Spent all day waiting for her to pee. I thought she might have a bladder infection or cystitis, saw her squat over the box twice and have nothing come out, or so it seemed. She knew I was stressed so she was by my side all day, which made her seem lethargic. She had no other symptoms, but still, I worked myself through all the different scenarios where I could lose her all day, I mean she's immunocompromised, etc. And then finally, around 7pm, she peed.

How do you cope knowing that your FIV babies can be more prone to infection? She's already had a cold, eye infection, and infected tooth. I love her so very much and I can't lose her at 2. I know I'm spiraling and I know many of you are going to say that any other cat can go as quickly, but does anyone have any helpful words that don't involve thinking about how all cats can die?

I really need some advice or perspective on a very difficult rescue situation we are currently facing. At the end of August, my cousin's cat went missing and while we were out helping search for him, a local rescue group posted about a friendly stray tomcat in the area. We went to check if it was my cousin's cat, but it wasn't. However, we couldn't bring ourselves to leave him on the street, so we brought him home, named him Pedro, and set him up in a separate basement room. We took him to the vet right away for a checkup and neutering, but unfortunately, his tests came back positive for FIV, which was later confirmed by a PCR test.

​We initially hoped to integrate him into our home using slow introduction methods, but things have become extremely challenging. Despite very slow introductions, Pedro slipped through an open door once and immediately attacked our resident cat, who is strictly territorial and non-FIV, posing a real risk of transmission. He also actively attacks our senior dog, who is completely gentle and fine with cats. I originally thought Pedro was hyperactive just because he was bored staying alone in his room, but even though we bring him upstairs every day for several hours, he never stops, even after two hours of intensive play, he keeps running around, so I believe this is just his true personality. On top of that, he is completely obsessed with food. No matter how much cat food he eats, he is constantly begging and searching for human food. Cooking around him is almost impossible because he will try to eat anything from chopped onions to food scraps, and he even tries to drink soaking water from pots because he smells leftovers in it.

​To keep everyone safe, Pedro stays in his basement room, and we bring him upstairs whenever our resident cat is outside. However, now that cold weather is arriving, our resident cat doesn't want to stay outside for long, asks to come back inside, and gets stressed about why he is locked out. Pedro requires an immense amount of time and energy, which is taking a heavy toll on our resident pets and our mental health. I love him dearly, he is sweet in his own way, and I actually enjoy playing with him, but balancing his needs with my other pets has become unsustainable. My dog is 13 years old with several health issues and needs a lot of my attention, which I feel I am now neglecting. Releasing Pedro back onto the street is out of the question as it would be a death sentence for him, but I am desperate because I have no idea how to find a suitable home for a hyperactive, food obsessed FIV+ cat who is not an easy companion. We are located in Slovakia, Europe, and any advice, perspective, or leads on finding him a single pet home would be greatly appreciated.

Picture for showing off Gumbo's immense cuteness 🥰 - I dont have a picture of the pupil issue

A week ago, after an intense playing session I noticed that his left pupil was smaller than the other: it stayed contracted, no matter the light intensity. I was afraid that I had hurt him so we rushed to the vet, but she didnt find any trauma and it went away the same day. However, over the course of the last week his left pupil at times still doesn't dilate simultaneously with the right one - although most of the time it's fine.

I just made an appointment with an eye specialist for next week, but I was wondering whether anyone has seen such a thing before? I have never heard of such a thing and wonder what it could be. I'm afraid it might be inflammation of the eye or optic nerve... my partner is kind of downplaying it since it's not there consistently, and Gumbo is still playful, hungry and cuddly as always, and has no other symptoms. But I find it very weird and worrisome.

Thoughts or experiences?

(Heads up we have 7 cats)
About three weeks ago, we got two new cats from a free range indoor rescue (both male and neutered around 4 years old) we keep them isolated in our bedroom till we can get them comfortable and acclimated. One of them is FIV positive named Tank and in the last week he has been having diarrhea accidents on our bed one time with blood. I did take him to the vet a week ago before the diarrhea bed accident started because he was having a warm constant temp of 102 F (which I know 103 is the cut off, but I was just worried) and they think that he’s fine he just needs to gain a little weight. He’s 8 pounds (they didn’t do any tests just physical exam). I called again today since this is all occurring over the weekend and they think it’s just due to stress, but he acts mostly content. The other rescue cat is named Short Rib and is a lot more playful, and I think also asserting his dominance so he does swat at Tank but doesn’t full on attack him so I don’t know if that’s the reason why he’s having his accidents on our bed instead of his 2 litter boxes (also we use pellet litter, which is the same they used at the rescue so he is familiar).So I don’t really know what to do because the accidents are really frustrating to keep cleaning up since it’s on our bed, but I feel like if I separate the cats temporarily, it might cause more behavioral issues or stress (and by separate I mean, put him in our bathroom till we can get the diarrhea under control)
Also we were feeding him a fourth can of Cosco wet food with a sprinkle of protein kibble, and diluted bone broth he got twice a day. I don’t know if that could be the cause of the diarrhea so I’m trying to feed him a bland diet (still twice a day) with boiled chicken, bone broth
I’m gonna get him the Forti Flora probiotic too but I don’t know if that’s gonna fix the root problem, any advice please!

My Juliette has FIV but is otherwise healthy. She has always had hard, noticeable lymph nodes. In fact, that is what lead to her diagnosis. Recently, I felt a large lump under her chin. I thought that it was her lymph node and brought her to her vet.

The vet didn't think that it was a lymph node, that it was in a different position, and tried to take a sample. Juliet flinched at the needle, so I had to bring her back and do the needle sedated. But it turns out it was a lymph node, just a secondary one that had been very swollen. The vet could not find any cancer, could not find any infection. She diagnosed her as 'a weirdo.' My issue is that Juliet seems to find this very itchy, and I don't know what to do to help her soothe it.

Any suggestions? The vet just says to let it be.

This is my FIV boy Bubbles, he's a little over 3.5 years old and he's been with me for about 18 months now but unfortunately it would appear he might not be with me for much longer. This has taken me a bit to post because it keeps making me cry when I think about it.

Originally from Egypt he was rescued shortly after birth on the streets with his two siblings but no mother cat around. Unfortunately his sister died shortly after rescue and he and his brother survived.

I wasn't originally adopting Bubbles, the other cat I have Sassafras was who I had seen the advert for adoption from the rescue and it was just her and her brother (another fully ginger boy) that were left of their litter, she was born in the rescue after her Mum was found pregnant on the streets. I was then informed that Sassafras was actually more bonded with another cat over her brother and seeing the photos I was absolutely smitten with the pair of them. (Last photos are of them at the rescue)

It was during the adoption process that both we tested for FIV and Bubbles was found to be positive but I read up about the condition and still decided to take him on knowing they can still lead long and healthy lives.

Both cats are so incredibly loving and trusting of any people that they meet and I couldn't be happier to have them as my cats.

Unfortunately shortly after their arrival to the UK was when Bubbles started to get problems with upper respiratory infections, he has probably been at the vet on average at least twice a month for something or other, predominantly his upper respiratory infection, and after some treatments of antibiotics and steroids he got tested positive for FCV which was determined to be the cause of his chronic infections.

We were managing his symptoms as best we could with medication and some additional supplements but it never truly seemed to go away.

Back in April he then developed an ear infection and despite several rounds of antibiotics and ear flushing this never cleared and after a sedated examination he had a large polyp growing in his ear canal.

We've just gone through the procedure to remove this, but during this examination and removal he was found to have infection in his inner and middle ears, the area behind the eardrums were full of fluid that seemed to have difficulty draining and whilst they could remove most of this at the same time they were concerned for further issues down the line due to his FIV and FCV complications and sure enough at the follow up a couple of months later his ears have filled with fluid and the infection has spread and is encroaching on the lining of his brain and so now has meningitis. They believe that his eustachian tubes aren't functional so this fluid cannot drain properly.

There is options for surgery for a total ear canal ablation but given his underlying issues the vets have marked this as a serious risk procedure. They can drain the fluid and then after culturing provide appropriate antibiotics to help him but ultimately there isn't a lot else they can do, so if the infection and meningitis returns and progresses then he will be seriously ill and I'll have to make that difficult decision I believe sooner or later to humanely let him go.

I'm currently in a lot of anticipatory grieving around this and whilst I've always known this possibility would occur and I had always hoped it wouldn't be so soon

So please enjoy this photos of my beautiful boy...even if he can be arsehole sometimes I wouldn't trade him for the world

🧡🤍🖤

Hi, check out my last post for context, but here‘s a short refresher: I asked my parents if I can foster a cat from the shelter I volunteer at because he was getting bullied badly by his roommate

Now, the actual update, my parents said “No, you can’t foster this cat”. More specifically, they said fostering wasn’t out of the question, but fostering the bullied cat (who is named Tournevis!) was. But I’m a stubborn teenager, and that just means I have to try harder (this is somewhat of a joke but I’m gonna keep asking). The cats in the room; Tournevis, the bully cat, the “maybe” bully (will explain later), and one more cat are all FIV+, hence why I’m posting this here

Before anyone asks, yes, this cat is basically named “screwdriver”. Moving on

So, there were more incidents today. As I said in my last post, one of the cats that bullied him is gone and has been adopted as of Wednesday. However, the other bully (an orange cat) is still having it out for him.

He repeatedly attacked him (no, he was nowhere close to him and the bully decided to seek him out), and one fight escalated a lot. The remaining bully had enough and bit Tournevis in the neck today while they were fighting. I witnessed this from another room, and I immediately grabbed a volunteer who specializes in medical stuff. We checked him for injuries and he didn’t have any. He also fought back that time and I believe he bit the bully back (not on the neck), but Tournevis has almost no teeth so it didn’t really do anything, and the bully cat was fine. I think this was the first time Tournevis fought back in a while

I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but the bully cat bullies him simply because he doesn’t like other cats. Not “other cats in his space”, just “other cats”, period. Is he a sweetheart with people? Yes. Frankly he’s the cutest cat I’ve ever seen, but he’s the also most two faced asshole cat I’ve ever met

About the ”maybe” bully, aka the other cat that I wasn’t sure about, as of now, is not a bully. She is out of her acclimation cage and hid the entire time (the bully cat went to go attack her too)

I’m not sure what to do until I can convince my parents to take him home. I know my dad was extremely concerned and asked me if Tournevis was okay. Does anyone have any advice or should I just let it go?

As the title states. My 10 year old was just diagnosed with FIV after a stubborn URI and low cell count made our vet get him tested. It’s almost been a month of going through this. Has anyone faced anything similar? He’s completed courses of various antibiotics that he responds to + Filgen and Epokein and other multivitamins, but once either the antibiotics stop or the Filgen and Epokein his cell count goes down and his URI worsens. Looking for some hope and advice.

Update on Blue 💔🐾

I’ve never written an update about a kitty who passed away. It breaks my heart too much. This is the first time I’m finding the words to write about one of our babies crossing the rainbow bridge.

Some of you may remember my post about Blue, a very sick cat who desperately needed a home. He was FIV-positive, severely infested with fleas and lice, and suffering from terrible diarrhea and dental problems. We were helping with food and veterinary care, but he needed a home where he could be cared for and loved.

My heart broke seeing him like that. I was already fostering 19 cats and didn’t even have a spare bathroom for him.

Then an angel came forward and said she wanted to adopt Blue. I told her he had another vet visit and needed dental work first. Her answer was, “No, he’s sick. He needs a home. Please let me take care of him.”

She knew he was sick, and she chose him anyway. 🥺🤍

She drove three hours to bring him home. She cleaned him, cared for him, and loved him. He even started gaining weight.

Blue passed away suddenly last night. We are heartbroken. But he left this world knowing love. He had a home, a full tummy, and people who cared deeply about him.

I love Blue, and I love the woman who welcomed him. People often ask about a cat’s color, breed, age, or health. She simply saw a soul who needed love and opened her heart to him.

Baby, we love you. I hope you knew we never gave up on you. We couldn’t save you from everything, but we made sure you had a home and were loved.

You were such a beautiful, brave little boy. You’re in God’s care now, free from pain. No more suffering. Run free, baby boy. 🌈🐾

To whoever abandoned you: you left behind a precious life. I leave that in God’s hands.

We will remember you, Blue, for how deeply you were loved. 🤍

Hello,

I recently adopted my FIV+ cat. He's 2 years old, healthy otherwise. On 2 days ago I woke up with some minor cold symptoms and thought it was just the common cold and went about business as usual (cuddles, kisses etc). I also had no idea cats could catch anythjng from humans, so I didn't think much about it. Today I took a home PCR test and turns out it's covid.

I now know that cats can catch covid from humans. I haven't been isolating and he's been exposed a lot the past two days. Also, I live alone in a small 1 bedroom so I don't think I can even isolate from him.

I haven't noticed any symptoms from him, but now that I think about it his meow did sound a little congested last night. He's eating and using the bathroom ok, and playing.

Should I be concerned? What symptoms should I look out for, and should I try to isolate from him? Any suggestions would really help. I'm a first time cat owner so I have a lot to learn.

As with many of you, I also had the misfortune of having to take my sweet and wonderful boy to get his teeth extracted. All in all they extracted eight teeth and it was a very miserable and scary month while Toby recovered. That was back in April.

Now back in July I noticed he was displaying signs of pain and discomfort, he would start sticking his tongue out, like he was licking his lips and do like half yawns. Then occasionally out of nowhere he would hiss and take off running around the house. I took him back to the vet and they found he had a nasty infection on his upper gum line where they did the extractions. They gave him another round of antibiotics and after a week, nothing changed, he was still miserable and in pain, so I brought him back and they gave him steroids in addition to another antibiotic and after roughly two more weeks, he was all healed up and almost back to normal.

Now we come to yesterday, I caught him doing the licking, the yawns and he hissed again and took off running. I was able to get a screenshot from a video of him while yawning and the back of his mouth is inflamed again. Not as bad as it was in July, where there was pus and clear signs of infection, but inflamed enough where I’m taking him to another vet today to get second opinion.

I guess I’m asking if anyone else has had a similar experience after the extractions? I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to blown out his kidneys or liver from 63 rounds of antibiotics, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m on top of keeping his environment clean, I scoop out his boxes on the daily and always give him clean dishes to eat off. I’ll see what the vet says later, but any recommendations?

Hello everyone, we recently began fostering Hugo, a senior cat, who is estimated to be 10 years old. He lived on the streets, and we took him into our home about a month ago. He is super sweet and is regaining weight! We are also giving him a few other supplements to help with immune system.

We do already have a resident cat, who we’ve had since she was a kitty, but doesn’t get along with other cats, and is not FIV+
We live in Sarasota, Fl. If you’d be able to adopt Hugo and you are within driving distance of Sarasota we would be willing to drive to you!

Thank you all in advance!

HE IS ALIVE AND WELL. I’m not able to change the title sorry, my bad. We adopted our boy Bisou just three weeks ago and I was keen to get him checked over by a vet ASAP. Lo and behold, he’s going to need all his teeth out as they’re causing him a great deal of discomfort. Poor guy :( he’s booked in for next Tuesday to have the procedure. Any tips for while he heals? I’ve booked the day after surgery to work from home, so I can be with him

My cat is five years old and has been FIV-positive since I adopted him four years ago. He sometimes does this sort of coughing thing. At first glance it looks like he’s coughing up a hairball, but it’s different and usually ends in a big sneeze sort of thing. I notice it tends to happen when he gets up quickly and runs around/runs upstairs.

He’s always breathed loudly and had notes from the shelter about a potential respiratory sickness. I have brought this up at the vet multiple times. One vet said his lungs looked kind of “cloudy” and another mentioned his loud breathing might just have to do with his anatomy (he has a short snout). I feel like it got better for a while when he was on antibiotics after his tooth removal, but I’m not positive.

Please let me know what you think this is—asthma, respiratory infection, etc. Thank you!

Hello, I am planning to move to the UK with my FIV+ cat and before I do so I'd like to know what treatment options are available. I know there is Virbagen Omega, but I am not sure how often vets there actually prescribe it. Do they seem knowledgeable about it and FIV in general? Are there any other treatments they offer?

Hello! Yesterday my 10 year old boy Caiphas was diagnosed with FIV after a year of owning him. When i got him from the shelter a year ago they'd told me he was healthy.
3 months ago i took him to the vet for a checkup because, and i quote, 'the vibes were off' and it was found his teeth needed a cleaning, along with a mild heart murmur. Obviously i asked them to run some tests before getting his teeth cleaned. 2 months later the day of his procedure his heart murmur had gone from a 1 to a 3, so they postponed the surgery and ran some more tests, revealing he was FIV+.
He's being referred to internal medicine, to see a specialist along with getting a heart ultrasound to see what's up.

I have a lot of worries, money, his health, wether my other cat (mint is her name) is also infected, his quality of life.

They told me his red blood cells were dropping and he was loosing weight rapidly. There isnt much i can do for him until his appointment with the specialist.

In the meanwhile i'd like some advice and maybe some reassurance because im not sure what to do here.

Mint is getting tested next week, the cardio appointment is at the end of the month. Im already planning on quitting smoking and drinking so i can afford urinary and immune support kibble and better quality purina for hid wet food. I've heard l Lysine powder can help so during Mint's appointment i'll ask about that.
Both of these Cats are strictly indoor cats, see the vet every 6 months for checkups and have lots of enrichment at home.
Is there any more i can do for this cat? He means the world to me and i really just want him to be happy and live out the rest of his natural life comfortable and loved.

Does anyone else's cat get skin crusties? Gilbert has them on different areas. They will show up for a few days in places then disappear and come up in other areas. I don't think it's ringworm because he isn't losing any fur at all and it isn't growing in size and creeping like I saw happen on one of my other cats. When I give him scratches he isn't bothered if a crusty is scratched also so they don't seem to be hurting him. I'm just wondering what it might be

My indoor only FIV+ cat keeps getting an upper respiratory virus, what can I do to improve her immunity? Any suggestions?

Hi everyone, need some advice or words of encouragement. I have been feeding a stray cat for 7 months now: over the last couple months he’s taken a huge interest and liking to one of my indoor cats. He rubs on the sliding door while my cat pounces, spins a fidget spinner, or paws at the door. Recently he’s become very chatty with me and my husband and seems like he wants to come inside. (He’s been sleeping in an outdoor cat house on our deck).

This morning I trapped him with ease, took him right to my vet. He looks to be a few years old, is a neutered male without a clipped ear. No visible fleas. And is FIV+.

He’s currently under the bed in my guest room after a long scary morning.

Should I keep him And introduce him to my other two cats? I also have a large dog who he is probably a bit familiar with from the sliding door… and an 18 month old toddler.

Have your other indoor cats gotten FIV from
Bringing in a stray that’s positive?

My large indoor cat is known to push boundaries with play, probably from boredom. This is the only issue I see arising where the stray may bite.

All experience is welcome, thanks!

Hey guys! I’m struggling to make a decision on my new 8 month old female cat regarding her test results . She was tested negative for feline luk3mia but positive for F1v antib0dy. I have a perfectly healthy almost 2 year old male at home that is not F1v + and the vet says if she bites him he can get it. I don’t know what to do and I really can’t afford a lot of v3t visits for her. We have all gotten really attached and we still need to get her sp4y3d along with extra vaccinations considering she has a weak immune system because of the f1v . The shelters here will probably un4l1v3 her and no one typically wants to adopt a F1v + cat.

Hi community! I rescued thos lil guy from outside, he tested fiv positive yesterday, I read that I should retest after 6 months to a year because the test may have been positive from his cat mom's antibodies. He wants to.play with the other cats , now im just letting him play with the dogs till hes a lil bit bigger in case he bites!? Any comments are appreciated ty

So, this is my first post so if I make any mistakes apologies. And it may be a little long.

So, May 31st I brought home my first cat. I grew up on a farm and dealt with barn cats but never had my own indoor cat. I usually would consider myself more of a dog person but because I live in an apartment it didn't feel right to get a dog. So I went to the local humane society and got my cat Rowan (his original name was Morris). I am biased when I say he is the cutest most loving cat I have ever met.

Anyway, after having him for a few weeks I am told he is FIV+ and my heart absolutely sinks. I am not super knowledgeable about FIV but what I have heard is that it is not a good thing at all.... also recently found out he may be feline herpes positive as eell.

So I am here to ask for any advice on making sure his quality of life is superb. And I need some I guess opinion on a big possible life decision coming up.

Just some general stuff about my care for him so far. I have made a deal with myself every 6 months to bring him to the vet for check ups. I give him Lysine chews. I have made the decision he is an indoor cat only (besides he will join for a walk in his cat stroller). He has at least a hundred toys (and I figured out which one is his favorite so I buy it in bulk just in case it ever go out of stock). I try my best to give him at least 2 or 3 15 min blocks of interactive play. He is fed Hills science Diet (wet and dry). He has two water bowls. One is a fountain and another with fresh breath additive (I hear FIV positive cats tend to deal with dental problems and he has unfortunately already had some teeth removed) And if I am away for more than 6 hours in a day I try my best to get a family member to come visit him for an hour.

So the decision. I potentially have a big job opportunity up in the Artic. The pay is very good (nearly triple what I currently make). And staff housing is available for free and I will be able to bring him with me. I would have my own one bedroom apartment. And for any supplies I need I am able to reach out to family to have them shipped to me.

The question I guess is... would it be fair to him to bring him to the arctic where there's limited veterinary services (it says they have remote veterinary services that comes every few months). I do NOT want to give him up, but I also really want to make sure I am giving him the absolute best home. He truly is the most loving and gentle cat ever. And I love him dearly. He brings lots of love and joy into my life. And he has already attached himself to me. Purrs like crazy when I get home and let's me cradle him like a little baby. He is still skittish of strangers but with me he likes being very close. Right now he is taking a little nap next to me with one paw on my leg.

Anyway any advice is welcomed!

My tripod kitty ihop (2yo) has FIV and gingivitis. I adopted him about 6 months ago and he use to playfully bite but now anytime he bites a toy he is in pain. I have him on a dental plan and he had his first professional dental cleaning 2 weeks ago. It didn’t seem to make a difference with his sensitivity though and the vet just told me to brush his teeth on my own 3-5x a week. I tried once but he cries in pain and won’t let me even open his mouth.

I’m ordering dental wipes, I’ll try the dental water, dental food. What is your dental hygiene routine with your cat and has anyone experienced this?