Well the results are in (drumroll) - Tobias has FIV 😢
To be honest, not a total surprise to me considering he spent 2 years on the streets, and came to me with tastefully fringed ears (little nicks all round them). But at least he came back clear for FELV, and doesn't currently have a gastro infection.
Short term steps are a) get Girlcat screened, as they live together, and b) get his GI tract scanned by ultrasound with possible biopsy depending on what they see on the scan. I'll need to decide whether to have that done locally & decide after those results what to do, or send him straight to the RVL at Potters Bar where they have the latest & best of everything.
Obviously I'd prefer the latter but there are 2 factors to consider. Firstly is money - only have £4k per year insurance and we've spend a good grand at least of that, and RVL could cost between £2-4k going by a recent quote my vets had for FIV cat - I am broke living from pay day to pay day. Second factor is if I send him to Potters Bar they would likely keep him in for a few days, and bearing in mind his only symptom is a bit of a runny tummy would it be worth the tremendous stress it would cause him - he gets upset enough just going to the vets for a couple of hours, plus Girlcat would be very unhappy.
So the jury is out deliberating on which way to go with that.
Long term the biggest normal change for cats is that they need to be kept in, and of course mine are anyway so much lower chances of him catching anything. He has decent quality food, doesn't have raw anything (which is contra- indicated). I watch them both carefully for any changes anyway. I suppose medium term the biggest change will be 6 monthly check ups instead of yearly, possibly more detailed than before.