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We do not take cats in from the
public (our mission is the trapping, sterilizing
and releasing of free-roaming cats) we can give
you information and resources to help you find a
solution.
How old is this kitty? Almost
100% of kittens that test positive for FIV are
false positives. It is merely the antibodies
they are carrying from their mom. If they still
test positive by six months, it is usually a
true exposure.
If this is a kitten, please re-test at six
months. (You can usually tell how old a kitten
is by its weight- one pound per month of age)
unless it's starving.
Many cats are vaccinated against FIV and
therefore will show positive on testing. There
are no easy markers on the vaccine to
differentiate the vaccine from the condition.
Many cats are euthanized or labeled only because
they have been vaccinated. At Shadow Cats we do
not recommend this vaccine for just this reason,
however specific situations may be warranted.
If in fact this kitty is truly positive,
it is not a huge issue. All of our FIV+ cats
live harmoniously with the non- FIV+ cats. It is
only an issue in my opinion if the cat is a
fighter and a biter. In that case they do need
to be separated.
All of our FIV+ cats and non- FIV+ cats live
together. We do not separate them. They all get
along well and have lived together for the last
seven years with no cross transmission.
With FIV you have to watch them for colds and
other health issues because they do not have the
strong immune response of other cats. Here is a
great article:
http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/petcare/cats_fiv.cfm
Shadow Cats can not take in FIV cats. We limit
our space to special needs cats - which FIV is
not- they can live a normal lifespan with TLC
and someone to watch over them.
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