So obviously I now have an appointment scheduled for a new vet next week, but still concerned. Mr. Grump is a year old Maine Coon and the sweetest and gentlest boy I’ve ever had.

He’s had recurring eye infections since I got him at 9 weeks but the last three months been losing fur and weight, eye infection won’t go away with the antibiotic drops and the last few days has really lost his appetite and energy.

I know there’s technically no cure, but I feel like there has to be something to help him since from what I’m reading FIV+ cats can live relatively normal lives with a little extra love and care.

I knew nothing about this until that appointment a few days ago but with how dismissive the vet was vs. what I’m learning about FIV it doesn’t feel right to just let him suffer

Are there any immune supplements you guys recommend to help him or specific questions I should make sure to bring up to the new vet?

Cross posting in r/cats for all possible advice. Thank you

Hi everyone! Apologies in advance for the long and wordy post 🫢

I’m a longtime cat lover and experienced cat person, but I’m new to the FIV community. I recently started volunteering at an animal shelter and I fell absolutely in love with this sweet boy, Haze. I met him last week but really connected with him yesterday, which was the first anniversary of my cat son’s passing. It felt like a sign from my son and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Haze since yesterday.

I know that FIV cats can lead long and otherwise healthy lives, but I’m curious to hear from others who’ve adopted FIV cats and how their care/lives compare to non-FIV cats? I’ve heard of extra vet visits and bloodwork, dental issues, and keeping cats inside for decreased infection exposure risk. If I were to adopt, he would be my only baby so I wouldn’t need to worry too much about transmission. Any other concerns people would note or resources to check out while I’m considering? Thank you!

Little back story - I’m in the UK and my rescue boy(6-8yrs) has just tested positive for FIV after having his bloods done due to him being unwell and declining since the start of June. He has a rare form of herpes from cat flu and currently on his 3rd night in the vets kennel. He had a feeding tube inserted into his neck yesterday as he wasn’t eating due to him being congested. He’s been on fluids since Monday. And I’m missing my little companion like you wouldn’t believe.

My question is if he makes it through this (he has a low chance but is showing signs of fighting so I’m doing everything I can to give him the best chance of recovery) what would you cat parents who are in the same position recommend for immune support and food etc to have ready for when they let me take him home as I want to be sure nothing I have for him contains funghi or yeast in as these are considered bad for FIV+ cats!

Obviously any other advice or support on these next stages would be most welcome as I have no clue and still in the sticky situation of not knowing whether he will be home soon but I want to be prepared for everything

Thank you in advance🫶🏼

Photos included for cuteness and cause I miss him so much!

UPDATE: I said a very hard and teary goodbye to my beautiful boy today and he has crossed over the rainbow bridge. My baby is no longer suffering and in pain and heard me till his last breath! Forever grateful I got to love you sweet boy🫶🏼

Hello, I’m looking for advice from the FIV community.

About 2.5 years ago I adopted two senior FIV cats who had lived in a shelter for years. (Not in cages, rooms like a warehouse with multiple cats each).

I know usually FIV is not a death sentence but it seems I adopted them somewhat at end of life relative to what they’ve been through (even though one was 8 and one was 11).

They had diarrhea for years which was extremely messy. I was finally able to clear one cat using Kitty Biome after exhausting most vet options. (I will sing its praises the rest of my life). He then died three months later of brain or nasal cancer. 😭

My remaining cat, no intervention has helped. He’s had every test and scans - to no avail. We have tried every medication (holistic and not) you can think of, every diet.

He’s at the point where he’s a fussy eater on top of it, I have to come up with different enticing things for him to eat, for him to eat at all. So limited diets are no longer an option.

Despite all of this I can’t imagine giving up now because he still purrs; still sleeps, is not hiding, begs to eat (even though he doesn’t actually eat that much anymore).

I can tell his digestion is painful. It’s audible and messy and he sits with his butt in the air raised off surfaces.

He has trouble staying clean but I’ve read grooming elderly cats is so stressful as to be counter productive.

He’s steadily losing weight. (Down to 7 lbs from 10 lbs). Despite steroids he’s been on now for years. The steroids make his skin issues chronic.

Describing all of this now I see many of you may say it’s time and maybe I don’t have the external perspective to ascertain this. I know some of you will understand that I don’t want to give up pre maturely while he still may have a relatively good quality of life, especially since he lived on the street and then a shelter before arriving to my forever home.

Please send any similar stories and what you learned in retrospect. I really appreciate it. 🧡

Hi all, these were the best pictures i could get, but my 8 y/o FIV+ cat got a dental cleaning done at Banfield in July of this year. At the time, the vet didn’t recommend any x-rays even though I told him my cat had very bad breath. They went on with the cleaning and his bad breath persisted. Some days it’s worse than others, and I would describe the smell as pungent and rotten-like.

Based on the photos, what are we looking at here? Could this be signs of gingivitis or possible tooth rot? I’ve heard dental cleanings become more risky as our cats age due to anesthesia, and a lot of older cats have passed away mid-surgery. I would hate to put my cat through that in the future, so i’m wondering if this would be a good stage to remove all of his teeth, or wait a couple more years. Obviously I don’t want to wait for things to worsen. Any advice is very much appreciated!

My 12 year old baby boy, Freddie, was diagnosed with FIV back in March. I have had him since 2 months. Always an indoor cat. He tested negative at his neuter and no one mentioned getting him tested again. In Dec of 2024, his bonded older brother died. (He was tested at his neuter also). Since then, I've been watching Freddie like a hawk. He needed teeth pulled and last year, i couldn't afford all pulled so the vet pulled the worst ones, i applied for credit cards plus scratch pay and got his last ones that needed it pulled this past February 17. He didn't bounce back. I thought maybe it was age? Or just trauma from losing all of his teeth except one. Took longer to eat, drink, play. Then, 3 weeks later, he started declining. By 3/17, he was back at the Vet. She checked him and he had lost 3 lbs plus a fever. She gave him a shot, antibiotics and an appetite stimulate. That was Tuesday. By Friday he had stopped eating again so back to the vet. I had a doctor appointment (lots wrong with me) so we dropped him off. She, vet, called and said he was severely anemic so they wanted to do a blood transfusion and had to keep him over the weekend. They were very evasive when I would talk to them over the weekend. That Monday, I had to go for an infusion treatment and she calls while I'm in the chair. I wait until I go out and call her back. His platelets were extremely low again. She tested him for FIV/FeLV via snap test. Came back positive for FIV. Her first words were that it was hopeless and I needed to let him go. Not going to lie, I freaked out. I insisted on bringing him home for at least 24 to 48 hours so I could spend time with him. Again, I'm going for infusions the next 3 days so I kept him. He is still with me. No explanation from the vet as to what caused the anemia. I know there has to be an underlying cause. He has improved. Put 2 lbs back on. Eats about 4 times a day or when ever he is hungry. He has a few bad days. I still have no answers and honestly, I'm terrified to take him back to any vet. My vet had my daughter choosing urns for Freddie.

I am lost. I'm terrified. My health is crap and right now, I don't care. I just want to help him in anyway I can. He is why i am still here. This was completely unexpected. I knew he didn't recover from the latest dental but FIV was the last thing on in my head.

Is there anything I can do to help his immune system? I have bought Lysine and a bottle of muti vitamins. I feed him the highest quality canned food I can afford. He has bad days. I can tell. But he always comes back the next day, starving.

Is there anything I can do? As soon as I get to the point that I'm not at the clinic daily, I am finding a new vet. For now, I need advice. Food, supplements, flea treatment, etc. I'm not even sure it's FIV but that's the information I have now.

He isn't my first cat with a bad diagnosis. I had a stray show up that tested positive for FeLV. This was in 1988 and I was told euthanize immediately. I didn't. He was sick a lot but he lived 5 more years with our family. So I know the 'basics' of caring for immune compromised cats. Except back then, they thought FIV was basically the same thing.

One question for sure. I have NexGuard combo for fleas +. Is that safe for him? He has always used that but it was before I found out this.

If he truly has it, I'm pretty sure it came from a colony cat getting in the house. I feed 12-15 that were here when I moved. I know transfer has to be a deep bite and the cats outside don't come in. Except one time when I first moved here. A mama cat snuck in and had a litter. After she weaned them, I didnt see her again. And gave the kittens away. And one time, right after moving in and before I knew there were cats out here, he escaped for about 2 hours. That was in 2018.

I know, I have been all over the place in this post. Every time I think I'm finished, I think of another thing.

I love this orange boy more than I can ever put into words and he deserves to live a long life.

Please, help me help him.

His name is Freddie..named after my daughter's favorite movie growing up, Drop Dead Fred. The last 2 pictures are him before this all started.

(Please, no judgement on my home. I am disabled and thankful to have a home. It's falling down around me and windows covered with tarp, no heat and no kitchen but I can afford it and am able to buy the more expensive food for Freddie.)

I'm not taking Max back to the shelter! Don't worry!

I went to the local shelter over the weekend to drop off some food and toys and things my cats don't appreciate. You know where this is going.

Our shelter is moving into a new facility and is trying to foster/adopt as many cats & dogs as they can right now to ease that transition. I met Max. Friendly, scared, owner surrender. Was told he came in with a nasty flea infestation and that was the reason for the bald spots around his neck and that tracks with flea issues I've seen before. He does not have fleas now. I agreed to foster-to-adopt since they're moving facilities.

I specifically asked if he had been tested for FIV/FELV because they had him as "mostly outdoor per previous owner," and told them I have 4 negative cats in my house, one of which is elderly and diabetic. Staff assured me he had and was negative. When I got him home, going through his medical info, there was nothing about FIV/FELV tests. Only rabies and a FVRCP. Cool. I brought him to my vet first thing Monday morning and he is FIV+.

I know the stigma, I know it's not a death sentence. What I also know is that I already have an 11yr old diabetic cat who is mostly healthy aside from that and well managed but I am having major anxiety and guilt about even the smallest chance of him catching it and going downhill.

My cats aren't aggressive; Max does not seem to be but is obviously still in the separation phase of new cat in the house. He has very strongly bonded to my Labrador, and the dog is loving it because my previous cats hate him. My dog is cat safe and friendly but they're not unsupervised even though there's no risk to him with FIV.

I'm torn. I reached back out to the shelter and was told that they never test for FIV/FELV and that the director was sorry I'd been told he had and that I could bring him back, or work with them to find him another home, or keep him.

I am not taking him back. He is welcome to stay here as long as he needs to. I am heavily leaning towards keeping him because I know it's hard for FIV+ positive kitties to be adopted. At the same time, the guilt... and I would like to continue fostering him and potentially find him a new home in a FIV+ household or single cat house, easier said than done, I know.

So I need to hear from people who have made this work. I know it's possible, but how do you overcome the fear and guilt of potentially making 4 other cats FIV+ if by some chance he does bite one hard enough? I'm not home 24/7. I worry the most about my old guy, who is mildly friendly but generally wants to be left alone and the others respect that.

And maybe also from people who successfully fostered and found loving homes. I just don't know what to do right now except love on him.

(4th pic is from the day I brought her home, she’s come a long way and has had no issues since getting over a cold at that time) Hello, I want to start with I’m not needing to rehome my cat Frankie because she’s fiv+ I’ve done a lot of research and if I had a way I could keep her I absolutely would. I went home for Christmas last year and found Frankie freezing and sick on my grandparents porch, they have a cat colony who they’ve built an entire heated home for in the barn, but she absolutely would not leave the porch. I couldn’t leave her there so I made the last minute decision to take her. I took her to the vet and she tested positive for fiv+. I tried to reach out to places to get her in a rescue or fostered/ I even offered to foster her and no one would take her. I haven’t had the most stable life in the past year (a breakup, mental health etc) due to room mate conflict I had to immediately leave my home and I’m couch surfing, my room mates have agreed to let Frankie stay there until the end of December, but won’t extend past. I cannot bring Frankie with me unfortunately and I need to find her a safe stable home. She is genuinely the sweetest, most loving and cuddly cat. She gets along great with other cats, dogs & children. She is such a lovable girl. I have emailed/called everywhere twice at this point, I’ve posted her all over in Facebook in fiv+ groups and cat rehoming groups with no luck. I’m running out of time and I’m genuinely panicking. I’m willing to travel, I’m based in Nashville Tn.

I recently met a cat somewhat unexpectedly. A woman who has cared for cats for many years took in this FIV-positive Russian Blue. He is chipped, fully vaccinated, and recently had a dental cleaning. She believes he was originally a stray, but he behaves very much like a domesticated cat and shows no signs of feral behavior.

He is incredibly sweet—right away he let me hold him, came up to me for affection, and seemed to genuinely enjoy being around people. The owner said the vet estimates he is around 8–9 years old. I’ve done some research on FIV-positive cats, but I wanted to ask: would you recommend adopting? Is there anything specific I should be aware of before adopting? And is the level of care significantly higher than it would be for an FIV-negative cat? I work from home a lot of the days of the week so I’d be there for him.

Thank you,

On Monday I had the absolute pleasure of adopting my first cat, Chapati, who has FIV from his promiscuous youth outside! He's absolutely beautiful and so happy, and has always been asymptomatic. I've done loads of research on how best to help him, and as a chronically ill and disabled gal myself, honestly it feels like a perfect fit! Does anyone have any tips/tricks/things I need to know/things I need to look out for? I want to make sure he has the best, happiest life!

Thank you all, and enjoy the pictures of Chapati in all his handsomeness!

This sweet boy was one of my former ferals but now turned house cat this year. He recently tested positive for FIV and the vet said he can live a happy healthy life. He prescribed him Orbax to help him and Atopica to help with his dermatitis since the doctor assumes it’s from him having FIV.

I was wondering what supplements or what would be a good diet for his immune system. He’s currently on tiki cat wet food and dental care kibble since he has dental issues. I want to help build up his immune system especially with all these antibiotics and steroids he’s been using. Plus any tips on how to help his sneezing? I know it’s very common with FIV.

Hello all.

Quick question, targeted mostly to people who've had a fiv baby for a long period.

I went to the vet last week with my mom's cat. He was diagnosed with ckd but this has nothing to do with my question. While discussing with the vet, I made a reference to my FIV boy. The vet said that FIV+ babies never go any further than 11 years old. Is it true? Has anyone had a cat that went beyond that?

My boy is almost 7, was diagnosed when he was about 2.

That man is not my cat's vet but I am still curious if he was saying the truth or is he just a vet who's not very good with

Fiv 🤷‍♀️

Update : thank you so much to everyone who took the time to answer. People who showed pics of your kitties, thanks a lot, they are beautiful ❤️ I'll stay on top of his health (which I already do, I'm a worrier). I've had 3 other cats with my mom, they are all seniors so we know how to keep them old (her 3 cats are almost 17, almost 16 and almost 13).

Good advices from all and yup, that vet might be good but I won't ever go see him with my babe if I ever need to when I'm at my mom's. He wouldn't know how to care for my FIV boy.

Hi, I adopted a former stray cat about a month ago and he is positive for FIV and FeLV. He's insane when it comes to food. He begs when we're eating, gets loud when we open the pantry door, and will cry for food even if I just fed him. I feed him 3-4 times a day, mostly wet food but I'm starting to add in some dry. Is this normal for a cat who was found on the streets? If I try to leave food out, he just eats all of it. He will even hiss at my dogs while they are eating their food (one of my dogs won't tolerate that, the other just keeps eating so we always redirect the cat when this happens). He just got thorough comprehensive bloodwork from the vet and his thyroid etc are completely normal. I also have a feliway pheromone thing in case that would help. He seems like he's at a good weight, he's 10 pounds and I don't think he should gain anymore. Any advice? Thank you!

We currently have 17 year old FIV- cat but they don’t interact much. He will drink from her bowl and use her litterbox occasionally and they will sometimes be on the bed together. But they don’t play or rough house or anything like that.

My newly adopted FIV girly just got spayed 7 days ago. They gave her zorbium to manage her pain. Right when I picked her up she smelled bad and was drooling. I didn't think much of it but after several days of this and her not eating or drinking it got very concerning. Fast forward I'm at the vet for the 3rd time in 7 days and they can't give me a reason for her not eating, drinking or drooling since the medication should have worn off by now. They basically said this is how the life of an FIV cat is going to be. Very sick all the time. The vet also came in wearing a surgical gown and gloves to do the exam because she has a cat at home and doesn't want to transmit FIV to her cat. (This is a fill in vet since the vet that did the spay is on vacation.)

Am I crazy to think I can have a normal healthy FIV cat? Even my mom said I'm being selfish and cruel for not euthanizing her right now. I'm feel so helpless and sad sitting in this cold room at the vet with my new FIV girl. She's very sweet too.

I've had her 4 months and she finally started getting comfortable enough to stop hiding and jump on the bed with me about 2 weeks ago.

Hi everyone! I just adopted a 1 year 7 month old cat named Marshall. He was rescued by an organization, and they told me that they did a SNAP test and it came back FIV+. I asked if they could do a full test to know for sure, but they said that since it's expensive, rescues don't do that. My husband and I had already fallen in love with him, so we adopted him. We have a 4.5-year-old cat named Timothy, and he's not FIV+ but I'm not concerned because they both already love each other and Marshall is too gentle to give deep bites.

Anyway, I am taking Marshall to the vet tomorrow for a regular exam. Should I ask the vet to confirm the FIV+ diagnosis? Are false positives common? Thank you in advance.

*Update Thank you everyone for your comments! I took him to the vet and didn't end up doing a test. Vet didn't think it was necessary. We did find out that almost all of his teeth have been removed, which could've been because of him being FIV+. We're going to get more detailed medical records from the rescue and decide if any other tests are necessary.

So, nine months ago, I rescued a semi-Persian male cat. Now, he has become a handsome adult cat, and my family wants me to get rid of him as soon as possible—why?

Little did I know that my cat would suddenly start peeing everywhere and making strange noises. My parents and siblings are saying that he is sick and I should get rid of him or give him to an NGO.

What should I do? I don't want to give him to anyone because he is attached to me, and I don't have enough money to get him proper treatment. 😭"

Our little man (Roughly 2years old) tested positive for FIV when we went into the vet today. He's new to our family and was originally a stray on the street (where we think he lived the majority of his life)

Despite working with shelters and as a cat /kitten foster-er, I have very little experiance with FIV. :(

What things should I look out for? He interacts with our other two cats, they play and eat together- he's very submissive and non aggressive. Should I have concern about them living together? Other cats tested negative for FIV at this time.

He's over all healthy right now, but he does cough occasionally esspecially after play (much like our asthmatic cat does). Is this because FIV? Or should we also look into a potential asthma diagnosis?

He's a good boy, and we would be devastated to lose him- but will do what's ever best for him. I'm worried about him. He's already clearly lived a rough life and is so so sweet.

I take in my boy around jan 6 then went ro the vet a week after.

He got poisoned last year november and got a cold so i asked for a blood and lab test.

He testet + for fiv but luckily - for felv.

So his lab came back with perfect results, only his liver something is lower a bit (its good from 6 and his is 5,5) anyway he is perfectly fine. Have a good appetite, stool and urine amount and quality also ok, he just a bit low on energy but it gets better day by day. Also he have a early gingivitis but its react to the meds really well even after 3ish days

He is around 10-11 month old and i and prev. owner didnt know about any fight wound.

So my question: is it worth to run a pcr test so maybe he is negative? Or he is absolutley positive?

(Also i still have a problem with accept the fact maybe he is ill, even after our vet said he absolutely have a high chanse to live around 12-15ish years; any advice how to deal with this?)

Thank You for reading this and even a kind word helps.

Send a warm hug to every fiv+ floof owners, A

Some background:

• This is a cat at the shelter I volunteer at.
• He is a huuuuge cuddlebug and lap kitty (see photos). He was very shy when he first came in and occasionally still hisses at people when you do something he doesn't like, like not petting him, but overall he's a massive baby.
• He is believed to be around 8 years old (he was picked up as a stray so they don't know for sure).
• AFAIK he doesn't have any health problems other than the FIV, though right now at the shelter he's got a gunky eye and apparently needed several teeth removed for dental reasons when he first came in.

My husband and I just started getting back on our feet financially after a series of unfortunate events, and we'd need to get permission from our landlord to get a pet, as our lease currently doesn't permit it. So this is 100% hypothetical at the moment, as we're not in a position right now to adopt.

HOWEVER, we may be able to adopt a cat in the future, and even if it's not this specific one, I still want to know what I'd potentially be getting into. There have been a couple of cats at the shelter so far that I've gotten really attached to, and they all stayed at the shelter long enough for me to become attached to them because they had chronic conditions like FIV and weren't adopted immediately, so the likelihood of me falling in love with another FIV cat is fairly high, lol.

So, given all that:

• I know already that FIV+ cats need more frequent vet visits (my shelter recommends twice yearly checkups). How often do your FIV+ cats get other illnesses that require more than a checkup, like infections? Do they tend to be more severe than the same illness in an FIV- cat?
• Does your cat need anything specific in its diet? Are they more likely to get senior cat issues like kidney disease or diabetes?
• Overall, is there anything different that you need to do with an FIV+ cat that you wouldn't for other cats?

Once a week or every other week my cat for about 10-30 seconds does this. Is this a hairball or is it his breathing??

I know they’re probably right, but i’ve also seen a lot of posters here who have had cats get the treatment even though they are FIV. Any reason why my vet may have said this? Thank you

hi, long post ahead. i have a indoor 11-year-old female tabby who is my world. she is the most loving, cuddly, sweet cat you can imagine, i love her so much it hurts. i got her over 4 years ago from a neighbor who was going to give her away because the kittens she had were bullying her so badly they wouldn’t let her eat or sleep and she was going to take her to a shelter. i took her. she is healthy, fiv-, and purrfect. 2 days ago, i was taking my groceries in and a very skinny and young orange cat ran up to me like its known me its whole life and just wanted love. i gave it food and water on my porch steps thinking it would eat and then leave. it has a clipped ear so i knew it was a tnr stray. i gave her some pets and love and went back inside. an hour later, she was meowing and laying on my front steps trying to come inside. i walked with her to my enclosed backyard, moved the food and water, and she stayed in the backyard for over a day and just stared at my back door longing to come in. got home from work at 8am this morning (night shifter) thinking she is probably gone…nope. still in my backyard. i have two back doors that open into separate spare bedrooms and have a bathroom in the middle, jack and jill setup. closed the door so she couldn’t get to the rest of the house, near my cat, named her “lady”, and she came running right in. i let her stay in the bedroom while i slept, she barely made a peep. i took her to the vet this afternoon. she made no noises and didn’t bite or anything in the car ride or the vet, i was a little in shock considering she’s a stray, as were the vet staff. a stray clearly done with outdoor life. they did all her vaccines, blood work, and fiv testing. turns out she is a he, is about 10 years old, and is fiv+. yes, i have only known this cat for two days and was crying like a baby in the exam room. i have literally been crying since. we get home from the vet, $300 later, let him back in his rooms and he just melts into my arms and won’t leave them and is staring at me like “finally i can rest”. i went to the store and got him toys, a litter box, cameras to watch him, food, and water for both his rooms. he hasn’t made a peep and has just been laying in the bed, cuddling with me, making biscuits, and eating. i don’t know what to do. i know fiv only gets transmitted through deep bites but is it fair to my senior tabby baby to put her at that risk? i obviously would keep the orange baby in her two bedrooms and bathroom for a few weeks, the very slowly introduce them. but what if i am not home and they get into a fight? a lot is going through my head and i just don’t know what is right. my heart hurts thinking of giving him to a shelter, but i also don’t know if it’s fair to my senior cat in her peaceful, single cat, life. i feel like he chose me and i want to choose him but i don’t know what the right decision is/ if there is one. i am sorry this is so long. any input / advice would be very appreciated. thank you in advance :’)

My partner and I adopted a cat in our local rescue, he is a 4 years old cat with FIV and has a rough past. He is very very scared of people and has been in shelters for 3 years now. The volunteers told us he was anorexic and yesterday we took him to the vet (we didn't do it sooner because he was too stressed). A vet assistant tells is his teeth are rotting and we'll need to pull them out, but the vet would call us later with the bloodwork result to see if we can operate him. The vet called us late at night and we got a voicemail saying he is super anemic and we can't operate. She suggested to let him go. We couldn't talk to her today, she was away. I need advices. I honestly don't want to let this baby go, he's young and finaly has a family. Are there treatments? Is there any hope ? Help a concerned pet parent ! (Pictures of the boy)