Cat Care, Breeds and Resources Blog

If your cats are like mine, they love the smell of a good shoe. Below are pictures of a cat that is really into shoes and what the fine-smelling shoes he found did to him …

I had one cat, Patty, that really loved my friend’s underarm. So much so, that it got really embarrassing one day when she climbed on his lap and started nosing into his armpit. She just wouldn’t stop. We’d pull her away, and she’d go right back.

Purrs, Frankie

Kira here. I remember Patty. She was already old when I got adopted. Hey, what am I saying, I think she was 12 years old. Heck, I’ll be 14 in July. I guess she wasn’t that old. Back to my point. I thought she was pretty cool. I learned how to spit and hiss from watching her. I used to jump at her from behind things just to watch her jump and hiss. She went to Cat Heaven when she was almost 19 years old. I miss her. Later, Kira

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Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) occurs in cats worldwide. It is similar to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS in humans. FIV can NOT be transmitted from cat to humans or other animals like dogs.

FIV is spread through the sharing of blood from deep bite wounds only (whether the FIV+ cat is the biter or the bitee), not by licking each other or through feces.

Gypsy, One Of My FIV Cats

Diagnosis:
An ELISA blood test which can be performed by any vet is used to check for FIV. The problem is that the ELISA test gets a lot of false-positives. Meaning a cat that may only be carrying antibodies to the virus, but does not have the virus itself, will test positive. Because of this a cat that tests positive using ELISA should be retested with the Western Blot test.

Treatment
There is no specific treatments for FIV. Cats infected with FIV can live long and healthy lives. Here are a few things you can do for your FIV positive cat:

1. Keep them indoors — this will eliminate the possibility of them being in a fight with a feral cat.
2. Feed them a high-quality diet.
3. Keep their vaccinations up-do-date.
4. Carefully monitor the cat’s behavior.
5. Work closely with your veterinarian.

Prognosis
Like I said earlier, cats with FIV can live long, healthy lives. I just recently heard of one that lived to be 22 years old.

FIV-positive cats can be kept with FIV-negative cats because the disease is passed through deep bite wounds. My personal experience is that cats, especially in-door cats, do not want to fight. They may hiss and growl, but they usually just want to go about their business. If your household is made up of non-aggressive cats, then they should be able to live together.

I have 8 indoor cats. One of whom is FIV-positive. When we first introduced her (Snoball) to the household, she spent the first couple of weeks showing everyone how tough she was. My alpha cat, Kira, resented her and still hisses at her but they pretty much keep a distance from each other. Once in a while one cat will chase the other but usually they just stay out of each other’s way. Snoball is slowly becoming friends with some of her adopted family and I am quite pleased.

Lucky, the FIV positive cat we adopted 2 weeks ago (only hours before he was to be killed at the animal shelter) is doing okay. He turned out to be a pretty sick little guy — not from FIV, but from being abandoned or lost and unable to care for himself — it’s been extremely cold and he had to make it on his own. Then he ran into a group of cats who beat him up — probably because he was so weak that couldn’t defend himself. I’ll tell you more about him next blog.

Just to clarify, I also have Gypsy and now Lucky, who will share the double-double garage with Gypsy. They are both FIV positive and I’d have them in the house with my other 8 if my house was big enough.

Purrs, Frankie

Kira here. Yeah that Snoball is a pip. She may be bigger than me, but that don’t scare me none. I can take her. Naw, I’ll just let her be. That’ll just mess with her mind. Kira out.

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I’m a sculptor and have just finished a few new pieces I’d like to share with big cat lovers. The one I’d like to share today is my wall sculpture called, “Nine Lives”. I have always been fascinated with the drawings and paintings where there are pictures within pictures. Yet, I have never seen a sculpture done that way, so I thought I’d do one.

I decided to do a lion face made up of lions. Below is the drawing I started with, then a picture of the final piece.

Can you find all 9 lions?

I’m putting together a video of the sculpture starting with the drawing, then the slab of clay, and the steps through the final piece. I’ll post it when it’s done.

Purrs, Frankie

Lee here. Ya know, I like to think I’m Mom’s muse. Of course, I don’t look like no stinking lion, but I’m a pretty big boy — at least that’s what she tells me. (snicker). Lee.

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Cats that test positive for FIV can live long, healthy lives. In fact, I’ve heard of one who lived to age 22! So last night when I got a call from a friend that a beautiful male cat at the County Animal Shelter had tested positive for FIV and was scheduled to be euthanized today, I acted.

I adopted Lucky this morning. A Lord of the Rings fan at the shelter had named him Gandolf, but I think Lucky fits his situation better. He’s a beautiful medium-hair, gray cat about 2-3 years old. He had been brought in by a woman who said he just showed up at her house one day. Her cats didn’t like him and attacked him giving him a 1 inch gash on his back.

This is a picture of Lucky (you can almost see the wound on his back):

Obviously, Lucky was not feral and had been someone’s pet but had been living on his own for some time. He is very friendly and not afraid of people. He loves to be brushed, petted and held. Besides the wound on his back, he also has a severe case of worms, and a bad case of ear mites, ticks and his hair was matted every where.

The shelter had shaved his back, treated the wound, and given him his first dose of medication for the worms. A volunteer (my friend) got out most of the mats and removed the ticks and administered TLC. The shelter gave him a rabies shot and gave me meds for the worms and ear mites. I signed the adoption papers and a waiver taking full responsibility for him and his medical bills and I drove him home.

As you can see he is going to be beautiful when his hair goes out and he is feeling better. (He was throwing up yesterday from the severe case of worms.) I have another HIV positive cat, Gypsy, who was abandoned and is living in my double-double garage. Since FIV positive cats should only be indoor cats, she has been living alone in the garage for about 4 months. I believe she will welcome Lucky’s company. I will keep Gypsy in one garage and Lucky in the other for 10 to 14 days to make sure Lucky is over the worms and is healthy before I start the introduction process.

I have a second HIV positive cat, Snoball, who lives in my house with the rest of my cat family. As long as she does not make a deep bite on another cat, they can live side-by-side safely. And, I’ve found that most cats do NOT want to fight. They do their hissing and growling but they pretty much walk around each other if they don’t get along. (And, I should know, I have 8 cats in my house, not counting Gypsy and Lucky.) If my house was bigger, I’d have all of them in the house. I had to draw the line somewhere.

I’ll disucss FIV in my next blog — what it is, how cats get it, the prognosis. But for now, just keep in mind that cats do NOT have to DIE because they test positive for FIV. In fact, the type of test that is given at most shelters, produces many false-positives! Anyway, more next time. And, more pictures of Lucky as he adjusts to his new family.

Purrs, Frankie

Kira here. Now that’s one good looking tom. I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better. Heh heh. Kira

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P.P.S. For funny cat pictures and facts, click Cats Just Wanna Have Fun

P.P.P.S. For dozens of articles on cats and cat breeds, click Cat Articles