

I meant to say that my current cat is NOT the most robust cat in the
world. He's had a lot of health problems -skin allergies, bad reaction
to immunizations, a bout of unexplained fever + vomiting that took
weeks to completely resolve. The vet thought it was a bad idea for me to
take her. My guy is a rambunctious male. he loves to wrassle. If he was
more docile I would consider it but as soon as she was integrated into
the house he'd be chasing her all over and rabbit kicking her head (He
rabbit kicks his own head). We have to work hard to keep him from biting
us when he's wound up, and he gets wound up all the time, so he's a
handful. I can't imagine that she would not fight back, she's had to
defend herself on the street for the last year.

> Some people adopt FIV+ exclusively. Maybe your vet or someone can help
> you locate an actual person who does that or she could easily live as
> an only cat in someone's home or with someone who would not be
> concerned about the FIV+. In other words, a shelter may not be her
> only option. It would be nice if she could gt an actual home.

you're right. I'm working on it. I just need help figuring out how to
find one. I thought shelter because a lot of the ones around here place
a lot of animals, so people could see her. It seems that mostly they
work with the shelters though. I just talked to the humane soc. and they
said that both they and the county shelter euthanize FIV positive cats.
Places like Helen Woodward only take owner relenquished animals. Places
like shelter pet partners only take animals from the county animal
shelters and she can't go there because they'd euthanize her.

She's very adoptable (or will be as soon as we get her all buffed up)
aside from the FIV. She's young, really pretty and really friendly and
sweet. For now she's at the vets, and they'll keep her for a while,
while I figure this out.

> You're very nice to help her.

Thanks. Right now I feel like I'm the only one who gives a damn.

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Phil P. - 21 Jun 2005 11:40 GMT

> I meant to say that my current cat is NOT the most robust cat in the
> world. He's had a lot of health problems -skin allergies, bad reaction
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> the house he'd be chasing her all over and rabbit kicking her head (He
> rabbit kicks his own head). We have to work hard to keep him from biting

You don't have to worry about him biting her- as long as she doesn't bite
him.

> us when he's wound up, and he gets wound up all the time, so he's a
> handful. I can't imagine that she would not fight back, she's had to
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> you're right. I'm working on it. I just need help figuring out how to
> find one.

You might find someone with a like-infected cat who might want a companion
for their FIV cat in one of these FIV groups:

FivCats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

FPTrailSN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

FIVpositivecats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Feline_Health_and_Behavior-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Best of luck,

Phil

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KellyH - 20 Jun 2005 22:36 GMT

> Ok Lucky (aka unlucky the at I rescued over the weekend as I posted
> before) is at the vets and scheduled for surgery tomorrow for her leg
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> would place an FIV positive cat? I'll be covering her vet bills. I just
> want to see this little girl get a break.

Have the vet run a Western Blot test. It is more expensive and needs to be
sent to a lab, but well worth it. It is a more accurate test for FIV than
the ELISA "snap" test done in office.

After reading your second post about the health of your cat, if Lucky is
indeed FIV+, it is probably not a good idea to keep her. However, you could
foster her in one room until a home can be found.

Check out the Best Friends website for some info on FIV.

-Kelly

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zuzu22@webtv.net - 20 Jun 2005 23:34 GMT

>I just want to see this little girl get a
>break.

Then keep her. There is no reason why she and your cat can't live
together provided she's not aggressive towards your resident cat, and
aggression can be avoided by doing a very slow careful introduction. FIV
is transmitted through deep bite wounds and if she gets along well with
your other cat there shouldn't be a problem. I know several people who
have an FIV cat living with their other healthy cats and there has never
been a problem, or transmission. Another thing you need to consider is
that, if your vet only did an in-house FIV test, you need to do a
confirmatory test like the Western Blot which is sent out to a lab.
There is a high false positive rate for the "instant" tests and it is
imperative to confirm that the cat actually has the virus with a more
specific test.

Megan

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graciedv - 21 Jun 2005 04:57 GMT

Sue Wrote:

> Ok Lucky (aka unlucky the at I rescued over the weekend as I posted
> before) is at the vets and scheduled for surgery tomorrow for her leg
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> just
> want to see this little girl get a break.

Hi... I'm currently adopting a stray cat who has FIV! :-) They sa
they can live many years healthy. They also say I can introduce him t
my FIV - cat b/cause it is only transferred through deep bite wounds.
He is not likely to do that since I got him neutured...
Try joining the FIV cat owner support group on yahoo!

They are great cats

--
graciedv

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Rhonda - 21 Jun 2005 05:10 GMT

Just wanted to say thanks for giving a damn.

You are making a huge difference in the life of a living being. You'll
probably win the lottery now...

Rhonda

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