Unfortunately however he is FIV+. It's not really that surprising, at approximately 3 years of age, and with the number of old healed battle wounds on both ears, not to mention the fact that he was unneutered, being a male and living outside grossly increases the odds for contracting the virus. The terrific news is that he is currently in excellent health and is just one all around, lovable little guy with the cutest little meow.
Tonight we took the deep dive and decided it was time for him to have access to the rest of the house (and you guessed it), a meet n' greet with the kids! So far it's gone amazingly well; just as I suspected, Wilbur is very easy going and laid back in nature, and has already tried to even kiss our little Flossy Girl!!
The plan is to move him to another foster home since ours is a temporary emergency space for him to stay so that he could be rescued, and the new foster home will most likely have to be more long term since FIV+ kitties just aren't that popular with the majority of interested adopters. Until that happens however, he's very welcome here and he's already tugged on our heart strings - not hard to do of course when your as handsome and gentle as Wilbur is..........
PS: If your wondering about this photo directly above, that's Wilbur who just decided to hop up on the sofa beside hubby and is obviously loving all the attention.
Was the FiV+ diagnosed using a SNAP test ? I have a cat that was diagnosed as FiV+ using this, then was re-checked with a DNA test that revealed that he was FiV-
ReplyDeleteFiV is difficult to transmit cat to cat unless they are mating or fighting with deep puncture wounds. It's not the greatest news ever -- but it is also not a death sentence. I have known of many FiV+ cats that lived with FiV- negative cats and none of them sero-converted. I have also known of many FiV+ cats that lived very long and healthy lives with few or no health issues. Wilbur looks like a nice fella. I hope that no one will overlook him based on the possibility of his viral status. Good for you for
taking him in !
I too had an FIV kitty ... he had a quality life and my vet told me that the FIV testing is very inaccurate. Wilbur is a beautiful cat with the best foster parents !
Deletewhat a gorgeous and lucky boy !
ReplyDelete