more on FIV+ cats

**a post from the mom

A woman walked into the rescue a few weeks ago and asked about our policy on adopting FIV+ cats. I replied that we do a standard adoption but no real restrictions once she was approved. Then I asked why the question. It seems that the local humane society has recently started adopting FIV+ (this is a policy change for them) but will only adopt to single cat homes and if you adopt an FIV+ cat from them, you cannot adopt another cat again for the lifetime of the first cat.

EXCUSE ME??

While I appreciate the change in policy, could they be any more ignorant?? (ok - I'm sure they could, but still...if they are going to make a policy change, the least they could do is give out correct information)

I've posted about this before... I've gotten mad at bad tv information, I played 20 questions with a vet and vet tech. I have an entire page devoted to information about FIV and FeLV. I fostered an adult FIV+ boy along with a kitten (who did later test negative).

Soda and Annatto

What amazes me is the amount of BAD information still floating around out there. We have taken kittens from vet offices to save their lives after an FIV+ test. I have taken to telling our FIV adopters that if they get any fishy advice from their vet, FIND A NEW VET. Just this past Wednesday, I had to assure a potential adopter that you can have positive and negative cats living together.

I was interested upon touring Treehouse Humane Society in Chicago (I visited while there for Meow Meetup) that they keep small colonies of cats per room and mix positive cats with negative cats. They have an info sheet about each cat in a book and while it is mentioned on the info sheet, they don't make a big deal about it.

I also discovered (and am not sure why it took me this long to realize it) but the FIV vaccine is no longer made as of 2017. (Turns out the article got the date wrong. The manufacturer stopped making it in 2016) I have never been a fan of this vaccine and have told people that over and over. Considering how FIV is spread and the risk for shot site sarcomas, it isn't worth the risk in my opinion (and I'm not a vet nor do I play one on the internet). The thing that has always bothered me more than anything about the vaccine was this one fact: if the cat is vaccinated, the FIV test will come back showing positive.

Read that again and think about it.... The test will come back positive simply if the cat is vaccinated.

Scary right? If you had a vaccinated cat that got out with no identification (and this is a good place to remind you to microchip your pets and keep the information current), and that cat was picked up by the average animal control officer, they would test for FIV and more than likely euthanize the cat based on a positive test result.

Which takes us back where we started long ago:
  1. FIV negative and positive cats CAN live together (so long as the positive cat isn't agressive)
  2. FIV will not shorten the life of your cat - they live the same average life span as a typical cat
  3. FIV can and should see the vet a little more often - they can have dental issues
  4. FIV is exclusive to cat - people, dogs, whatever, can't catch it
  5. FIV is NOT feline aids. Stop telling people that and freaking them out.

Tell me your stories... Does your local rescue adopt out FIV cats? Do you have one yourself? Have you gotten bad advice? Anything else you would like me to talk about??

vet report

Chanel was due for her annual check up and rabies vaccine. Our vet doesn't like to do both at the same time, so we will stop back in about 3 weeks to get her FVRCP.

She had a few complaints in the car, but that is mom's fault for not doing any outings recently. But Chanel was as good as normal in the car and at the vet. Mom lets her out right away in the exam room as Chanel likes to wander around and check out the place.

She currently weighs 9 pounds 14 ounces (yikes - almost 10 pounds). Mom asked though and the vet says Chanel is in good body condition and her weight is fine. Chanel does have some gingivitis...which didn't surprise mom since Chanel's sister Cupcake just had a dental cleaning due to the same thing. So at some point this fall (hopefully), both Chanel and Daiquiri will need to get a dental cleaning. Otherwise, Chanel was well behaved and got a good report. It is always interesting to see her in a different environment. The vet did give her a treat on the mat on the table and Chanel completely missed it, so the vet took a look "deep into her eyes". MOL Dr F said everything looks good, so it may just be Chanel missed it or could be attributable to her fever as a kitten. Once again - just adds to her charm.

In other news, Goldfish needed to be tested and Annatto needed to be retested. Goldfish had previously given the rescue vet a run for her money, so mom asked if our favorite vet tech A would help out. Mom jokingly calls A the "Queen of the Tiny Vein". A agreed so the kittens went with mom and Chanel and mom took tests from the rescue. Well A and mom are used to the other variety of tests so they had a few minutes trying to figure out how the test worked. Once they got that down, blood was drawn and the tests had to sit for 10 minutes. Annatto was charming and Goldfish squirmed some but didn't put up too much of a fuss.

10 minutes later....both kittens are officially FIV and FeLV negative. If you have been following along, we had been told by the person who surrendered Annatto that he had tested positive for FIV. The nice part about kittens is that they can convert the serotype of the virus - or as we say in rescue, they can throw it. He has and while he would have been adoptable as an FIV+ kitten, he will be that much more adoptable now. Both kittens are scheduled for spay/neuter on Friday.

kitten raiser

Tim was our kitten raiser from the time we took in a litter of feral kittens - one of whom was VERY sure that she hated mom VERY much. After some research, mom found an article from Alley Cat Allies about using an older neutered male cat to socialize kittens. Despite some doubts, it worked. Tim became christened "Uncle" Tim and helped raise many kittens until he passed away in March 2016.

Since that time, we have been without a kitten raiser. Tommy and Mozart were not interested in kittens at all. None of the girls care much either. Mom had some hopes pinned on Chanel, but she has been in to visit kittens since she joined us, but has never expressed any interest in them.

Well, with Annatto currently on premises and no other kittens currently available to keep him company (there are kittens at the rescue but mom won't take sick ones right now to put in with him), mom decided it was time to start actually looking. She has been thinking about it for a while and had been looking for a good candidate at the rescue, but hadn't made the jump to actually bringing any cat to the house.

Until Saturday.....

Yes ladies - there is a cat in that carrier.

Meet Soda

About 2 years old and FIV+

(and about 15 pounds of lovey mancat)

 

There were a few deciding factors:
1. Annatto HATES being by himself. Due to his size, mom doesn't want him running loose around the house. Due to his FIV+ status, mom didn't want to bring home sick kittens and expose him to anything either.

2. Mom has posted before about advocating for FIV+ cats. She knew it was probably time to put up or shut up, so our new candidate would be out of the FIV room at the rescue.

3. As mom started talking about this, a couple of different volunteers suggested Soda. One even showed mom pictures of him grooming a younger cat in the FIV room.

4. Mom was going to be home all weekend to supervise.

Mom got permission and cat-napped Soda on Saturday morning. He went right in to the carrier and didn't make a sound on the way home or even when the girls were sniffing him in the carrier. He came right out and checked out the foster room. Annatto isn't sure what to think about him, but Soda has been very patient with the kitten currently nicknamed "Catzilla". MOL There was some whapping on Monday night, but Annatto had jumped on Soda's tail for about the 4th time before Soda decided to put Annatto in his place.

Soda hasn't met everyone else here yet and if he stays that probably won't happen for a couple of weeks. Mom suspects it should go pretty smoothly. Though she did get a laugh when late Sunday night Daiquiri was over by the doors to the foster room and hissed....not sure why it took her about 36 hours to realize that mancat was in there.

No definitive decision yet, but he seems to be aceing the interview process so far. 

Adopt a Cat Month

June is officially adopt a cat month (though we think if you plan to adopt, it doesn't matter what month it says on the calendar). However, it does give shelters and rescues a chance to get the word out about great cats that need a home. It also comes right when most shelters are in the middle of kitten season....and adults very often get over looked due to overwhelming baby cuteness.

Our rescue is also very lucky in that people volunteered their time to put together a special room for our FIV positive cats. (we blogged about the room here) A lot of shelters don't even adopt out FIV+ cats. Fortunately with the room right next to our adoption center, people are able to see the cats and it has led to lots of great adoptions since the room has opened.

This is Stanley - he is a 6 year old brown tabby boy found out on the streets. As you can see from his ear tip, he was living with a feral colony but was determined to be friendly and is now looking for his own home.

                                           

 This is Soda -  he is a handsome adult boy found in some bushes. He is very friendly and mom has to admit she has a little crush on him.

There are some people who still believe FIV+ cats cannot live with other cats. This is not the case...UNLESS your FIV+ cat is aggressive and a biter. Otherwise they can live in harmony with other cats. Just introduce them slowly - like you would any other cat.

 We hope that you will go out and see what great cats are available in your area if you are in the market to adopt. If not, share your cat stories with friends and family and see if you can convince them to adopt.

let's talk about FIV (again)

*a post by the mom

A woman posted in a closed cat group on facebook that she and a friend had found some kittens in a barn. The friend took them as fosters and when they were big enough took them to a vet to be tested and neutered. The test came back positive for FIV and the vet put them all down (I refuse to call that euthanasia - which translates to "good death" when there is nothing good about it). The woman posted about this and said she wanted to be mad at the vet. We all agreed that she was right - be mad at the vet.

It did get me thinking though....how is it with all the information out there that vets are still doing this? I quizzed a registered vet tech friend and Julie from Sometimes Cats Herd You asked her vet the same questions. My friend Andrea graduated in 1998 and the vet around 2010.

1. How did they cover FIV in school?
        A: I graduated tech school in 1998 so it was still a taboo disease then. Basically they told us that if a cat had FIV he should be kept as any only cat or only with other FIV+ cats. It was acceptable practice,  almost expected, to euthanize positive cats. They also made it sound like they would develop all kinds of illness and disease and never be normal.

      V: When Julie asked about how they cover FIV in vet school, she (the vet) said "they don't, really".

2. Have attitudes changed since you graduated?
     A: Attitudes have definitely changed. I would like believe the vast majority of vets and shelter/rescue personnel have come to the realization that as FIV+ positive cats can live harmoniously with FIV- cats. The only true concern would be if the positive cat would be they type inclined to truly bite another cat, whether it be during play or if they were fighting among themselves in the home. Unfortunately I know that there are still uneducated vets out there who recommend euthanasia.

     V: She says that attitudes have definitely changed since she was in vet school, and that it seems to her that a lot of vets know that FIV+ cats are OK living in homes where they're able to get vet care promptly if they catch anything. She also said one of her cats is FIV+ and lives with her other cats just fine. She actually came back in the room afterward with another thought that a lot of vets choose not to test for FIV any more. 

3. What is you office policy for a healthy FIV cat if someone came in and asked for euthansia?
    A: Whole Pet Wellness Center would not euthanize an otherwise healthy FIV+ cat. We have a veterinary assistant who runs a small rescue and if she had space for an adult cat at the time we could see about placing the cat with them. More than likely we would just educate the owner and hopefully they would keep the cat themselves. We do not perform convenience euthanasia for any reason. 

    V: If someone brought an otherwise FIV+ cat in to be euthanized, she said that's too broad a question to have a policy. She reiterated that cats can live in homes and with other cats and have long, quality lives. She also reiterated what she said before that she considers herd immunity with ferals, especially with males likely to fight and spread the disease further in a colony. So that's really a case-by-case thing, but of course they don't like to euthanize healthy cats if it's avoidable. 

4. What about continuing education?
   A: Honestly, I haven't seen any CE on FIV ever. I haven't specifically been looking, but I usually read through the MWVC schedule pretty thoroughly every year. That's a sad realization. 

    V:  She said that the problem with continuing education is that there's relatively little new information about FIV. Not enough for a 50 minute lecture, "And CE is expensive. We want to come out of a CE session with something we can use."


I also asked Andrea about false positives when testing. She wasn't sure and then an article popped up in her facebook feed that you can check out from dvm 360. Julie's vet said the snap test can have false positives and "when in doubt, retest".

What I find interesting is that both the vet and Andrea have FIV+ cats. (Andrea's cat Badger is on facebook)

What I personally find so frustrating is that with ALL the information out there, vets and the public still have this overwhelmingly negative view of FIV. I guess the best I can do is keep writing and asking you to share and keep talking about it. 

Random Fridays

We are back on kitten watch.

Roadrunner was adopted over the weekend!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And...mom spoke to one of the clerks at the store who said that Liberty and Freedom's dad was in buying something again and showed her a video of the girls playing - out in the living room of the house!! Mom did the happy dance right there....

~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is supposed to be nice here this weekend, so mom plans to do some cleaning and other stuff. We plan to make sure the windows are at least open a little bit and we get in some window whiffing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh - and we have to show this cute video. Norman is available for adoption and is currently in the partner store where mom cleans. He was found as a stray (hence the ear tip) along with another boy named Cliff (2 points if you get the reference) and the rescue is presuming they are brothers since they look very alike. However, Cliff tested FIV+ (see yesterday's rant) so he is now is the FIV room with the rescue. That being said, if people look at Norman, we are MORE than happy to tell them he has a brother looking for a home as well. (Cliff isn't in the store as two big boys in that cage would be tight quarters and we keep our FIV cats in their own space to reduce their stress).

FIV cats

**another rant from the mom

I've been watching Dr. Jeff on Animal Planet. I love that he works to make sure all pets get care and makes it affordable. I love that no pet leaves the clinic without being spayed or neutered.

The episode last week showed him helping a client with cats in her backyard and doing TNR. WOOHOO!! I got excited....

Then I got annoyed. One of the cats was friendly so they tested him and it came back positive for FIV (see more info here from Best Friends about FIV). There was a conversation about finding him a home or euthanizing him due to his FIV status.

I yelled at the TV that I would STOP WATCHING if they killed that cat. They decided to find him a home. OK....

Then Dr Jeff gets on and continues to refer to FIV as "feline aids" (which does these cats a serious disservice as people freak out when they hear the word "aids") and says the cat would have to live alone or in a house with other FIV+ cats.

OMG - you idiot!!! Unless the cat is aggressive and bites, studies have shown these FIV+ cats CAN live very well with other cats. He had a great platform and opportunity to spread positive information and SCREWED IT UP!!

Our friend JaneA Kelly wrote an article for Catster on this very thing. I love her opening lines:
"Today in News of the Obvious: FIV-positive cats can live with uninfected fellow felines and not transmit the virus. A veterinary study concludes this. Finally."

In July of last year, I wrote about the new FIV room our rescue put into our adoption center. We have done several adoptions from there since it opened. We always tell people to do introductions slowly but that these cats can live long healthy lives with other cats.

For Dr Suess Day this year I wrote about some of the cats in our FIV room.

Kevin Kyle was adopted shortly after that post was written

I guess what I am saying is this: for those on TV or social media or blogging or whatever....you have a responsibility to do the homework and GET IT RIGHT! Regardless of whether you want them to or not, people are listening and will take you at your word.

Dr Jeff - I will keep watching, but I am disappointed. And I'm tempted to print those articles and mail them to you.

Dr Suess Day

Can't tell by looking
These cats are extra special
And need no extra care
FIV+ cats need homes and love too

 

Rex

he is about 2 years old - and check out those front feet

Stanley is the new guy

he is super sweet

 

Kevin Kyle

he is about 4 years old and very insistent on getting attention

Since Colony Cats opened it's FIV+ room for cats last fall, there have been 5 adoptions!! To encourage people to adopt, their adoption fee is $25 - such a deal. Fortunately more and more people are realizing that FIV is not a death sentence and these cats (unless they are aggressive toward other cats) can live with negative cats.

For more facts, check out this article on FIV in cats from Best Friends and an article on Catster.com from our friend JaneA Kelley of Paws and Effects.



**disclaimer, we take NO claim of mom being a poet - we told her to leave the rhyming to Dr Suess but no....she had to give it a try. Our apologies

Blog the Change - FIV

Today is a day that pet bloggers join together to bring awareness to causes near and dear to them in the hopes of bringing about change in our world.

FIV in cats can get a bad rap. It is a virus that essentially weakens a cat's immune system. Rescuers tend to refer to it as the "tomcat" disease and it tends to be most commonly spread through deep bite wounds - which tends to happen when unneutered males tomcats are fighting over girl cats and/or territory. That being said, it can also be transmitted from mom cats to their kittens. However, kittens can "throw" the disease - meaning their systems fight it off - and can and should be retested to make sure their tests don't change.

Our rescue, Colony Cats does take in FIV+ cats (FeLV cats too) and tries to find them homes. Due to public misconceptions, these cats tend to be harder to get adopted than they should be. Studies have shown that so long as the cats in a home get along peacefully, FIV+ cats can live in homes with other cats and there are no transmission issues.

In an effort to get more of these cats adopted, a decision was made to turn part of the intake portion of the storefront that the rescue rents into a small room for FIV cats.

Wait....we know what you are thinking....if they can live with other cats, why have their own room?? Well, due to having immunity issues from the FIV, the rescue decided to have them in a separate space to limit their exposure to kitty colds or whatever that tend to appear in general shelter cat populations. The separate room isn't to protect the other cats from FIV, it is to protect the FIV cats from common diseases that can take longer for them to recover.

We got lucky - a local construction crew took a Saturday and donated their time to get the room built out, the walls up, and windows and door installed .

Once completed, it will have spaces to hang out and a board on the wall with names and descriptions of the cats. Last we heard, they were hoping to open the room by the end of July. We certainly hope it will go a long way toward dispelling some of the myths about these cats and helping them find loving homes. Mom says, cats get adopted faster when they are seen in person.

Additional reading:
Catster article by JaneA Kelley
Best Friends information sheet

Blog the Change and Opt to Adopt

Every three months, BlogPaws sponsors Be the Change for Pets. Bloggers pick a topic and talk about how they want to make a change, something they believe in or a way they are making a change.

according to Merriam-Webster -
   hysteria:
         a state in which your emotions (such as fear) are so strong that you behave in an uncontrolled way

         a situation in which many people behave or react in an extreme or uncontrolled way because of fear, anger, etc.

   educate: 
         to give (someone) information about something : to train (someone) to do something

We want to talk about FIV. For some reason you mention a positive test and people lose their minds. Which is where education comes into play. The more you know, the less scary something can be when you discover it.

Meet River Diva:

She was found dumped at a local river spot and when tested came up positive for FIV. Unfortunately, in the majority of shelters across this US, this would have been an automatic death sentence. She got lucky that she was picked up by our rescue that is no-kill and will give her a chance to find a home. She is about 2 years old and super sweet - she sleeps on her foster mom's pillow at night. And she lives in a foster home with other cats.

What kind of a home? Someone who loves her. That is all it takes.

~~~~~~~~~
According to Crash's Landing in Grand Rapids MI (a rescue that takes FIV and FeLV cats):
FIV transmission

FIV is difficult to transmit, the main route is via a bite where the virus is actually injected into the bloodstream

There is often confusion between FIV and FeLV, this is particularly the case regarding the transmission of the virus.

The FIV virus is present in the saliva, and for transmission to another cat to take place, the live virus has to enter the bloodstream of the recipient cat.

There are two main reasons why FIV isn't transmitted via shared bowls or mutual grooming as is sometimes wrongly suggested:

Firstly the virus is very fragile, and does not live for long once outside the body - it is destroyed by drying, light, heat and basic detergents - normally the virus will be long-dead before any surfaces come to be cleaned, it is the initial drying that sees off the vast majority of the virus, and this will normally happen in seconds.

This is why the route of transmission is primarily via a bite, where the still wet saliva containing the live virus is effectively injected through the skin directly into contact with the blood of the recipient cat.

The second reason is that the mucous membrane is a fairly effective barrier to the virus, so even if some virus does enter the cat's mouth, it is very unlikely to cross the mucous membrane, so will likely die within the stomach. It has been suggested that, for the virus to actually infect a cat when taken in through the mouth, there would need to be ten thousand times as much virus present for it to achieve a cross infection.

Interestingly, this is confirmed by the fact that kittens born to an FIV+ mother are rarely infected with the virus - although the kittens are not infected directly in the womb, as the placenta will protect them, the virus is present in the mother's milk, so all kittens will have prolonged exposure to the live virus in their digestive systems, yet it is very uncommon for the kitten to actually become infected - this is testiment to how effective the mucous membrane must be in preventing transmission.

It is for these reasons that the often-prescribed "keep separate from other cats" is NOT valid. FIV cats can live communally with non-FIV cats with very little risk of the virus being transmitted between them - unless the cat is a fighter and gives another cat a serious bite, which is rare with properly introduced household cats. The vast majority of cats, once neutered, will not bite other cats they live with - they may play and scrap, but this rarely leads to the serious bite required to inject the virus. There are numerous examples of households with large numbers of cats living together with FIV-positive cats without the virus being transmitted. A slow and careful introduction is required when bringing any new cat into an existing household, especially so with an FIV cat.
~~~~~~~~

So, River Diva needs a home. With someone who is willing to care for her like every other cat deserves to be cared for: a safe home, good food, regular vet care. She doesn't need to be locked away from other cats. She just needs to be loved.

Spread the word - the more people that understand that this IS NOT and SHOULD NOT be a death sentence the better.

For other resources, check out these articles:
   Best Friends FAQ about FIV
   Shadows Cats FIV article

FIV+

Are we still talking about this mom???

mom: yep - until people realize that FIV is NOT a death sentence and that they can live with other cats (so long as the FIV cat isn't a biter)

OK - so who do we have???

  This is Otto who is available through Colony Cats.

"This big boy was brought to a vet hospital after a client of the hospital saw him being thrown from a car. He was kept overnight to make sure he did not have injuries. Now neutered with sparkling teeth (he has had a dental cleaning) he is looking for a home of his own. Sadly he has tested positive for FIV. FIV positive cats can live happy and healthy long lives in a home enviroment. The staff at the hospital say he is the nicest cat that they ever had at the clinic. He loves to be handled and enjoys children."

(and mom thinks looking at his Petfinder page that he may be living with Miss Beckie)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tails from the Foster Kittens has a new feature......they are interviewing fosterer(erers....) about their experiences. And us and mom got to be first!!! Go check it out......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh hey - and Miney that we featured yesterday was picked by the rescue to be THEIR pick of the day too (nope - that was totally unplanned - we swear) and that makes her adoption fee $10. Know anyone looking for a cute deaf house panther in O-hi-O??   MOL