<< I know somebody who rescued a feral cat but then decided
that she couldn't adopt him because he's FIV+ and doesn't
get along well with other cats. >>

Is your friend the one who had him neutered?  I sort of think that once a
person becomes involved in an animal's life in that way that the responsibility
for doing the right thing becomes theirs.  I think she should try harder to
place the cat if she definitely can't keep him.  But maybe she should try
harder to keep him.  He might come around and get along very well with her
other cats.  Did she give him a fair chance with a proper introduction?  FIV
pos cats can only infect others via bite wounds.  If she keeps the cat and he
doesn't fight with her other cats, then there is no problem.  But if he's
released back outside and fending for himself with other feral cats then it's
very likely he will bite one of them or get bitten by another and pass the
virus on (I've had 4 feral cats tested at different times and all were
negative; it never starts in some colonies, it just depends but they definitely
do not all have FIV.).  It would be best for this kitty to have an indoor home
with or without other FIV pos cats.  The second best option would be to find a
shelter or rescue that has FIV pos cats only.  I know they exist in some
places.  How long did she try to incorporate this cat into her own home?
Ferals generally come around and are very sweet cats...I have one myself but it
took some time.  I think it would be wrong to release him back outside and very
wrong to have him euthanized at this point.  She needs to work harder to either
keep him or place him.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

That's not necessarily true about feral cats and FIV. First, the cat
should be re-tested, as false postives are not unusual in testing.
Second, if the cat is indeed positive, I think your friend should
contact a feral cat group in her area and see if anyone would be willing
to foster this cat. I don't think it's fair to release this back into
the outdoors. One, since you say this cat doesn't get along with other
cats, by fighting it can spread the disease to healthy animals. Two,
when this cat gets truly sick it's going to suffer and that's not fair
to the cat. Plus, any other cats he/she infects will probably end up
with the same fate.

If the cat is still in the early stages of FIV, it can have many good
years left and could be tamed by someone who is willing to take in an
FIV positive cat, and there are people like that out there. The one
thing your friend will need to keep in mind, is that it is still kitten
season and many rescue groups have been up to their whiskers in kittens,
so she may need to extend the net of inquiry a bit farther.

I do empathize, it's a tough situation. :(

K

I had this same dilema only it was a  FeLV+ positive cat that I
trapped and had neutered.  He was scruffy looking and tick infested so
the clinic recommended testing him even though they usually don't for
TNR.  His ELISA came back positive for FeLV only and he was father to
a great number of kittens I'd trapped, and mate to 4 female strays
that I knew of. The females had been trapped and spayed and the
kittens trapped and vetted for adoption (a week later we had a
horrible outbreak of distemper so we're convinced it was the kittens -
they all died and the timing was suspicious).  The woman who called to
have the cats trapped said the male was "owned" by a neighbor who was
on vacation and left him outdoors without care so he came to her yard
to eat (and also killed all but one of the baby males) where she had a
feral community of sorts that had gotten out of hand.  I told her if I
trapped him he was getting snipped.  Since he was "owned" I had no
idea what to do when he tested positive - whether to release him,
couldn't get in touch with the "owners" and all foster homes were
busting at the seams (late June) or have him euthanized by the
shelter.  Very hard decision, but others who had been through this
many many times said they wouldn't think twice (so to speak) about
having him euthanized.  I released him.  I have no idea what ever
happened and I am not proud telling this story but only know that some
very difficult decisions have to be made sometimes.  I don't know what
I would do if it happens again but I suspect in this situation it
wouldn't take a lot of thought since the rest of the community doesn't
get regular vet care and why leave them all to die?  For the record,
some of the cats that I've trapped and either kept or been adopted
have tested negative to both on the ELISA and were living in the wild
for a while.  Good luck.