FIV cat - any general tips/experiences

[TheyAllCatJustTheSame]

My parents have just adopted a lovely FIV cat. We are all experienced cat owners, but none of us has experience of FIV. He's in great health at the moment, and I'm just looking for tips from experienced owners to help him stay that way, that I can pass on to my mum (my parents are elderly and don't use the internet). Unfortunately I don't have a picture to share as I haven't met him yet and my parents still use cameras that require films! Any advice gratefully received .

I had one that was diagnosed as a kitten - he did tend towards being "loose" in his litter tray - but that might have been due to his general poor start in life. He never needed any other medication or special treatment. He was 10 when he finally died, PTS after an accident so unrelated to the FIV.

Thank you for your reply, catsrus. It's reassuring to hear your cat lived a normal, happy life. I think some cats are 'looser' in the tray than others - I have a girl and a boy on exactly the same diet and the boy has always been looser. My mum's new boy hasn't used his tray yet - it took my boy about 3 days to use his when I brought him home!

I've had dozens of FIV positive cats over the years (not an exaggeration - I'm with a rescue and have over 20 cats at any one time - the majority of the males, as they have been rescued as entire adults, have been FIV positive). I tend to forget about it really. It doesn't seem to make any obvious difference and the vast, vast majority have had normal life spans and ended up dying of something totally non FIV related - normally cancer/heart/liver/kidneys - aka the normal diseases of old age.

Occasionally they can have an infection that seems a bit more stubborn than normal, which could be linked to the FIV but equally might not be, but nothing that has caused any particular problems.

Ah, that's very reassuring, thank you. My parents' boy was rescued as a stray so doubtless picked up FIV on the streets. He's incredibly affectionate and gentle so must have been loved at some time in the past to have that degree of trust in humans - he's now going to be totally indulged in his new home, of course.

We lost our boy to FIV last year at the age of 10. We had no clue he had it until the end - and that was after months of going backwards and forwards to the vet for tests and being told it was stress, as everything was coming back clear. He was the most laid back lump of a cat and I was convinced the vet thought I had Munchausen by proxy!

We got him when he was a kitten and he was neutered at about 5 mths but despite this, he was always a bit of a scrapper so at some point he's picked a fight with the wrong cat.

So they can live normal lives. He was perfectly healthy up until the point he wasn't. But I'd always be aware of any changes to behaviour - by the time he was diagnosed, I think it was affecting his brain.

One of my biggest regrets is not knowing sooner so we could make the decision to PTS, as I think he was probably suffering at the end before we had the diagnosis.

Our beautiful boy had FIV we adopted him around the age of 2/3 ish (they weren’t sure) and he died last year aged 9/10. Absolutely no issues at all until he got poorly at the end and that wasn’t necessarily a FIV thing he just stopped eating and got a rip roaring infection (possibly the latter before the former) and he was PTS. He was the best of all the cats ever and I will love him forever.
i Hope your parents have amazing years with their feline overlord

Thank you for telling me about your lovely cats - what a handsome boy Saggy! It's great to hear they all enjoyed normal lives until the end.

I spoke to my mum earlier and new boy is eating heartily and has been thoroughly exploring the house today; he's also done two poos so he must be feeling comfortable in his new surroundings. At the time of speaking he'd gone to cuddle up with my dad.