Catching a Bad Case of Rumors

Despite what many people think, cats with this condition can live perfectly long, happy, healthy lives.

I was on my way back to the sanctuary after a family visit in Colorado. Curled up beside me, purring contentedly, was Reggie, the cat nobody dared take in. You'd think he was an unexploded bomb or an X-rated movie.

Make that FIV-rated.

FIV stands for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. It's a lentivirus, meaning that it progresses very slowly, gradually affecting a cat's immune system. It is passed through blood transfusions and through serious, penetrating bite wounds - mainly by stray, intact tom cats. The most well-known lentivirus in humans is HIV. But the two are not at all the same, and you can't get FIV from a cat. In fact, the only thing about FIV that you can catch is a bad case of the rumors.

Reggie is six years old. "I fell in love with him at the shelter and decided to try to find him a home," said Connie, who had rescued him, but then be-came infected by the rumors. "When my vet diagnosed him with FIV, nobody wanted him."

"How does he get on with other cats?" I asked, innocently.

"My cats have NOT been exposed to him," Connie replied. "So I don't know how he reacts to other cats."

I started to explain that a friend of mine, Karen Green, has had her FIV cat, Bentley, living with her other cats for five years, but Connie was already glazing over. She didn't even want to listen, even though she wanted the best for Reggie. Reggie stretched and snoozed some more in the car. And I spent the 12-hour drive thinking about finding Reggie - and other cats like him - a good home. When I got back, I went straight to visit Karen.

"I once got a desperate e-mail from an 80-year-old woman," she told me. "Her only cat had just been diagnosed with FIV. The cat was perfectly normal and healthy, but her veterinarian had suggested euthanizing him. The woman was desolated. She asked if we would take him at Best Friends. I said she should keep him. But it was my word against the vet's." (While Karen is talking, Bentley jumps onto her lap. He's a big cat, with a purr like a Rolls Royce - or maybe a Bentley.)

"He was a stray cat who a woman had been putting out food for until she became incapacitated I took him home myself. He has such personality. I wasn't surprised when he tested positive for FIV. He fit the standard high-risk profile - he'd been a large, roaming, unneutered male." Bentley continues to be the most mellow and affectionate cat. Kids love him. So do other cats. Men admire his macho good looks, and with his paternal instincts, he has helped Karen foster 12 kittens in the past five years. All of them tested negative for FIV, of course.

"I had a roommate," Karen tells me, "whose vet told her to euthanize her 12-year-old cat when he was diagnosed with FIV! Big John is now 20 years old and completely blind, but otherwise perfectly healthy! People are always surprised to see how healthy Bentley is. But that's the way most of them are!" She has some happy-ending stories, too, like the letter from a woman who wrote: "After reading about FIV, I realized that much of the fear…is simply unfounded. So I've decided to keep this cat and raise him with my other cat, Jasmine."

As long as cats with FIV are not exposed to diseases that their immune system can't handle, they can live perfectly normal lives. And they can only pass the virus on to other cats through a serious, penetrating bite wound. So unless your cats at home routinely tear each other to pieces, it's not a problem. (And if your cats are tearing each other up, that's probably a bigger problem!)

Faith Maloney, our director of animal care, has two FIV kitties. "I'd had Chevalier for four years before I moved house and decided to test all of my other cats for FIV at the same time. Since they don't fight, none of the others was FIV positive. I even took in another FIV kitty last year."

Here at Best Friends, we have two rooms exclusively for FIV kitties. "They're some of the most gentle and affectionate cats here at the sanctuary," says Judah Nasr, who's in charge of all the cats here. Judah thinks the discovery of FIV, about 15 years ago, was a very mixed blessing. "If you go back 15 years, before any-body tested for FIV, all of these little guys would be in homes living long, normal lives. But we've discovered something we can put a name to - even if the cats never get sick!"

Dennis Cook and Anne Tatom live near Seattle, Washington with 17 kitties, seven of whom are FIV positive. Four of those seven came from Best Friends, and all of them live happily together. Anne enjoys e-mailing people who are interested in learning more about living with FIV kitties. "I have been a Best Friends member for years, and I understand that FIV kitties need a home, too. Sure, you have to be careful and introduce the new cat properly to the others. But the cats we adopted from Best Friends - Simon, Malcolm, Sir Lancelot, and Wink - have blended into my home just fine."

For Anne, it began when she took in a stray kitty she had been feeding and the vet told her he had FIV. Anne did some research and chose a veterinarian who was up to date on FIV. Surprisingly, many are not. When FIV was first discovered, the HIV scare was in high gear. A lot of vets didn't want to take any chances, so the rule of thumb was: "FIV cats should immediately be separated from non-infected cats. If you can't do this in your home, then find a place that will take them or have them euthanized." No wonder so many wonderful kitties were coming to Best Friends!

Dr. Susan Cotter, professor of hematology and oncology at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, is one of those who have helped dissolve these old fears. "I wouldn't advise getting rid of a cat that tests positive for FIV," she says. "If the cat is young and healthy, it could be years before anything changes." Best Friends veterinarian Dr. Virginia Froehlich says the one important thing is to keep your FIV cat healthy. (That, of course, is good advice for all your cats!)

"The virus affects the immune system," she explains. "So keep FIV cats indoors. Make sure they get regular vaccinations. And give them a high-quality diet. Keep an eye on them, and take them to the veterinarian at the first sign of illness."

A couple of weeks after I had brought Reggie to the sanctuary, I went to visit him at the TLC Cat Club. Lezlie Sage, our cat adoption person, was there, too, trying to decide whom to take on a weekend mobile adoption trip. "When I first came to work at Best Friends, I walked into one of our FIV rooms, and I thought I must be in the wrong room. I didn't know very much back then, and I expected to see sick cats. But all I saw were healthy ones. Now I know about FIV, and I know there's absolutely no reason for these wonderful kitties not to be in good homes."

As Lezlie was talking, sweet Reggie had curled up in my lap and gone to sleep. I looked around and saw some of the most handsome, healthy cats you could imagine. A bunch of them were all curled up in a basket together, grooming each other and purring. The most comfortable kitties in the world, I thought.

FIV Facts:

The standard declawing procedure calls for the removal of the claw and the first bone of the toe. The operation is usually performed on the front feet and is actually an amputation comparable to the removal of human fingertips at the first knuckle. The cat experiences pain in the recovery and healing process. We discuss the risks involved and alternative solutions in the sections that follow.

• Because a general anesthetic is necessary, there is the danger of an adverse reaction.
• If the bandages are put on too tightly, the foot may become gangrenous and necessitate an amputation of the leg.
• When the bandages are removed, many cats will begin to hemorrhage, thus, requiring rebandaging.
• In many instances, the entire nail bed was not removed and one or more claws will begin to regrow. The claws that do regrow are usually misshapen and quite useless.

• Upon recovering from the anesthetic, a healthy cat wonders why its feet are throbbing and bandaged.
• After the bandages are removed, the cat wonders what happened to its claws and why it hurts when it walks.
• Frequently, a cat becomes distrustful of its owner and/or veterinarian. With rare exception, the declawed cat is the most difficult to examine.
• A declawed cat is more apt to bite if it feels threatened. It doesn't take much for the cat to feel nervous.

• Nail Clipping
  If you clip off a tiny bit of each nail once a week or every two weeks, 80% of the cats will significantly reduce their scratching. Damage done by continued scratching will also greatly lessen as dulled, clipped nails are significantly less harmful to surfaces. Make nail trimming a part of your pet's grooming ritual and begin when your pet is young. When clipping the nail, be careful not to cut into the pink "quick" that runs down the center of the nail. Should you need help, your vet or someone at the shelter will gladly show you how to properly trim your pet's nails.
  
  
• Scratching Posts
  Buy or make a scratching post that is tall enough so that the cat can stretch completely when using it. The post should be stable so it will not wobble when being used. It should be covered with a heavy, rough fiber like the back side of carpeting or thick rope. Make the post a fun place to be by playing with your cat around it, attaching toys to it or by rubbing it with catnip. Your cat likes to be where you are so put the post in an accessible area where you can see it. If you are trying to discourage the cat from scratching a particular piece of furniture, try placing the post in front of it, gradually moving the post aside as the cat begins to use it regularly. Remember to praise her for being a good cat and using her post!
  
  
• Perfume
  Shake a small amount of Jean Naté bath oil on a piece of cotton. Attach the cotton to the part of the furniture the cat is scratching. This will repel the cat so long as the scent remains (while giving your room a pleasant aroma). A little squirt of Jean Nate goes a long way so use it sparingly. Make sure you do not stain your fabric.
  
  
• Sticky Tape
  Cats hate to get their paws dirty or stuck. Use either carpet or scotch tape that is sticky on both sides, placing strips of the tape along the edges of the furniture, carpeting or whatever the cat is scratching.
  
  
• Soft Paws
  Soft Paws are little plastic covers that are glued on to the cat's nails. Let your vet put them on. Once the Soft Paws are in place, your cat can scratch to his heart's content without damaging your chair or sofa. Soft Paws will be effective for about 4 months, after which time a new set will need to be put on.
  

We are looking to all of you for help, asking that you spay or neuter your animals. This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent animal cruelty. We also ask that talk to members in your own community. Help educate folks about animal overpopulation and urge everyone to spay/neuter their pets.

In five years, one cat couple can produce over 11,000 offspring; a dog couple, over 12,000 puppies. This is much faster than the growth rate of adopting families. The solution is a basic grass roots one: individuals like you make a real measurable difference in the overpopulation problem by spaying or neutering your own pets and by adopting spay/neutered pets from organizations such as Baypath.

It is virtually impossible to establish exactly the number of animals that are destroyed each year in the United States. The estimates for 1997 range from 5 million (Tufts Veterinary School) to 12 million (The American Humane Association). If you dare picture it, that many animals standing in line and waiting to die extends from New York City to Juneo, Alaska!

There are still too many adoptable, yet unwanted animals that suffer from a cruel hard life on the streets. However, their numbers are decreasing. Just a few years ago, Baypath became committed to spaying/neutering each and every one of the adults animals adopted from our care. Each year, Baypath spays/neuters every cat and dog before they are adopted out to their new, loving family, thereby reducing by thousands the number of animals on the streets or destroyed in shelters.

We understand that spaying and neutering can be an expensive procedure for many. We now have available for sale Friends of Animals certificates which can lesson the financial burden of spaying and neutering.

The facts of overpopulation are astounding but true. Baypath is one of the few no-kill shelters in Massachusetts and, with your help, we have been able to take in and find loving homes for a very small percentage of the stray animals. Spaying/neutering and the associated vet costs are Baypath's single greatest expenditure. With your continued support, we hope we can help the animals even more in the year to come!