Fiv Cat

Common Ailments In Cats

Cat Allergies: Cats, like humans, can suffer from a wide range of allergies. The most common allergy among cats is flea allergy. As cats get older, their sensitivity to flea bites increases. Food allergies account for another 5-10% of cat allergies. Food allergies might manifest themselves as dermatitis and severe itching, or vomiting and diarrhea, but may take up to 10 years to show up.

Vomiting: Some cats vomit all the time, while others rarely do. One of the most common reasons for vomiting is hairballs. All cats benefit from regular brushing to help minimize shedding and ingestion of hair. To check to see if your cat has vomited as a result of hairballs, examine the vomit carefully for small grayish pellets or lumps, regardless of your cat's hair color. Hairballs can occur even with shorthair cats. Another reason for vomiting might be that your cat is allergic to its food. Try switching to another brand with substantially different ingredients and no food colorings to see if that helps. Sometimes cats vomit when they have worms. Consult your vet for a worming appointment. Periodic throwing-up can also be a sign of an overactive thyroid or kidney infection. This is particularly common in older cats. Your vet can do a blood test to find out about either. You know your cat's habits. If it vomits more than usual or in some way demonstrates a departure from its normal habits, take it to the vet. The main thing is to give it plenty of fluids so it does not become dehydrated.

Diarrhea: If your cat has persistent diarrhea, you can try changing its diet. You can try boiled rice, cottage cheese, bread, plain yogurt, boiled chicken, chicken broth or strained meat. Choose the ones your cat prefers. If symptoms continue for more than two days, take your cat to the vet with a stool sample. You should also call your vet immediately if your kitten is weak or listless, or refuses to take fluids.

Feline Urinary Syndrome: (FUS) Feline urinary syndrome, or FUS, is an inflammation, irritation, and/or obstruction of the lower urinary tract. The inability to pass urine can become a life and death situation if not treated quickly. FUS is far more common among male cats than females. Your cat might have FUS if it strains to urinate, has blood in the urine, makes frequent trips to the litter box with only small amounts voided, or forgets how to use the litterbox.

Diabetes: Diabetes occurs in cats who cannot properly regulate their blood sugar level. Symptoms may include excessive thirst and urination; loss of weight or obesity. Older cats are more likely to develop diabetes than younger ones. Diabetic cats should be kept indoors to prevent accidental feeding that could elevate its blood sugar.

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus: (FIV) Though this disease is related to HIV, it is NOT possible to contract AIDS from a cat with FIV. FIV is passed through open wounds such as cat bites, resulting in an impaired immune system. As there is currently no vaccine for this disease, FIV-positive cats should be kept inside and away from other cats.

Upper Respiratory Disease Upper respiratory disease will manifest itself in your cat by cold or flu-like symptoms, like a runny nose and sneezing combined with reddened, runny eyes.

Feline Herpes Virus: Don't worry, you can't get herpes from your cat! FHV affects only cats.

Chlamydia Psittaci: Chlamydia is a bacteria-like organism that inhabits the tissues around the eyes. The most common symptom is conjunctivitis, which is generally seen in one eye at first, then spreads to both eyes.

Tristan Andrews writes useful articles about cats and kittens. Discover and explore the feline world. Find out how to better care for, train and live with your cat at http://www.i-love-cats.com

My cat has bad URI and antibiotics are not working. What can I do for him?
I adopted an FIV+ cat about 3 months ago. We took him to the vet right away and he did a week of Clavomox in his food. That did not work, so he went on 28 days of Zithromax in his food. That also did not work. Now he just finished another 16 day course of Clavomox and he is no better. He is very congested. I don't know what to do to help alleviate his congestion. Steroid shots seem to help for about a week (he has a very ulcerated mouth for which he is given the steroid shots), but then he just goes back to being full on congested again. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you all for your responses! I put him in the bathroom with steam for about 30 minutes a day, but it doesn't seem to help. I should have mentioned earlier that he is also positive for Bartonella. (but supposedly the Zithromax was supposed to get rid of that).

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does anyone have experience with FIV in their cat?
my cat was diagnosed with FIV in 2006 i believe, after being in the hospital for a few days with FLUTD (penis blocked with crystals etc.). He has since been great! but i just am curious about some things so that i can keep him healthy and doing great! so if anyone knows a lot about this i would appreciate any advice. my questions are; is antibiotics okay for cats with FIV? my baby is 10 now so he's getting up there. i took him to the doc recently because his laranex (throat) swelled up from having to bite at fleas, which i didn't realize he had because hes so fluffy and they gave us metacam and cefa drops to help him recover. i read somewhere never to give a FIV cat antibiotics. i have this site here http://www.holisticanimalmedicines.com/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=192 and i don't know if i can just trust something from a website but i am curious if there is anything anyone else uses to pro-long their cats life with FIV. i use to crush up vitamins and mix with ice cream and squirt it down his throat untill all his fur came back and he gained weight i stopped doing it. i wonder if i still should? anyways my main thing is here, the DO'S and DON'T'S for a cat with FIV is what I'm looking for. thanks so much for any of your help!!! wow thank you SO much to, musicgurl JC and catlover. great advice and you made me feel better!! Oh yeah and the vet that diagnosed my cat recommended i put him to sleep and told me he had bladder cancer. i went back the next week and the "cancer" was gone. sometimes i wonder if the FIV was a false positive but that's just wishful thinking. That vet is horrible and i've made sure i told everyone i knew! He didn't do anything to help me with his FIV, he just told me i couldn't afford it and i had only been to him that one time, what would he know? That's why I praise a good vet when i find one, i let them know!!

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My cat Moses is FIV positive. Having heart tbl and running temp?
He was still eating well, on baby food or canned food. Took him to vet, she put him on lasix-showed a lot of fluid in chest-2days ago. Breathing somewhat better but has temp 103.3. I have him on hawthorne berry and coQ10. I do a lot of herb stuff, have very limited income 2 purchase much more for him. On internet i see 2 things that I was trying to find if anyone has used on FIV cats with any success. One is ES Clear, which is basically essiac tea in potent liquid formula for animals. The other is called Supa Immuno Support by Hampl Natural Medicines for animals. That one has many great things, like maritime pine bark (which I have read many excellent things about), colloidal minerals, mushroom extract, Acemannan (which I have read really good stuff about that as well), selenium, amino acids, garlic, echinacea, etc. I can only purchase one more item, about $30-40 and I want something that may really help him. Plus I am treating a female cat that has 2 tumors on her back leg from vaccines with Paw Paw, and was figuring whatever I get for Moses, I could give them both.

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rabbits, cats, mange, fleas and poop!?
now that i said that i just realize i'm becoming a hillbilly like everyone else in TN haha! anyways i have a few questions. for one, what can you give rabbits for fleas? my son just got one for easter and of course i'm the one taking care of it, just need some info. second, i brought a shelter dog in the house a month or so ago maybe 2.5 months even and i think she had mange, now ever since then we had a HUGE flea problem and i have treated our two cats (one with FIV the other extremely overweight) with advantage for 2 months now, my cat i adore with every inch of my heart has been hacking ever since (FIV cat) the shelter dog left and my beloved fiv cat has been constantly chewing himself NON STOp and hacking all night long. i took him to the vet once he said it was an irritated larynx because of fleas and fur, i treated him like he said i should and everything seemed good (unless i jsut slept the night through without noticing) and then he starts hacking again like a couple weeks later. could it be there is still mange in the house because now my sons rabbit is scratching and i cant imagine it STILL being fleas after 2 months i dont have any carpet in my house. then lastly !!! i am new to the rabbit world and i have a dwarf lion head (supposedly) he is tiny white and fluffy, i was wondering if his poop could get the cats sick in anyway? being i have my FIV kitty i'm kind of worried with him being around the little pellets that might get away from the cage now and then. lol well the dog is gone but yeah tawn you're right! and it's very stressful esp since im a huge worry-wort but i dont have far too little knowledge, actually i'd like to say i have more than the typical, hence my asking and finding things out combined with research itself. it helps me feel better.

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my FIV cat wont stop licking and grooming himself!?
my cat has FIV, he's 11 in may and is doing great. BUT i took him to the vet a month ago because he was starting to hack a little bit, and we gave him some antibiotics and something else and it got a little better, doc said it was probably because of fleas, i have no carpet and treated the fleas for 2 months i think they're gone but now the last three days he's been hacking up SO MUCH worse i took him to the vet today and they gave him a steroid shot because the doc says he has allergies or the mold in our house has compromised his lung and we had to give him the steroid even tho he has fiv and the steroid could make is worse but at this point its better to give it to him then not. have never seen him lick and groom himself like this before, it wakes me up at night and i can't sleep. we just got my son a bunny and now it wont stop licking itself. could there be some parasite bothering them that the doc didnt know to take notice to? we have one other cat, i dont know whether she licks to much shes my husbands cat so i dont pay much attention to her lol but i think shes very healthy. what possible parasites could i be dealing with? my cat, i just noticed after the doc (DAMN IT unfortunately) ,has two red (blood) spots on one of his ears, i dont know if that has anything to do with it but they were never there before.hes never been like this before. we just moved to TN from FL could it be the spring up north? i wouldn't know. but if so why is the bunny scratching and licking non-stop now too when it didnt when it first came here? could it be mange from a dog i brought in the house a month ago or so that i meticulously cleaned after it left? OR if it is just my cat reacting to mold, there something else i can give him to help his immune system? the doc said no and he's a good one but i dont believe it. thanks in advance to anyone who answers i knows it a long detailed question, and i'm a proud natural born worry-wort lol

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Fiv Cat News

Pets of the Week: April 22, 2012

Pets are available at the St. Johns County Pet Center, 130 N. Stratton Road. Call 209-6190. Adoptions are $60, which includes neutering/spaying, rabies vaccinations and shots.Izzy is a 4-year-old neutered male short hair cat, current on all vaccines, very loving. He's spent all of his time indoors. His brother arrived at the shelter with him but still needs a little time meeting new friends.