FIV Testing - Yes or No.

[Minky]

We have five cats. Two were rescued from different organizations, two were rescued from an ex-neighbour who didn't bother to spay his cats, and proudly spent other neighbours' donations for the operation on beer, and one is an adopted stray kitten who we are currently trying to rehome. Our cats are indoor cats, and the stray kitten is isolated in his own room.

We recently moved, and our new vet is really pushing for FIV testing. No reason, really, he just thinks all cats should be tested. Our last vet was more holistic and never asked us to test. Or, if he did, I said not now and the issue wasn't forced. I honestly don't remember. But this vet is really forceful about it, and it's making me question my decision not to test.

Questions:

1. Is there a point to testing the older cats? If so, what? One of the rescue cats tested negative, the others have never been tested. I don't see the point if there's nothing we can do for them except worry.

2. Is there a point to testing the kitten? From what I've read, one can get a false positive for several months. Of course, I'd pay for the testing at the request of a prospective adoptive family.

My instinct is that I can find more productive ways to spend the amount of money the vet wants me to drop on testing, but I'm interested in you guys' reasons for testing or not testing.

[SquishyKitty]

I would get them tested. It can be spread if they get out of the house, and it can make them pretty sick if they do have it.

[Minky]

Okay, but seeing that there's no treatment, what's the point in testing?

We're already hyper-vigilant about escape and illness, and would never consider killing one of our cats as long as they were still enjoying life.

[SquishyKitty]

Then don't test. But personally I'd like to know if my pet had a terminal and very communicable disease. Why ask if you don't want to test?

[Minky]

You're right that I don't want to test. However, I want to see if there's a reason for testing that I consider valid in our situation. Thanks for giving your reason.

[womenswisdom]

I would test in order to know the cat's status for two reasons. 1) A positive cat in your household could (not commonly unless there is fighting) pass the disease to other cats in the household and 2) If a cat has FIV, you want to treat things like an upper respiratory infection more aggressively than you would in a non-immune-compromised animal because the cat does not have the same ability to fight off a minor infection.

I would do the combo test (FeLV/FIV) because FeLV is actually more communicable than FIV. I would test the kitten if it were older than 16 weeks (because you're right about maternal antibodies until then).

[lonegirl]

http://www.cathealth.com/FIV.htm
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fiv.html

[Minky]

The kitten is a foundling and is no more than 7 weeks old. I'll likely get him tested before he goes to an adoptive family. It bothers me that the vet is pressuring us to test even though he'd have to be tested again.

I'm not sold on the test for the older cats. We treat all illnesses aggressively because our rescue girl is prone to upper respiratory infections--she picks up everything and stays sick for ages. Ironically, she's the only one who's been tested, and she tested negative.

I do understand why some people test. I guess if none of the cats were infected, it would give me some peace of mind, but I don't think I'd actually treat any of the cats differently, medically or otherwise, if I knew they had it.

[heartmama]

Hate to sound morbid but if one of them suddenly died then you'd probably find yourself intensely wondering about the cause. I always say I won't wonder and then when a pet dies, I wonder for ages. I have no idea if testing a post-mortem cat is costlier or even possible. So for that reason alone I'd test just so if the worst happened, I'd know the likeliest cause. This is especially true when there are other animals of the same species in the house. I once had a rabbit die suddenly and without warning and even with an autopsy we never knew why. I wondered for months if the other bunnies were going to catch what mystery illness he had.

[heartmama]

Also, I just watched an entire litter of kittens die (my boss took in a pregnant feral stray). It was awful. Just awful. They seemed fine for a month and then within three days all died a rather agonizing death. At that point, she had the mother cat tested, and she was positive for one of those diseases (I think Feline Leukemia, not sure).

All I'm saying is that when it comes to suffering, and stricken animals, etc. one tends to want to know why. You want to stop the suffering. You can't stop it without knowing the cause. So there you are with a sick animal, not knowing what to do. You'll waste time testing for stuff at that point which might have been diagnosed sooner.

If all the cats are negative you will have a better idea what to do if one becomes gravely ill. Because at this point the first thing will be to test for FIV etc. Until that is ruled out nothing else will probably be considered.

FWIW I have not tested my indoor cats. I've always assumed they were tested at the shelter (I adopted them as adults). However, I really should test for my own certainty.

[Toolip]

We have an FIV+ cat that we got as a kitten and didn't know at the time that she was positive.

Feline leukemia is a very different disease than FIV. It is easily passed among cats though their drinking water or through licking each other. FIV is not like that at all. It is only give through deep puncture wounds, not playful wrestling. Our cats all hang out together and the disease has not spread in the 6 years that we've had them. FIV has not changed the way that we treat our cats. Our FIV girl has not been sick at all or requited any special care. I think the only reason that you might want to know is so that you could treat infections aggressively but you say that you already do that.

Good luck!

[Minky]

I probably would agonize about it if one of the cats died suddenly, but from what I've read about FIV, it doesn't kill cats suddenly.

I'm sorry about the little kittens that died, though. When we were active foster cat parents, we had a litter of babies and their mom die, and we never found out why. We were heartbroken. But no less heartbroken than we would be if one of the cats escaped and was hit by a car, or was never seen again.

To update, we're going to test the kitten if we still have him after the false-positive time period has passed, and if he's negative and we need to decide whether to adopt him, we'll probably test the remainder of the cats then.

In the meantime, is anyone looking to adopt a grey domestic longhair kitten in the Newnan, Georgia area? I think it'll be sad and happy at the same time when we finally find his forever home.

[womenswisdom]

Originally Posted by Minky

The kitten is a foundling and is no more than 7 weeks old. I'll likely get him tested before he goes to an adoptive family. It bothers me that the vet is pressuring us to test even though he'd have to be tested again.

Well, no, he'd only have to be re-tested if he tested positive the first time. If he's negative, he's negative.

[stephienoodle]

I wouldn't, if the cat was going to stay with me and be indoors. FIV is transmitted primarily by deep puncture wounds... more often than not, it is unaltered male cats that carry and transmit FIV. They're the ones who get into the nasty fights. It is not likely to be transmitted in an indoors setting with all altered cats. (While the sanctuary that I've fostered from does have an all-FIV room, they do occasionally mix FIV+ and FIV- cats without concern.) If I was adopting out the cat, I'd probably test before adopting it out - but putting it off until the time for false positives was over unless there was definite interest from somebody before then.

If a cat gets sick? Maybe I'd test then. If a cat is regularly sick? I'd definitely test, purely to know if that was a factor in illness and to know that problems should be addressed immediately and aggressively. I WOULD test for FELV (feline leukemia) if the vet suggested because that is highly contagious through casual contact, unlike FIV.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by Minky

I probably would agonize about it if one of the cats died suddenly, but from what I've read about FIV, it doesn't kill cats suddenly.

That's right. It's not even FIV that kills them, it's secondary infections and it's almost always after the age of 6, at least. Some cats seem totally unaffected by the virus and live normal life expectancies.

[womenswisdom]

Originally Posted by stephienoodle

I WOULD test for FELV (feline leukemia) if the vet suggested because that is highly contagious through casual contact, unlike FIV.

For an on-site test, your options are either FeLV or FeLV/FIV combo testing. There is no SNAP test for FIV only. So if you're going to pay the $ to test for FeLV, it's probably only a few dollars more to test for both. And if the kitten is negative for both, you're good to go.