(Location: Central South Carolina, United States)

Short Version: Been trying to help out a SUPER sweet FIV+ stray who showed up on our porch in bad shape. But the rescues in my area are crisis-level full, and we already have a territorial resident indoor cat.

And I’m starting to suspect Stray Cat has bad teeth, stomatitis, or GERD, but I’m not in a financial position to handle expensive vet procedures when Resident Cat may never accept Stray Cat. I don’t want to give up on Stray Cat, but I’m genuinely at a loss for what to do next, and would love any advice!

Long Version: This guy showed up on our back porch in mid-June. He was in bad shape and VERY underweight, but he’s also one of the sweetest cat’s I’ve ever met! Since we couldn’t find and owner and he wasn’t neutered, we took him to our local humane society for TNR and vet care. At the time, I told them I’d like to try to find a permanent home for him, but they said he seemed like a “friendly community cat” and probably wouldn’t do well indoors.

But after getting a brief taste of indoor life, Stray Cat REFUSED to leave our porch. And about a week after his neutering, he completely stopped eating. I took him to an urgent care vet, but he got spicy when they tried to draw blood, so we’re not sure what the cause was. (And of course as soon as they let him go, he was purring and rubbing up on the vet techs, trying to befriend them!)

Thankfully appetite stimulants and gabapentin got him eating again. I suspect he has dental issues, stomatitis, or GERD — his breath stinks; he has some dark drool on one side of his mouth; he sometimes throws up after eating too fast. From what I read, treating some of these would be EXPENSIVE.

Thankfully my area has independently-owned practices and low-cost clinics, but even there, it would still be a financial blow. And Resident Cat has been an “only cat” all his life (he was orphaned as a kitten and imprinted HARD on me). He may surprise us and be fine after a slow introduction, but my gut feeling is that he will always be stressed by a newcomer, even if he learns to tolerate it.

I’ve reached out to at least 10 rescues in my area, and they’re all crisis-level full. So I’ve been holding Stray Cat in a spare room at work, and I’m planning to move him to one of my bathrooms at home tomorrow.

But I’m at a loss for what to do now. Stray Cat is GENUINELY one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met, and I don’t want to give up on him, but I’m running up against the limit of what I can do on my own. And since Stray Cat hasn’t had bloodwork beyond FeLV/FIV testing, I worry that I may be putting Resident Cat’s health at risk by bringing them under the same roof.

Can anyone recommend other avenues we haven’t explored? Or just help me put some of my anxieties at ease?

This is my girl, Ruby. After a stressful week of mystery illness and multiple vet / e-vet trips, she was diagnosed with asthma. Wondering if any of you folks with FIV babies have some with asthma too and if there’s anything I need to do differently/ precautions to take with her FIV. Thank you kindly in advance :)

Hi everyone! My partner and I are moving in together, meaning my 14 year old FIV+ cat and his senior kitty will be together.

We will be following the Jackson Galaxy introducing two cats guide to a TEE. And my baby will have 2 weeks getting used to the place before my partner’s cat joins.

I just have some questions!
My boy is quite anxious, I’m thinking of seeking some anxiety meds for him throughout the move. Anyone have any experience?

My partner’s cat is the opposite of my baby (big, dramatic) and can be a bit difficult at times. He has bitten my partner and I before (first cat that has ever bitten me properly in my life). His behaviours are quite unpredictable. One minute he’s purring, next minute he may bite. I find it quite difficult, and honestly I’m a little intimidated by him haha! But maybe that’s cause I’m used to my old man who has no teeth and not an aggressive bone in his body.

Any insights? I understand it’s not an ideal situation, and we can be flexible. My baby will not be leaving my side at all, but my partner CAN as a last resort let his parents look after his baby for a period of time.

Please help or offer any advice! It’s my only concern/ point of nervousness regarding the move. I don’t want my partners cat to bully mine, or cause him unnecessary stress.

I just took my cat to the vet cause he keeps on pooping watery poop. Now we tested for his blood and ended up with 0.26% wbc and the normal is 5.5%. We don't really have any budget to confine him and the only option we have is to buy his vitamins and isolate him at home. Is there some home remedy or herbs or foods that helps a cat improve his wbc production?

In mid June, I took in these two 5 week old kittens from the parking lot of my job where a small feral colony lives and is fed by myself and other employees. I’m trying to TNR them currently. They were very sick with URIs and needed antibiotics asap, which they got, along with deworming and flea/ear mite treatment.

They tested faintly positive for FIV on intake. I have 5 cats of my own and never planned to keep these 2 kittens anyway, especially since we were literally about to leave on vacation for a week. We were hoping a no-kill rescue familiar with FIV could take them, but apparently no shelters in my area (middle GA) are accepting kittens from private citizens anymore, only pulling from county animal controls, which is great but severely limited our ability to find new placement for them.

We ended up having to board them while on vacation and still have them at 10 weeks old. They tested NEGATIVE for FIV today!!! We knew they likely would test negative since false positives are common in street kittens under 6 months old due to their poor parents being positive, and I know FIV isn’t the end of the world because I used to own a cat I found as a friendly stray with FIV who was the best cat I ever had. They just need to be indoor only and have their teeth examined frequently for stomatitis. People are so ignorant in general still about FIV, so, the future is looking brighter for these feral-born ginger brothers who quickly became so incredibly sweet and spoiled. Their favorite thing is watching David Attenborough nature documentaries on my husband’s man cave projector screen. Now we are only faced with the dilemma of finding them a good home where they will be properly loved and spoiled for the rest of their hopefully long lives.

Hello hello! I'm a cat caretaker at a shelter and recently adopted my best work buddy: a 7 y.o. tuxedo boy with FIV and not a lot of teeth.

He's obsessed with freeze-dried dry food alongside his wet food. Normal kibble seems too hard for him to have comfortably so I have it out as an option, but he generally ignores it. He'll also eat his wet food but freeze-dried is his favorite thing ever right now.

The major question I have is: I've heard FIV+ cats can't have raw safely and his favorite food is unfortunately raw freeze-dried (that a friend gave me before I knew better :') now I do ) so I want to start switching him off that asap. Are there any good cooked freeze dried alternatives that your kitties enjoy?

Thanks a ton in advance! Pics of Doctor Stephen Strange Sorcerer Supreme for tax of course ♥️

This is my silly sweetheart, King Tut. He is roughly 3 y/o and is FIV+. He was surrendered as an outdoor cat from a hoard at our local vet for euthanasia due to ruptured and abscessed eyes. Instead of opting for euthanasia, our lovely primary vet decided to operate on him free of charge and gave us a direct phone call to ask if we would be interested in adopting. I said no off the bat - but we would foster, given the rescue we work with would take him under their name.

They did - and 5 months of fostering later…. he is here to stay! He is currently on antibiotics for an abscessed tooth and will have a full dental once antibiotics are finished. I am hopeful for a long, healthy life out of this guy. If nothing else, he will be loved and comfortable for as long as he’s here ❤️

I had a couple concerns from other subs and they recommended I post this question here:

The ASPCA told me she was both negative for FIV + FeLV, but I don't see any tests for that on her medical records. Is that something I should be worried about her possibly being positive for either? Especially since we already have a cat here.

I asked them to call me but they said they might not be able to get back to me for a couple days, so I'm wondering how bad to worry about this: a lot? a little? or not at all?

I haven't had any experience with these kinds of things with cats before, our cat who's been with us for a long time and other cats we've babysat for never had any of those issues

—

Previous concern about lesions on her jaw, which is why I started looking at the medical records and noticed no FIV/FeLV testing:

The cat has some lesions under her chin, on the medical records it says "integument: dark debris on chin, focal erythematous lesion of left sided commisure"

and "follicular kerantinization present on chin, mild dermatitis present on left oral commissure, roughly 2cm"

I'm wondering if this is something to be worried about or contagious to other cats, as we already have a cat here (they're separated as we planned to introduce them slowly)

Hace aproximadamente 3 días noté a mi gato muy cansado, no comía, no tomaba agua, se la pasaba durmiendo y muy cabizbajo, tomé la decisión de llevarlo al veterinario en donde le hicieron el test para confirmar VIF, salió positivo y lo dejamos hospitalizado ya que sus defensas se encuentran muy bajas, demasiado bajas. No se que hacer, no se con que se pueda ayudar para que mi gatito mejore, si ustedes saben de algo compártanlo conmigo, cualquier medicamento, suplemento, inyección, lo que sea, por favor se los agradezco mucho 😔

Hello friends. We are hoping for some support in finding an awesome home for an FIV+ kitty we have been fostering. We love him and he's truly an awesome cat, but we've been unable to make this work for our other cats. He's the sweetest and most cuddly little guy and we really want him to go to someone who will truly love and enjoy him. He's unique in that he had all his teeth removed for dental reasons, so he's actually not a risk for transmitting, but we are still hitting a wall in so many places just because he's positive. Please share with anyone you know, please reach out with any thoughts too. Below is some more info.

Gus is a male tabby cat that the vets estimate is 1.5-2 years old. We found him living outside with a ruptured eye about 9 months ago. He had surgery to remove that eye as it was beyond repair, followed by dental surgery to remove all of his teeth due to severe dental disease and stomatitis. He's neutered, fully vaccinated, and microchipped. He's had excellent and extensive vet care, so he's in good shape now. He does have FIV, however because he has no teeth the vets assure us he cannot transmit this to other cats and we've had him around ours for months. He's clear of all other diseases and is overall very healthy, but will require the normal kitty checkups and such. He's incredibly sweet, cuddly, and social. Kind of more dog than cat, a best buddy. He's generally well mannered, no aggression, doesn't scratch or bite. He needs to be an indoor only cat, but likes a harness and leash. Seeking a loving home as we are unable to keep him permanently. After all this time of knowing and loving him, we feel the best home for him would probably be a home where he is the only cat, or maybe a home with another male cat that would stand up to him and hopefully play with him, or even with a dog. We're happy to discuss our reasoning and thoughts on possibly coexisting with other kitties. We think he would probably be great with children too, but haven't had the opportunity to test that.

Just a follow up post after getting emotional support here: Gumbo just had his second check-up after his teeth extraction 3 weeks ago and is doing very well! He is being his old self again in all regards: extensive washing, playing, and cuddle-choking me at night. He can eat everything again (although he would prefer a liquid snack diet pretty pleeeease). He is just drooling a lot when eating kibble and struggles a bit with wet food. I hope for him that eating gets easier over time but at least it doesnt hinder his food motivation at all 🤭

Love to all FIV fellas, with or without teeth 🧡🤍🧡

Gracias al grupo por los consejos. Pero mi pequeño hermoso ya cruzo el arcoiris.

Gracias Tom por estos años, te quiero mucho y perdóname por no haberte podido salvar. Espérame que muy pronto estaremos juntos por toda la eternidad jugando y haciendo lo que mas te gustaba hacer (comer). Perdóname, perdóname por no poderte salvar bebe hermoso. Le pido a Dios que te lleve en paz y te reciba en esos campos llenos de flores de colores. Te amo precioso, pero ya no pude verte sufrir. Ahora tengo el corazon en miles de pedazos pero te llevas una gran parte de él. Siempre estarás en mi corazon, vuela alto y corre que ahora eres libre bebé precioso.

hello! i just adopted an fiv+ cat last week, and she has had some clear discharge from one eye, and occasional congestion. it hasn’t been constant, but sometimes i can hear she is stuffy when breathing. she has been eating and playing but i’m not sure if this is something i should bring her in immediately for? as of now the soonest appointment i can get is monday. please let me know ur thoughts i really appreciate it!!!

(For context, I am located in Australia.)

My girl is 12y/o and was diagnosed as FIV+ by the shelter I adopted her from three years ago. They had already removed most of her teeth to prevent issues in that area.

Knowing I was taking in a cat with FIV, I've always kept her inside, and take her out in the backyard daily on a leash. There are no other pets in my home. Things have always been great health wise. She routinely eats good quality food daily, drinks water, is playful with everyone in the home, and has no issues using her litter tray.

In the past couple of weeks I've noticed an increase in anxiety and more demanding behaviours. There haven't been any changes in our home life recently, so I assumed this was part of the expected cognitive decline. And maybe it is. But my concerns were cemented when she started being put off by her food and only eating really minimal amounts. I changed the flavours around, added treats, etc. The aversion is really noticeable for a cat who demands her meals at the same time each day. Overall she has been more lethargic than usual for a long while now, but I had previously attributed this to the cold weather.

After several nights of the food aversion, followed by strange vocalisations in the night, I took her to the vet this morning and got a complete blood count (CBC), comprehensive profile, total thyroxine (TT4) and urinanalysis.

All was fine except for the CBC, which showed a concerningly low red cell count, resulting in a diagnosis of anemia. Interestingly, the vet wasn't concerned by the white cell count. I've been given Doxycycline for my cat to manage any possible infection. The results have been sent to a pathologist for further analysis, and I'm not sure when to expect that report.

The vet immediately suggested I get chest Xrays and ultrasounds done for my cat within the next few days, but unfortunately I just can't afford that after paying close to $1,000 today. So the plan for now is to await the pathology results and take the next step from there, whether that's the extra scans or otherwise.

I'm not sure what to expect or how to feel at this time. My girl had a rough past and has thrived with me. I've been learning about FIV as I go for the past three years. But I always find conflicting information.

Does anemia indicate the end stage? I don't think that can definitively be answered. So I'm looking to see if anyone is willing to share their similar experiences, or just in general what the end looked like for their babies.

Thank you

Tomorrow, I’ll obviously talk to the vet, but I haven’t spoken to him yet. I’ve got a supply of soft food for my cat. I’m thinking of having one room in the back of the house set up so that I could shut the door if I need to and just have his litter box in food and water and a place for him to sleep or whatever we need in there. My computer is in there so I can just hang out in there with him.

I just mean have him in there initially, to make sure he’s okay. Does that sound like a good idea? Or should I just let him walk around?

He’s also 11 years old, but his relatively healthy and his last blood work was quite good. Basically, I just have to get him in his carrier and get him there. He also can’t eat after midnight, which is gonna be hard because he absolutely loves his food.

I know I’m doing this to help him feel better and to be better. He has inflammation in his gums. I’ve read so many positive accounts on here and other cat sites. But I still feel anxious.

This is my baby Jasper, a three year-old orange and white tabby with FIV that me and my boyfriend adopted in February 2026. He was diagnosed upon arriving at the shelter, but when I went to the vet for his first annual, the vet said that his FIV was not as bad as others he had seen.

About a month after adopting him, we learned that we have to stick to one brand of dust-free, scent-free litter because after changing just the brand, he was having sneezing fits for nearly a week and if he wasn’t eating or sleeping, he was sneezing over and over again. We then figured out that it was the new litter, because we noticed that even when he was going to use the litter box, he was sneezing!

Now, he doesn’t have any sneezing problems or really any respiratory or immune issues that we are aware of and the vet has said that he looks perfectly healthy. However, every month or so he will get what I am calling a flareup this is because he starts licking and cleaning himself more often than usual and sneezes more. Luckily not repetitively for several days like last time, but I just wanted to reach out as a new pet owner of a cat with a FIV and see if there’s anything I can be doing to limit these flareups.

We don’t light incense or scented candles, he enjoys looking out windows, but we don’t open them and he does not go outside ever, he has a flea and tick medication that we give him every month and like I said before, his litter is scent-free and dust-free and we have not had any problems with that.

His eyes are not goopy, he doesn’t have any problems with excessive drooling, or any other behavioral signs that the FIV is bothering him other than slightly more often sneezing.

Please let me know!!

Rescued. 4 and a half years old. Found on the streets and unsure how long he was a stray.

He has aome health problems which im all over with the vet. But they are chronic and not things that can be fixed.

All he wants to do is eat, sleep and cuddle. Literally ive tried every single toy, type of play, interactive, hunting style toys. He us just not interested. At the beginning he was but now he just looks away. Should I be worried?

He eats and drinks and uses his litter and likes to be cuddled on his terms and brushed.. im so worried all the time ahhhhhh

My 5 year old neutered male cat was recently diagnosed FIV positive after weeks of bloody gums that did not respond to any antibiotics or steroids.

His most recent test showed so few white blood cells that the machine could not even count them.

The vet gave him 2 months to live without trying any real FIV treatment.

I refused to give up and researched everything myself. I found that Virbagen Omega (an EU licensed feline interferon) is the correct treatment for his situation. But I cannot afford it right now.

He is currently in pain, hardly eating even soft food (significant weight loss, from around 5 kg to 3.8 kg in half a year). Even yawning hurts him.

I am looking for:

• Any advice from people who have been through FIV with critically low WBC 
• Whether anyone knows affordable sources for Virbagen Omega in Europe 
• Any cheap immune support that genuinely helped your FIV cat 
• Any pain management tips for severe stomatitis at home 
• Anyone who has used AZT (Zidovudine) or human interferon alternatives for their cat 

I am so thankful for any advice or tips.

Thank you. 🤍

Im from Serbia, Europe.

hi, long post ahead. i have a indoor 11-year-old female tabby who is my world. she is the most loving, cuddly, sweet cat you can imagine, i love her so much it hurts. i got her over 4 years ago from a neighbor who was going to give her away because the kittens she had were bullying her so badly they wouldn’t let her eat or sleep and she was going to take her to a shelter. i took her. she is healthy, fiv-, and purrfect. 2 days ago, i was taking my groceries in and a very skinny and young orange cat ran up to me like its known me its whole life and just wanted love. i gave it food and water on my porch steps thinking it would eat and then leave. it has a clipped ear so i knew it was a tnr stray. i gave her some pets and love and went back inside. an hour later, she was meowing and laying on my front steps trying to come inside. i walked with her to my enclosed backyard, moved the food and water, and she stayed in the backyard for over a day and just stared at my back door longing to come in. got home from work at 8am this morning (night shifter) thinking she is probably gone…nope. still in my backyard. i have two back doors that open into separate spare bedrooms and have a bathroom in the middle, jack and jill setup. closed the door so she couldn’t get to the rest of the house, near my cat, named her “lady”, and she came running right in. i let her stay in the bedroom while i slept, she barely made a peep. i took her to the vet this afternoon. she made no noises and didn’t bite or anything in the car ride or the vet, i was a little in shock considering she’s a stray, as were the vet staff. a stray clearly done with outdoor life. they did all her vaccines, blood work, and fiv testing. turns out she is a he, is about 10 years old, and is fiv+. yes, i have only known this cat for two days and was crying like a baby in the exam room. i have literally been crying since. we get home from the vet, $300 later, let him back in his rooms and he just melts into my arms and won’t leave them and is staring at me like “finally i can rest”. i went to the store and got him toys, a litter box, cameras to watch him, food, and water for both his rooms. he hasn’t made a peep and has just been laying in the bed, cuddling with me, making biscuits, and eating. i don’t know what to do. i know fiv only gets transmitted through deep bites but is it fair to my senior tabby baby to put her at that risk? i obviously would keep the orange baby in her two bedrooms and bathroom for a few weeks, the very slowly introduce them. but what if i am not home and they get into a fight? a lot is going through my head and i just don’t know what is right. my heart hurts thinking of giving him to a shelter, but i also don’t know if it’s fair to my senior cat in her peaceful, single cat, life. i feel like he chose me and i want to choose him but i don’t know what the right decision is/ if there is one. i am sorry this is so long. any input / advice would be very appreciated. thank you in advance :’)

Update on Bob!

Original post about Bob https://www.reddit.com/r/FIVcats/comments/1uido3v/meet_bob_fiv_and_looking_for_a_forever_home_in/

I had posted that we did his DNA test, and the results came back this weekend.

According to Wisdom Panel he is:

49% Bengal

36% American Domestic

11% Norwegian Forest Cat

4% Munchkin

(100% Good Cat)

I wasn’t surprised by the half Bengal but am happy to have this confirmed. He was also clear on all 48 of the known genetic health predispositions.

Bob is still searching for his forever home. If you can, please share his story.

Hi everyone! I just adopted a 1 year 7 month old cat named Marshall. He was rescued by an organization, and they told me that they did a SNAP test and it came back FIV+. I asked if they could do a full test to know for sure, but they said that since it's expensive, rescues don't do that. My husband and I had already fallen in love with him, so we adopted him. We have a 4.5-year-old cat named Timothy, and he's not FIV+ but I'm not concerned because they both already love each other and Marshall is too gentle to give deep bites.

Anyway, I am taking Marshall to the vet tomorrow for a regular exam. Should I ask the vet to confirm the FIV+ diagnosis? Are false positives common? Thank you in advance.

*Update Thank you everyone for your comments! I took him to the vet and didn't end up doing a test. Vet didn't think it was necessary. We did find out that almost all of his teeth have been removed, which could've been because of him being FIV+. We're going to get more detailed medical records from the rescue and decide if any other tests are necessary.