u/moedasom

This is my baby Hiyori! She's 8 months old and the sweetest most friendly and social girl. I got her when she was around 5 weeks old from my ex partner's coworker. To me, it's important to know that her parents were both stray cats that had been living on this guys farm. Anyway, today was her spay appointment. I've been horrified for weeks since I've booked it because 2 of my close friends had their cats die due to anesthesia complications related to stress. Around an hour after I had dropped her off, the vet calls me. The call is about 98% accurate to what I'm quoting...
"Hi, this is *Woman I don't know* from *Vet office I brought her to*. Is this *my name*?"
Yea, oh my god is my cat dead? Did something happen with the anesthesia?
"No, but the cat you brought in today has FIV, which is basically AIDS."
Wow, holy shit okay. My cat has AIDS, is she gonna die?
"No, but we needed to call you to let you know he tested positive."
Okay. Fuck well thanks for letting me know. Are you still able to spay her or do I need to come get her?
"We can still spay him, but we need to let you know that less than 1% of the population has FIV so it is incredibly rare. If you decide by the end of his appointment today that you don't want to keep him, we have our own fosters for cats with FIV and it's better than having him euthanized."
I'm sorry, you keep saying him, I dropped off a girl... Do you have the wrong cat? You might be calling me about someone elses pet.
"Did you drop off a cat today or not?"
I did but you're saying him so I just want to make sure this is about Hiyori.
about a minute of dead silence and background noise.
*"*He, She, this is about YOUR cat. The cat that YOU dropped off has AIDS, ma'am. Do you want her or not?"
...What? Do I want her? Yes, you're not keeping my cat I'll be there after the surgery is over to pick her up!
"Well you need to know that the treatment for FIV is incredibly expensive and you'd need to give her shots every day for the rest of her life. We have fosters that care for cats with FIV specifically."
Okay, I'll do anything for her that she needs.
"Do you work full time?"
Yes I do
"So it would be incredibly difficult for you to monitor her health and give her medication. It's in your best interest to surrender her to someone that can provide for her."
I can provide for her just fine. I work overnights so I'm home with her all day, she's never had any issues before and she doesn't even like going outside.
"Okay, well if you decide you can't handle her anymore then you should have her surrendered, it's not right to euthanize her and we don't put cats down here."
I'm not giving her up and I'm not killing her. I will pay for any medication she needs and I will give it to her as much as she needs. I will be there when her surgery is done, thanks.
"Okay good luck, we'll let you know when she wakes up from surgery."
So after the call ends I break down sobbing and call
my mom. My mom is furious and instantly gets to googling... There is about 1.5 to 5% of cats in the states that have FIV, so I have no idea why this woman told me that it's less than 1% and incredibly rare. Secondly, I don't know if she's talking about interferon or what, but even so the "shots every single day" thing as far as I can find only applies to cats that have an illness due to FIV weakening their immune system. I don't know why, but the vet spent that whole phone call trying to persuade me into letting them keep my cat because they believe that I'm incapable? Anyway, her spay went well and she's home! The vet offered no other information about her having FIV besides basically keeping her carrier in a corner away from the other cats and saying "Is that the one with FIV?" when I came to pick her up. She's been eating wet food just fine and has been lounging on my bed. Any insight on what it'll be like caring for her going forward is greatly appreciated :)!!
*EDIT 5/19/2026
I have Hiyori scheduled for a FIV Snap test next week at a different hospital that many of my friends have personally recommended to me! I will make another post about her status and if she actually is FIV+. To keep anyone else safe from going through misinformation and blatant fear mongering, the organization I scheduled her spay with that called me is Kitten Angels in Fulton, New York. They for some reason unknown to me preformed the surgery at Central Veterinary Hospital in Albany, though. The woman who called and had that insanely nasty and unprofessional conversation with me is named Deborah, but according to reviews left by other patients, Kitten Angels has a reputation of giving fake employee names to dodge people calling back with complaints. Thank you all so much for your advice and support for me and my little girl!!