Two FIV Cats Are Better Than One

My cat Sam has FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus and has lived a life without other cats since 2008.  Our veterinarian recommended this because socializing Sam would cause him to have stress and our veterinarian thought the stress might make him sick.  But that changed when I took a friends FIV cat as a last resort.

Know that prior to rescuing Sam he was accustomed to being with other cats, he was outdoors and did hang out with my neighbors cats,  So  there was no problem with him getting along with cats.  We just did not want  him to have any stress.

So Sam has lived on one side of the house away from my other cats.  There is a door that separates them and an inch opening at the bottom of the door and this door allows the cats to touch each other with their paws.  None of them have played roughly and I  wondered if socializing would be that big of a deal.

Sam is a good cat, an affectionate cat but I suspect that he longs for another cats company.  My thought is that two FIV cats would be better than one because they could sleep together, play and groom each other.  Recently my friend surrendered her FIV cat to me and I decided to try and socialize Sam with this new little FIV young adult cat.

The socializing consisting of the cats getting used to each other scent but they were separated by a closed door.  The NEW cat played paws with Sam from under the door and all was well.  Sam was meowing and seemed very happy.  I allowed the two cats a few more days of getting to know each other from a distance before I opened the door to Sams side of the house.

The introduction was supervised and Sam was calm with the new cat.  There was no hissing, however at one point Sam did go into the closet and leaped to a lower shelf.  The young FIV cat meowed for him to come down and play with her, but Sam ignored her.  

It did not take long for the cats to get accustomed to each other.  In an hours time they were eating out of the same bowl.  Both my husband and I agree that two FIV cats are better than one, because now Sam has more energy, he is very happy.  

The young adult female cat climbs all over him and he does not mind.  I suspect they will be best friends for the rest of their lives.

FIV Cats are Good Company

It is really hot outdoors today, the heat index is at 110 Fahrenheit so my FIV cat Sam and I are lying on the sofa watching movies together. I enjoy hanging out with my FIV cat because he is funny to watch and always makes me smile.

Last week we bought a Lazy Boy small sofa/bed for the guest bedroom and installed a TV on the wall. This room is the coolest room in the house so that is where we will be today. I am watching Sam gather his favorite toys and he is bringing them up on the sofa and setting toys by my feet. He has all the toys he needs, and time to lie down and cuddle with me on the sofa.

I mentioned that I was hanging out with my FIV cat and watching TV today to my friend and they replied “ I did not know you had a sickly cat” Overall I think people have got it all wrong idea when it comes to an FIV cat. For some reason, they all seem to think that these cats are sickly, and well that is the furthest thing from the truth.

Here is an example; I rescued Sam in 2009 and he was diagnosed with FelV and AIDs. The veterinarian advised us to put him down and I said No. Instead, I got Sam neutered brought him home, got him eating Wellness grain-free cat food, and let's see today is 7/25/15 and Sam is still around and doing fine.

Know that I had him retested by a new veterinarian who specializes in cat care. He did a blood test to find out if Sam was infected with Feline Leukemia and AIDS and the veterinarian said he tested positive for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) Sam DID NOT have FeLV. Not sure if the first test was a false positive or what, but it was very cool to learn that Sam was a carrier of the antibody but was not sickly.

Living with an FIV cat is only different when it comes to food, must feed them high-quality grain-free, soy-free, and corn-free food. Also, you cannot let them outdoors, you need to brush their teeth and keep their veterinarian appointments. But other than that FIV cats are like other normal cats.

I really wish that people would learn more about FIV cats because many times the cats live a long life without getting sick.   

Happy Birthday To Sam my FIV Positive Cat

Today marks the anniversary of the day that I rescued  Sam the  Siamese cat that was abandoned in my neighborhood in 2008.

When Sam was left behind he had become freaked out and would not let anyone get close to him.  I remember once getting a hold of him but he leaped from my arms and ran away.

Trapping him was another story, he was too smart to be trapped.  So this unaltered cat got into fights with other tomcats and finally when he was skin and bones, with fur missing I was able to rescue the cat by trapping him.

Of course, rescuing him a year after being abandoned meant that he was exposed to everything.  Sam tested positive for Feline Leukemia.  The attending veterinarian suggested euthanasia and thought I was not making a wise choice to get the cat neutered and bring him to my business office.  The veterinarian went past me and spoke to my husband, told him the life expectancy for my cat was three months tops.  Well, that was six years ago, need I say more?

Playful Sam loves to hide in Zazzle shipping boxes

Was not hard to teach Sam to retrieve a ball, Yes even a tennis ball

In six years Sam survived feline leukemia because he was rechecked twice by another veterinarian who said that he was not infected but did have feline immunodeficiency virus.  He has been sick twice, had a cold, and then got a high fever and also went into kidney failure.  He was hospitalized for ten days and presently Sam is his happy self.

My rescue cat Sam may be FIV positive but he is a survivor of six years and I am hoping we have six more years of good health and happy times.

Remodeling FIV Cat Room

I need to spend more time with the FIV cats so my husband said he would update the room so that my office opens into that area where the cats play.  This of course will allow me to spend more time with the cats and also I can close my office door at night to prevent the cats from opening my file cabinet doors or playing with my papers and pens that are on my desk.  So that is the plan for remodeling the cat room.

This is Sam my FIV cat, he is playing with the dog tennis ball

I have two  FIV cats and they are good company for each other but they cry to be with humans or they naturally want to come out and play.  They do not have whole house privileges because they like to fight and we have one other cat that is mature.   

At one time I had the cats at my business office and they did enjoy that but when there was an attempt robbery I thought it best to bring them home so I set up a cat room just for them by giving them one of the bedrooms.  

The FIV cats do like being with each other however human contact is needed and to tell you the truth I need them as much as they need me.

Took FIV Cat to Kennel When Air Conditioner Broke

Know that an FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus cat resides indoors in a home where the temperature is not too hot or too cold. Basically, if you are comfortable then the cat is also. If an FIV cat gets too hot and starts to pant or lick their fur to cool down then this puts the cat in a stressful state and can be harmful due to the weakened immune system, the same for a very cold house, the cold temperature would make the FIV cat suffer from stress.

My FIV cat named Sam resting on the chair.  He is one COOL cat.

If your air conditioner breaks and you have an FIV cat then allow the cat access to a ceramic tile floor or to your bathroom. The bathtub is a cool surface and will help them to feel cooler. Also, install ceiling fans to circulate the air.

Know if your house gets too hot then put your cat in a carrier and take it to the veterinarian for daycare until your air conditioner is fixed or buy a window unit air conditioner to keep your home comfortable. A home that is too hot is not good for humans or FIV cats.

When my air conditioner broke two weeks ago the house got extremely hot and due to my cat's age and health history, I took him to the veterinarian for three days of kenneling. My house temperature reached 88 degrees and that was too hot for my cat with a weakened immune system.

My husband shopped at Walmart.com and ordered a window air conditioner and was able to pick it up at our local store. Once the window unit was installed we could then bring our cat Sam home from the kennel.

Prayers Answered: Cat No Longer in Kidney Failure

In January I published a post letting all of my followers know that my cat Sam was diagnosed with kidney failure.  My veterinarian told me that he suspected it was the nature of the FIV virus and that it had progressed.  Sam had stopped eating,  had a fever, and was in the animal hospital for two weeks. During this time I went to see him daily to hold, pet, talk and kiss his furry head.  I loved my cat Sam and hoped and prayed that he would overcome this illness.  

Sam when he first got sick

After two weeks of medical care, Sam was released to come home and aftercare was to feed him food formulated for cats with kidney failure.  Well, Sam hated the food and continued to lose weight.  The veterinarian said "what does he like" I replied "Friskies special diet turkey and giblets.  The veterinarian said okay to feed him this canned cat food because Sam had to eat.

After several weeks of a poor diet, Sam got his way and got his food back.  He loved it, put on weight, regained his strength, and was back to his old self within 10 days. 

Know that in March Sam had his wellness checkup and his blood was drawn to check his white count and kidney. My prayers had been answered because his blood was fine, and the kidneys were working as they should.  No kidney failure was noted.  I am not sure if this FIV cat is exercising his nine lives, or if God said it is not your time.  All I know is Sam is back and he is his ole self.

Update on FIV Rescued Kittens

Last May we rescued a litter of kittens that could hardly walk and one of the kitten's eyes was barely open. We found the kittens in a sack on the side of the road.  At first, we thought it was trash, and then saw movement, followed by a tiny kitten's head. 

 My husband and I rushed them home to hydrate and nourish them. We kept them safe, and warm and fed them for the next four critical weeks. During this time husband and I did not sleep.

Four of the Five kittens drinking KMR replacement milk

All of the kittens survived however they were very small.  When they were three months old the boys grew overnight but two little girl kittens were still small and seemed to have less energy; they slept more than the other kittens.

The small kittens needed some help getting food out of the bowl so we made up their own bowl and fed them away from the boys. Even with feeding them separately, they did not put on weight. My husband and I thought that perhaps we got a mixed litter (different queen cats).

8-week old kitten is smaller than the littermates

All of the kittens were tested for feline leukemia and AIDS. The small kittens came back positive for feline immunodeficiency virus FIV which means their mom was infected and passed it on to them. It also confirms that we found two litters of kittens. 

“ On rare occasions, infection is transmitted from an infected mother cat to her kittens, usually during passage through the birth canal or when the newborn kittens ingest infected milk.” http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/brochure_fiv.cfm

We did separate the FIV kittens from the boys because the boys were typical boys and were playing roughly with the girls. They did not allow them to sleep, pushed them out of the food bowl, and wanted to play hard. 

The boy kittens were gigantic at three months and the girls were very small.  The boy kittens were adopted but the girl kittens were passed by, everyone was fearful of an FIV kitten and said it would be too hard to love them, when their life may be shortened due to illness. 

We kept the girls and they have put on some weight and are growing slowly. Here is a photo of Sally our calico FIV kitten she is 8 months old in this photo. you can see that she is small and kitten like for her age, she looks like 12 weeks old. 

 

FIV kitten at age 8 months is small but healthy

Update: The FIV kittens are doing great, putting on weight and both have a shiny coat. They play with each other and with the family dog. Are normal as they can be. They are still small and sleep more than normal cats but that is okay with us.

Read the First post on this topic here

Health of FIV Cat Improves After 10 Days in Hospital

In December my FIV cat named Sam, woke up one day and was sick. He had a high fever and would not eat. We rushed him to the veterinarian, and they put him in the hospital for ten days.  Sam was given intravenous fluids, a shot of B12, antibiotics, and appetite-inducing medication. Sam was very ill and at the time the veterinarian did not know if it was due to FIV or something else.

We were told that Sam had renal failure and that his teeth needed to be removed due to feline stomatits but due to his infection he could not have his teeth removed because he lost too much weight.

View this youtube.com video to learn more about feline stomatits.  We were told that this condition is common with cats that has FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus.

After 10 days of hospital care, Sam came home and he was put on a renal diet. Sam who loves to eat food, hated the new diet and refused to eat it. We tried 3 different varieties of foods and each one was not suitable for my junk food cat. 

 He liked Blue Buffalo Healthy Living Chicken and Brown Rice cat food mixed with Purina Friskies Senior Diet Salmon Dinner in sauce pate canned cat food. This food combination made my cat Sam sing.

So when I had to take away his favorite food for a plant-based diet LP by Royal Canin with very low protein my kitty was not happy. 

 Sam would not eat and was losing weight. He could not have surgery to remove the teeth that were causing him to have pain. The veterinarian wanted Sam overweight because the aftercare of this particular surgery meant a feeding tube.

While my veterinarian was researching for another food for Sam to try his blood work came back and it showed that his kidneys returned to normal function.

I am not sure why or how this occurred but know we are all very happy and Sam is ecstatic because he can go back to eating and loving his favorite foods.

Presently Sam is putting on weight and next week I will take him in for a veterinarian checkup to see if we can schedule him for surgery.

Veterinarian Checkup for Sam my FIV Cat

It has been 45 days since my FIV cat was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on a special prescription k/d food diet.  We were told that Sam could no longer eat animal protein because it was hard on his kidneys.  We had to feed him food that was formulated for renal health only.

We bought the Hills Prescription Diet k/d canned food and the dry kibble then mixed the two together and put them in his food bowl.  Sam played with the food but would not eat it.  

So I removed that food from the bowl and replaced it with k/d canned food only.  Mr busy cat went into the kitchen got a towel and put the towel on top of his food bowl.  I guess he hated it so much that he did not want to look at it. (lol)

Sam eats dry k/d food from the bowl

My cat has got to eat, I removed the canned food, washed his bowl, and poured Sam a bowl of the dry k/d special kidney diet food.  Sam grazed his food bowl and ate a few pieces of food.  Then he took every piece of food out of the bowl and put the kibble on the carpet.     

Our veterinarian suggested that we try Prescription renal LP by Royal Canin and again Sam did not eat the food. He grazed his bowl when absolutely necessary but other than that would not eat the special diet food.

The one thing that the veterinarian told us is that Sam could not lose weight. When he was checked it was noted that he lost 1 pound. The attending veterinarian said that his weight loss may be due to the FIV condition and I disagreed, I know it is because our cat does not like food that is made with no animal protein. Cats are carnivores, not vegetarians.

The veterinarian said that Sam cannot lose any more weight, so now they have ordered a new prescription for feline renal health food for Sam. We hope that this new food tastes better because I am sure that this is why our cat is not eating.

Sam is a junk food kitty eating Purina Friskies Salmon Pate for Senior cats mixed with Blue Buffalo spa selects and loved this food combination before he became sick and now he hates his kidney diet food.  

Hoping that this next prescription food will be one that Sam likes.   

My Cat Sam is Losing Weight

Forty-five days ago my cat Sam was rushed to the veterinarian because he had a fever and stopped eating. These two symptoms are cause for alarm when your cat has feline immunodeficiency virus. My cat was admitted to the animal hospital and stayed there for ten days. That is when we learned that his kidneys were not normal and that he had chronic kidney disease, his teeth needed to be removed, and that he was losing weight.  Pounds were lost while at the veterinarian hospital.

Sam hiding in the water container.

 Sam was losing weight; was a warning flag for cancer. 

Sam had an ultrasound and the results were negative, of course, this ultrasound could not see inside his internal organs and we have no idea if he has kidney cancer or what.

So we bring Sam home and he has to eat special cat food; Royal Canin veterinary diet Renal LP in gravy canned food for chronic kidney disease or renal failure.

The food gives him more energy but also reduces his food intake, plus Sam hates canned food.  He is a kibble junkie cat, and I guess he does not like the taste, eats only when he has to and I can tell he does not like it because he growls at his food bowl.

Yes, my cat hates his kidney diet food.  He eats when is starving and seldom licks the plate clean. I think this is why he has lost more weight.

The veterinarian says the weight loss is not due to the lack of kibble food but thinks it is due to some underlining medical condition.  I am a worried cat mom. 

We go back to the veterinarian on Tuesday for a checkup.