Conference misery::feline

    The late James Tiberius Cat, esq. died of FIV - 5+ years after he
    contracted it! He was in excellent health (barring a bout of FUS) for
    the entire time.
    
    Don't write Barney off yet! James T. was castrated, treated for FUS and
    had a fine long life. 
    
    Sari
    

    Tufts is a remarkable hospital and in my opinion it is one of
    the best in the US.  It is run just like human hospitals...and
    I was amazed at the number of vets and vet assistants that get
    involved with each case .  They test, diagnose, develop
    a plan very quickly and give you all the facts and their opinions so
    you can make the best decision.   You will be very impressed!
    
    FIV + cats can live many many years as a heathly kitty. Please keep
    us posted on both Barney and Holly.  
    
    Sandy    
    
    

    I took in a stray quite some time ago. Finally, last May, I got him
    to the vet for neutering and shots. They called me the next day at work
    to tell me he had FIV and did I want to spend the money or have him put
    to sleep. He wasn't suffering so I said to go ahead with the shots,
    etc. The vet also told me he's seen a few cats fight it off, but they
    are still carriers of the disease. So far Maxwell has gained 1 lb. and
    seems to be doing fine. He did have a blister-like thing on his lip
    last week so he got antibiotics and now it's gone. When they called me
    to tell me he had it (FIV, not the blister) I cried all day at work.
    I just take one day at a time and love him a real lot. Two weeks after
    he saw the vet he began to lose weight and didn't eat for 3 days. I 
    thought for sure this was the end, but he started eating again and has
    been fine ever since.
    Good luck to you and Barney.
    
                         Bunni & Maxwell
      

    I had made arrangements to take Barney to Tufts today at 4. My husband
    is home on vacation.  His "mission" was to capture Barney and cage him,
    rendevouz with me somewhere between our home, my work site (SHR) and
    Tufts in Grafton.  (this starts to sound like a real who dun it) I
    would in turn, pick up our son at the preschool and trade our son in my
    car for Barney, in his truck, and I would go to Tufts, husband and son
    would go home, or someother place of dad's choosing probably McDonalds
    or the ice cream place.
    
    Barney was in fact "captured" but that was before 11 this morning. He
    was in all of a half hour, managed to attach himself to the screen in
    the back door, scream loudly, throw himself against the door again, and
    meanwhile my husband is tearing our our bathroom, right down to the
    studs, and trying to keep Barney out of the plaster dust!
    
    Finally I suggested that he just turn Barney loose, but not feed him. 
    We find he comes back mostly to eat, so I figure he'll be back in time
    to be "captured" again - NOT!  He hasn't been seen yet.  I finally
    called Dr. Ahn and told him Barney was off somewhere, the good doctor
    thinks Barney does know what's going on and chose to make himself
    scarce.  We agreed that if he shows up anytime before 7 tonite we
    should capture him, bring him down to Tufts, if not plan B is we
    capture him in the morning and bring him down then.  I do not plan on
    leaving any food out tonite.  It's his empty stomach that guarantees me
    he will be back.
    
    Meanwhile, my old lady Holly, has shown that she's not ready to die
    just yet.  I have made an appointment for tomorrow night.  What I have
    decided to do though, is to finish up her medicine, she's getting the
    two halves at night, instead of a half twice a day, that seemed to
    somehow make her perk up a bit when when we did it that way.  and
    unless she back slides again, I am going to keep her as she is, making
    sure she has water (despite the plater dust, bathroom construction,
    noise and confusion) and continues to show an interest in eating.  She
    has shown a little enthusiasm for semi-soft food, a couple of treats a
    day, a little catnip, and actually came up on the bed to sleep with us
    for the first time in a couple weeks, Saturday night.
    
    Lyn
    

    This is starting to look like a monologue, but here's the latest
    segment on Barney....
    
    Last night I got a phone call the woman asked if my name was Tripp, and
    was I caring for a Siamese cat named Barney.  I told her yes, and she
    proceeded to tell me that it *was* her cat, but he wandered a bit. (a
    bit, more like a half to 3/4 of a mile!)  She was calling me only to
    let me know he had his rabies shot!  Ya right, there's more to cat care
    than rabies shots once in a while, like tesing for FeLuk, and FIV, I'm
    thinking about this point.  I had put our phone number and name on the
    new flea collar last Sunday aparently this is how she tracked us down.
    She sounded a few cents short of a dollar, and to make a long story
    short she told me that if he loved us, the we could make him our.  I
    told her right up front I had spent on him for shots and testing, and
    did she know he was FIV positive?  FIV, she didn't even know what it
    was, just concerned that humans might catch it.  She said she has a
    sibling from the same mother, and when the sibling came to live with
    her, Barney had jelousy problems and decided to bail out.  She said her
    daughter *had* Barney's mother but had "given her to the pound" a short
    while ago.  I suggested quite strongly that she have the sibling tested
    for FIV, but not sure I actually got through to her.
    
    This morning I arrived at Tufts with Barney he was checked, he will be
    retested for FIV using a "water spot test", de wormed, he has tapeworms
    which seems to use fleas as a host, and I decided to seize the moment
    and have him castrated. Partly for us and Barney, partly to be sure
    that he won't roam, impregnate a female and propigate the FIV through
    future kittens.  Might be too late though, he's been "courting" the
    last few weeks a cute black and white fluffy furface, but she's very
    feral won't come near anyone.
    
    The owner said Barney is "about 2", (shows you how concerned she really
    is) I asked if he had a real name, it was something like Sam said he
    shows up there every couple weeks for food.  We figure he was p'd off
    at us for keeping him in yesterday morning and went home, instead of
    offering to meet with me, and give me Barney she simply said she would
    just let him out after he ate.  Oh and she lives right on Main St, a
    very busy street!
    
    I will try to keep him in permanently, but at least I know now that
    he's neutered that he won't propagate the FIV.  Happy ending, well that
    has yet to be determined....  Funding for the research project is still
    at least a couple months away.
    
    Lyn

    
    I was looking for a note on FIV.  I know the other day I read it all. 
    But I'm not professed on pulling up a particular note yet.
    
    I have a question.
    
    I have a 11 month male, Smucky, I've mention him in the "Where have all
    the Feliners Gone" who has FIV.  He's healthy right now.
    
    Can anyone tell me signs of when he gets real sick?
    I'm pretty sure I feel more comfortable that my Dot won't get it,
    possibly, from him.
    
    Are humans safe?
    
    Also, can dogs catch this from cats?  I have a neighbor and she has a
    beautiful dog and he has eaten some of my cat food a few months ago
    from the stray I have outside.
    
    I think that's all I have for questions.
    
    Modorator -- you may file this where it belongs and I'll try to find
    the FIV file.
    
    (temping.........) Carol Weston  
    

    I baaaack!! I've actually been back a couple months, but have been so
    busy I haven't had much free time.
    
    My note here is to bring closure to this note, and to answer a few of
    the questions the previous noter had.
    
    Barney was re-tested by Tufts in Grafton, the same day we had him
    neutered.  The news is that he is NOT FIV!!  They use a different
    method of testing, which carries an accuracy nearly 99%, whereas the
    animal hospital in Worcester used another method carrying something
    like 80% accuracy, which is where I got the *wonderful experience of
    having a "false positive".  I have since raised a ruckus with the
    animal hospital, pretty much was blown off by their owner, but they
    have since changed their testing proceedure to conform with the Tufts
    method, which is to send a blood sample to Philadelphia or somewhere n
    that vicinity for a special anitbody test, which is very showing.
    
    Barney has become our, gradually, but still ours.  He is often referred
    to (lovingly) as where's stupid, translated into; it;s 5 below zero but
    he refuses to use anything but outside for the litter pan, and now that
    I'm back at work, if he won't come when I call in the morning then he's
    out for the day!  He's only pulled that once or twice.
    
    We also refer to him as "the comatose one", since he sleeps so soundly
    the world could come crashing down on top of him, and I don't think
    he'd wake up!  I've stood outside many mornings calling him in, not
    knowing he was already in (husband had let him in when he left 10
    minutes before) and he had already crawled off in a corner and gone to
    sleep.  He has claimed one corner of the couch for his spot, and has
    also claimed the spot under my ironing board, which has a few thing on
    hangers, hanging off the edges creating a curtain like effect.  He has
    no objections to having his claws (they are really huge!) clipped, and
    loves being brushed with the wire brush.
    
    He wants to play with Bandit, but bandit stands firmly and hisses at
    him and swats at Barney (fortunately Bandit it declawed).  I think it's
    a size thing, Barney is nearly 17 pounds of manly muscle of Siamese,
    Bandit is the sleek slender dainty type, defending against this
    intruder!
    
    My house is down to two felines, I will discuss Holly (AKA big kitty)
    as I bring closure to a previous note (?569?).
    
    As for the questions posed, you as a human can not get FIV from a cat,
    I don't think dogs can contract feline aids, but check with your vet. I
    too would re read my input to this note, as well as contacting Tufts in
    Grafton, Dr Ahn in particular for all the info you need on FIV.  Since
    Barney did test negative the second time, leaving me with no doubt he
    is healthy, I didn't pursue Dr. Ahn's FIV research project.  First
    thing I would do is to have your furface retested, using the method
    used at tufts.
    
    Lyn

    
    A 17 lb. *Siamese*??!!??  Gawd, that must be one huge cat...
    
    len.
    

    Yup!  He was 14.5 pounds last summer when Tufts weighed him, and that
    was *before* he came in for the winter and has been hibernating, and
    eating himself sillly ever since.  It's mostly muscle though, the docs
    at tuft commented on how muscular his neck is.  Described it as a
    typical characterisic of Male Siamese.  (I dunno, maybe it is)

    I happened to be talking to the Cornell hotline this am (800-KITTYDR)
    with a (non-crucial) question about Sweetie's diabetes, so I also asked
    if the AIDS treatment progress lately in humans had filtered down
    to any results in cats with FIV.  He said there was a considerable
    amount of work being done, and mentioned UC Davis and Univ of
    Colorado's Retrovirus Lab, but said there was nothing available
    "real" or for regular use yet, that various medications were toxic,
    expensive, etc.  Just thought I'd post this in case someone has an
    FIV kitty and wants to explore options.