can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Exchange FIV advice and information here.
Post Reply
Keroascrazy
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:07 pm

can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Post by Keroascrazy »

Title is the long and short of it I suppose.

I have an intact male who is 12 years old, and in good health, if not at a risk for diabetes, at his age. He is not fixed (long story) but its somethine I do intend to have done this year, 'cause his urine is STANKY.

Anyways, the husband and I have purchased a new home that needs some work before its ready to be lived in (can't get the electric on yet, need to get that redone first) And as we started walking to the new property we noticed that someone was leaving catfood, and boxes and baby blankets etc.
We finally see the cat about a week later for the first time, and I left a note to get in contact with the person leaving food for this baby, and to get his story more or less. So turns out this guys been out here for over a year, and he was abandoned with a few others, but the neighbor or someone had called animal control, and this guy was the only one they couldn't catch.

My husband managed to coax him into the carrier and bring him home, after realizing that he is also intact, decided to put him up in a room of his own in the building adjacent to my current house. He's got i t pretty good up there, litter box, food, water, heater, window. just hours of silence until this crazy woman crawls up through the floor with more food or water (we get in via a trapdoor to avoid walking around the outside of the house)
So we get him to the vet today 24-12-20. and we run all the tests and he comes back as FIV positive, and on top of that this poor boy has heart-worms.
HEART-WORMS, that's ... like act of god rare. they said my options were to rehome him or euthanize him and I swore to this cat and my friends I was not going to do that again this year (I picked up a dying kitten last week whose spine was broken, and lost a 5 year old to sudden genetic liver failure in october)

So rare they don't have the medication for it in office and I have to order it online.

I've been doing some reading,a s the vets gave me a basic run down of FIV, and it seems pretty 1:1 with Human AIDS, which Im very familiar with. (in-law) and some sources say to keep FIV+ cats in their own single cat homes, and others say that the risk of transmission between cats just chillin' in a house together is 1-2%.

at the moment my husband thinks he can find a home for this guy. but we've ordered the heart-worm medication already, something we really don't have the budget for but this guy was an unexpected expense. And my husband I think is over estimating how easy it is gonna be to find a home for a cat. with cat aids. with heart worms.

I plan on getting my 12 year old, Kiku fixed after the new year, and I do NOT know how old this new guy is. he looks to be fully adult but young or old I can't tell. he is low energy, which was why I wanted to bring him inside, For an outdoor cat he wasn't moving much and I had CONCERNS.
His apetite seems fine, he urinates, eliminates, rubs rubs rubs on me when I come around, then goes back into his space to rest.
Vet didn't know how BAD the heartworms are, just that he tested positive for them.

I guess my concern is if theres hope that these boys will get along. Imma get them both fixed, but it's gonna be a bit. for now Im taking trips to see the new guy, I think we're gonna call him Ghost. its been a week or more and we have no name for him.
And if its okay for them to mingle. Kiku is missing the company of Cadence, and Im sure Ghost is lonely after having his colony taken from him. But they're both full grown adults and I know that getting them neutered at this stage in their lives wont stop spraying or behavioral changes and Im just all over the place with concern and worry.

I just wanna do right by this guy, ya know?
booktigger
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2664
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:36 pm
No. of cats in household: 3

Re: can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Post by booktigger »

It is a big risk, even after neutering them both, as late later neutered Tom's don't always lose the fighting instinct. I would put the feelers out for a new home, we don't have heart worms over here so not sure on the prognosis for that. Good on you for looking out for this guy
User avatar
Mollycat
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2705
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:58 am
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: UK

Re: can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Post by Mollycat »

I have very limited experience of boys having only had two - but both were late neutered at 3 and 8 years old, and both were extremely social cats who suffered badly alone. The first walked in when we already had a cat and continued recruiting for more to join us. The second was an indoor retired stud who became so stressed within days and weeks of me taking him on that I had to go find him a companion. Admittedly these two boys never met each other and all their companions were girls, but even so, they were both extremely social creatures and never showed any trace of aggression within the family.
Keroascrazy
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:07 pm

Re: can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Post by Keroascrazy »

Yeah, My oldest, Kiku has never been an "aggressor" so much as an "agitator" He's one who loves to sniff and sniff and SNIFF any other cats backside as though it was the single most alluring scent in the world. doesn't matter what cat it is. He's up they're butt. He's seen a fair few cats come and go from our house in his time, so mostly I feel like hes just curious?
Even with Cadence, our female who died of Renal failure (I cant remember if that's liver or kidney... or both?) after living with her for 5 years he would regularly try to find ways to hide his nose up her backside. and she WAS fixed.

Bubby (the new guy) Is getting m ore comfortable in his space though. When I went up to clean his box, he was out and about instead of hiding in his cat scratcher/hidey hole combo. Of course hte more immediate threat is the heartworm, still waiting on that medication. holiday weekend/new years. awful timing.
I think he doesn't really mind being alone TOO badly? HE really has perked up a lot in this last week, and looks less 'sad' overall. I'm currently devising a way to bring in boxes etc to his room to give him window viewing access without the need to jump or otherwise exert too much. Since I've noted he doesn't seem to be one for climbing/hopping.

Kiku HAS been really intrigued with Bubbys scent though. when I come back down, he'll bury his nose into my shirt or pants to get a good nosefull, but never gets puffy, or otherwise shows no signs of aggression. more just "Have you been out there again? Let me get my Tithe of scent pls."
Keroascrazy
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:07 pm

Re: can I introduce new FIV+ cat to my 12yr old old FIV- cat?

Post by Keroascrazy »

I wanted to post an update to this situation.

My husband got in contact with the no kill shelter that caught the rest of the colony, and one of the shelter workers is adopting him. We handed him over to someone who was gonna keep him overnight, before he gets into the truck to make the trip to Portsmouth Ohio in the morning.
Post Reply