FIV positive kitten & cat vets near Aiken SC?

[Boomer]

A few months ago, a kitten found me. She was about 8 weeks old and was living in the culvert - she ran to me like she’d been waiting all day for me. Apparently I have a “crazy cat lady lives here” sign attached to me somewhere as I have 4 other cats that adopted me over the last few years. Thankfully my other cats get along with the FIV kitten.

Anyway, she tested FIV positive at 8-ish weeks old, but was otherwise healthy. Now she is 5.5 months old and still tests positive on the “snap” test. She doesn’t act sick at all but her white blood count was too low to get her spayed. So we’re doing a course of antibiotics.

I have a few questions:

1. does anyone have experience with FIV positive kitties that they have been unable to get spayed/neutered?

2. Anything special (foods, supplements) that you give your FIV kitty?

3. I’m moving to Aiken, SC - are there any cat-only (or awesome dog/cat vets) in or near Aiken?

Thanks!!

[jen-s]

I work with a rescue that has a number of FIV+ kitties. They can lead wonderful, healthy, happy lives. Bless you for keeping her. I’ll be jingling that she gets stronger asap

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=jen-s;7872224]
I work with a rescue that has a number of FIV+ kitties. They can lead wonderful, healthy, happy lives. Bless you for keeping her. I’ll be jingling that she gets stronger asap[/QUOTE]

Jen-s, thanks for the jingles! I hope she gets stronger again so she can get fixed. I really dread having an un-fixed cat in the house. My other 4 are fixed and all inside kitties. She’s a great little cat, such a bummer that she is FIV+. But that’s how it goes.

[Kachina]

Was just having the any good cat vets conversation this morning with a friend who works in rescue here. The closest board certified feline vet practices are in Atlanta and Charlotte. There is a cat specialty practice in Columbia, SC, but reviews are mixed. There is a good cat vet working in a very small practice in Irmo which is a bit of a drive. There is a large and excellent emergency clinic in Columbia to which you would need a referral. Did a very good job on a complicated surgery on one of my cats. Still researching vets in Aiken proper. It has been hit and miss to say the least, but narrowing it down. The vet at Hollow Creek practice gets great word of mouth and may give him a try soon. I’ll PM you if I am able to obtain positive first hand results. And, with a heart like yours, what a great addition to Aiken you will be!

[clint]

Personally I wish that there were no FIV test. There have been some studies concluded recently that confirm that FIV positive and negative cats can live together with no negative cats changing to positive, and as always, FIV cats can live long lives. http://www.adoptastray.ws/uploads/Articles/The%20Truth%20About%20FIV%20and%20Cats%20Handout.pdf andhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023314000847

[D_BaldStockings]

from Cornell U

"•Infected mother cats transfer FIV antibodies to nursing kittens, so kittens born to infected mothers may receive positive test results for several months after birth. However, few of these kittens actually are or will become infected.

To clarify their infection status, kittens younger than six months of age receiving positive results should be retested at 60-day intervals until they are at least six months old. "

Feed high quality COOKED not raw diet - meats and organs catfoods.

[clint]

I have had several kittens over the years test positive for FIV, and all of them have retested negative within one or two months.

[JenJ]

I have one.
Caught him with live trap, he was terribly feral. had him living in “his own room” for 6 months while trying to tame him enough to get him in a cage to go to the vet. The vet had to gas him to be able to tranq him. All was done at once… neuter, vaccinations, blood work. Not ideal, but we didn’t know if we’d successfully get him back into a cage to go back to the vet ever again.
Got the bad news of FIV. Vet said it was unethical to release him outside again, so option was keep him or euthanize him. I kept him.
It took another 6 months to fully tame him. 8 years later, he is the sweetest, friendliest cat you can imagine and perfectly healthy. He still sleeps in “his own room” overnight, now mostly bc he is used to it and likes it.
I think he knows and appreciates how lucky he is. He comes running out of his room in the morning, picks up a toy and walks around the house with it in his mouth, meowing, drops, rolls and plays for a while, then sleeps on the couch or on a bed, preferably on a human, purring his heart out for hours.

[clint]

JenJ, that is such a happy ending, it makes my day.

[JenJ]

Glad to have made someone’s day!
For months I would throw a mattress down on the ground and sleep in his room once a week so he could get used to being near a human and choose when to come check me out on his own terms. i will never forget the first time he slept by my legs on the mattress, and then one day let me pull him up closer to me and he slept in my arms.