Re: FIV infected Kitten

[Samiluke]

Hi,   We found my cat Simba, at about the age of 5 weeks.  He tested positive for FIV.  We had him retested at approx 6 mos & he was still positive.  It is true that FIV tests of young kittens may only be picking up maternal antibodies, so it would be a good idea to retest the little guy after 6 mos.  Simba is going to be 8 years old in July.  We have allowed him to mix freely with our other 12 cats all along & none of ours has ever tested positive.  He even gets into occasional spats w/ one of the others & he licks several that he is good friends with, shares bowls, litterboxes, etc & it has never caused a problem.  He is so healthy that we've had him retested several times over the years, because it's just so hard to believe that he is positive.  He keeps coming back positive, but I've stopped worrying about it.  I just make sure he gets good care & thank God that he is healthy.  I have also elected not to vaccinate due to a study done at Cornell awhile back that found that viral loads for the FIV increased after vaccination.  I don't recall how I initially found out about this study, but I did call & talk to them to confirm the info.  I have not heard anything about it ever since, tho.  I'll have to do a little digging & see if that was researched any further.  I don't have a reference that I can give you right off hand, but I'll look for one.   Simba did get his initial round of vaccinations as a kitten, however.  This was my experience...personally, I have no qualms about mixing FIV+ with negatives, but everybody has to do what works for their situation.  Hope this helps.    Yvonne   In a message dated 6/22/2006 7:45:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: have been researching the net for information on FIV in kittens and hope to get more info here. My daughter came home two weeks ago with a little freal kitten appr. 5 weeks old. We already hav a 3 year old cat and had not planned on another cat, but ofcourse everybody in the family fell in love with this little thing. Yesterday we were told she tested positive for FIV, which realy upset everybody, but we have decided to keep her and deal with things as they come. Now I read that when a little kitten tests positive, you need to keep testing it until at least 6 month of age because it might be mothers anti-bodies, passed through mothers milk that might make the test come back positive. Is there anybody in this forum that indeed had that happen, meaning that at first the test came back positive but later negative? I know we are grasping at straws, but hope helps. We are also trying to decide whether to keep the two cats separate for ever or introduce them anyhow, I will talk to the vet to have the older one tested too now and if that comes back negative, to have him vacinated, but wonder whether that would be sufficient protection. Any advise??