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Pawcurious: With Veterinarian and Author Dr. V

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You are here: Home / Be The Change / Blogathon / Hour 15: FIV and you

Hour 15: FIV and you

November 7, 2009 by Dr. V

I had a request to cover the topic of FIV in cats and what someone who was considering adopting such a cat needs to know.

First of all, anyone who adopts a special-needs pet has an extra special place in heaven. 🙂 Always good to accumulate good karma.

Here are the basic things you need to know (which I have summarized from the excellent article at Veterinary Partner: )

1. FIV (or feline immunodeficiency virus) is not an automatic death sentence. The average life expectancy from the time of diagnosis is 5 years. Many infected cats live long and full lives.

2. People cannot get FIV from cats and vice versa. That being said, people who are immunocompromised themselves should not adopt a FIV+ cat.

3. FIV requires a pretty substantial type of contact to be transmitted. The most common route of transmission is a bite, the type most common to outdoor male cats. Brawlers. Frat boy types. You can have other cats in the house with an FIV+ cat as long as they don’t fight. For obvious reasons, FIV+ cats should be kept indoors- for their own safety and that of other cats.

Those are the main salient points, but the original article goes into quite a bit more detail. There is also a link to a fantastic info sheet from the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine.

I hope you do consider one of these great kitties! Does anyone else have experience with owning a FIV+ cat (or for that matter, FELV?) Do you have other cats? How did you handle it?

PRIZE ALERT: Sick kitties (and well ones! And people! And dogs!) love blankies. My friend and amazing seamstress Lisa has donated one custom made blankie to the cause. I don’t have a picture for you, but they are soft and yummy and I know you want one.

To win it, hmmm, let’s do a cat question. At what age do kittens typically open their eyes?

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Filed Under: Blogathon, Cats, Health

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    November 7, 2009 at 9:49 am

    10-14 days

    • Lisa says

      November 7, 2009 at 9:52 am

      you seem to have lots of Lisas on here — this is Bailey’s Lisa 😉

      • Tonya says

        November 7, 2009 at 10:00 am

        Just read the story of you and Bailey. What a sweet story and what a beautiful pup. So sorry for your loss.

    • Dr. V says

      November 7, 2009 at 9:53 am

      That’ll work. I would have taken anything in the 7-14 day range. I’ll put you in touch with the other Lisa in a bit. 🙂

      • Lisa says

        November 7, 2009 at 9:56 am

        YAY! Thanks!

  2. Tonya says

    November 7, 2009 at 9:50 am

    8-10 days?
    Just went back to catch up on what I’ve missed. Ran a 5K for lung cancer this morning, so I haven’t been here for the fun. You’re doing great, Dr. V! Off to donate…assuming Brody is still safe and sound?!

    • Dr. V says

      November 7, 2009 at 9:56 am

      Oh! Just missed it!! Curses! Go you for running the 5K!!

      • Tonya says

        November 7, 2009 at 9:59 am

        That’s what I get for reading the other posts before responding to this one. 🙂 Some really great/informative posts. Thanks so much for doing this!

        • Dr. V says

          November 7, 2009 at 10:00 am

          Thank you for being here!
          I have another prize on the next post- coming up in the next 10 minutes or so.

  3. Lisa Edwards says

    November 7, 2009 at 10:04 am

    $1455.00!!!!!

    • Dr. V says

      November 7, 2009 at 10:05 am

      If only Ashton would come and double it…I’d die happy… 😉

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