He's sick right now, but is looking/acting a lot better now that he's gotten an IV injection from the vet (he's be given some antibiotics too but they probably haven't kicked in yet - we just got home).
From reading various sources it looks like he might be able to make an essentially full recovery from this one episode and be able to live fairly normally?
(He's an indoor cat; once upon a time he was a stray, which is where he must've picked it up. We do have other cats, but they don't fight at all, so we're not too too worried about them becoming +)
2007-11-30 12:38:05 · 5 answers · asked by Elly & Pao 4 in Pets ➔ Cats
My friend had an FIV+ cat that lived to the ripe age of 17. The risk is of illness since his immune system is compromised, but if he is an indoor kitty, his odds of catching things is reduced. So the answer to your question is yes, he may live normally for quite awhile. Cancer finally took my friend's cat.
My friend's other two cats that are still alive (who were younger but adopted at the same time) remain FIV- - they never got it either. As along as they all stay inside, they are less likely to catch things to bring back to your other cat and less likely to spread the disease in the unlikely event they do get into a scape with your infected cat and get it.
2007-11-30 12:45:33 · answer #1 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it basically just means that he has a weakened immune system. FIV won't kill your cat, but secondary infections could. If he shows signs of illness, take him to the vet. But most people would do that with any cat.
Yes, with proper vet care and antibiotics, he should recover from his illness, you'll just have to watch him to make sure that he is getting better.
Your kitty can live a long and normal life. I have a friend with a 15 year old FIV cat.
Also, FIV is only transmitted through deep bite wounds so unless your cats are fighting to seriously injure one another (as strays, especially unneutered males will do) the chances of him passing it along to your other cats are slim to none.
You are clearly a responsible owner. There are many people out there that would not bother doing their research on FIV and just insist on putting the cat down. I'm sure with your care, your cat will be with you for many years to come.
2007-11-30 21:22:28 · answer #2 · answered by kritten 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not an expert on the details so I'll let others fill in there. But my family had an FIV+ cat that lived a pretty normal life. He died at about 15 years old and I don't think he really had a lot of health problems related to the FIV (he had another disease unrelated).
The hard part was that he couldn't be around ANY other cats and we had 4.
Good Luck
2007-11-30 20:43:23 · answer #3 · answered by ifixrex2000 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are some very good FIV cat lists over on yahoogroups, come on over and introduce yourself.
FIV isn't a death sentence, a cat can live up to 15 years or more with it. I've got two, neither one shows symptoms of the disease (dry coat, runny eyes, mouth sores). Did you use the Western Blot test? That one is accurate, the Elisha snap test is not (it gives false positives 20% of the time).
Feed good quality food, watch for symptoms and treat those as they arise. My FIV guys do heal quickly (operation on both, one for a urinary problem, one for an internal abscess). Keep them away from sick cats, to give them as much stress free time as possible.
2007-11-30 20:53:59 · answer #4 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they can live quite a while,but keep him indoors to stop spreading and going with other cats,feed good quality food
2007-12-01 03:09:46 · answer #5 · answered by sky 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋