r/FIVcats

Hi furparents! Ask lang po sana if meron dito na may experience sa kitten na may hydrocephalus.

My kitten is only 5 weeks old and currently confined. Napansin namin na hirap siyang i-lift yung body niya, especially yung head niya, parang hindi niya kayang suportahan nang maayos. The vet suspects hydrocephalus and we're still waiting for more updates.

We also suspect na baka nadaganan siya ng mama cat, since siya rin yung pinakamaliit sa magkakapatid. Hindi kami sure kung may kinalaman iyon sa condition niya or if congenital talaga.

Sobrang worried lang ako and gusto ko sana marinig yung experiences ng ibang furparents na dumaan sa ganito.
• Ano po yung naging symptoms ng kitten niyo?
• Paano niyo siya inalagaan sa bahay?
• Kailangan ba ng special feeding or physical therapy?
• Nag-improve po ba yung condition nila over time?
• May medications or treatments ba na nakatulong?

Any advice, experiences, or success stories would really help. First time ko po kasi magkaroon ng kitten na may ganitong condition and gusto ko siyang mabigyan ng best possible care.
Thank you so much sa sasagot. 🥺🙏🐾

Just took in three kittens that we found on the side of the road. They are in the spare room - I am just worried about them giving my FIV+ cat something. I used one of his bowls and his carrier with these kittens and now im unsure if this was a good idea. How can we protect him and help the kittens?

Update 2 days later: thanks all for your love ❤️ he is doing quite well now! Taking his pain killers and eating cooked chicken, fish and even kibble indeed. No bleeding and even some play! (Although we dont yet want him biting into string etc) He is already giving me his high five and fist bump tricks so i think he is recovering well 😺

--

Yesterday, our Gumbo went in for dental cleaning and extraction of at least one rotten canine. I told them that I wanted them to do what was medically the best for him, we are lucky that we are not financially restricted. But then by the end of the day they called us that all 4 canines, and 10 more (front) teeth are extracted 😣😣

I was so shocked and felt so bad, did we make the right call? Of course no way to go back but damn it feels like we mutilated him 😣😣

Especially because he wasnt eating after the procedure, I felt soo bad and disstressed yesterday. After a few hours he finally ate cooked chicken, and he is taking his pills, cuddling a bit (although usually he is velcro) and doing tiny head bumps, which reassures me the most as his mouth must be in pain.

I know that many fiv cats have their teeth extracted but it feels so wrong 😣🥺

Still in disbelief but on the first of this month, my fiv cat nugget was euthanized. I found her abandoned on the side of the road back in June 2025. Severe URI and conjunctivitis in both eyes. Was pouring out green discharge from the eyes and nose. Took her to the vet, found out she was 10 weeks and got her treated. I gave her steam showers, cuddled her to sleep, hand fed her. She was my child. Things were good save for the reoccurring mild uri I found to be chronic. Besides the dmg done to her left eye from the conjunctivitis and how long it took her to get treated she had mild scarring but was otherwise perfect. Then my roommate rescued another kitten, 10 weeks, on the side of the road scared in Sept 2025. At the time we hadn't known she was FIV positive. Financial strain had us hold back on certain testing at the time.

The roommate's kitten had an uri of his own and I didn't think anything of it but as we were unaware of the potential danger till Dec 24, 2025 when my nugget was found barely responsive, struggling to breathe. Lethargic. High respiratory rate. We took her to the vet where they diagnosed her with early pneomnia. With Sriracha roommate kitten having a uri and nugget, at first it was a ping pong event as we struggled to get both properly medicated and treated while separated to prevent reinfection. Took a few months but then everyone was stabilized and Uri cleared up and nuggets pneomnia had been dealt with. She was 2 weeks symptom free without meds mid April 26. Thinks were looking up. Then she gave birth roommate's unspayed male got loose

Long story short she gave birth to 3 kittens. The chronic congestion and sniffles had returned but again we thought nothing of it because she has been the best she ever was. Till . July 1st. I woke up early to get the ogp order of her favorite wet food but upon opening the can I was met by her kittens but no Nugget. After searching I found her under the bed, looking worse for wear.. idk if it was the heat in my state, exhaustion from feeding, that led to the pneomnia grabbing hold once more but. She was the worse I ever saw. Completely out of it. Even with her resting in the cool room, gently giving her syringed water and letting her relax, she struggled to breathe. Managed to get her into the car and to the vet but. The congestion was so audible and horrible it sounded like fluid had built up in her lungs on top of the bright green booger going in and out of her nose with each inhale/exhale.

After the initial ignorance and skill issue on my part during her first round of treatment for pneomnia I had hoped they would just need to give her convenia and rest but. They gently coaxed me to euthanize. She was barely aware of where she even was with all her energy focused on just trying to breathe. It wasn't an easy decision and even know I am mentally broken at the loss. Barely had her over a year. Was hoping for a good 5 years at least. Idk if her pneomnia came back or if the mild sniffle chronic uri + the heat done + the exhaustion from feedings just laid the groundwork for what happened but I lost my baby. I've never lost a pet before and I pray I made the right call. I just didn't want her to struggle anymore. If in the end it was revealed she was easily treatable I will never forgive myself for ending her life so soon. My family, best friend, and the vet team said I made the kindest choice for her .. but idk 😭😭😭😭

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HY6KpZCY53yiDNae9

Album I put together detailing her growth up till recently. Missing some recent photos since my old phone became damaged. I am filled with regret for not having recordings of her quirky behavior, silent meows we presumed from the damage done to her sinuses as a kitten plus the chronic uri and congestion from the initial untreated uri, that the inflammation was why she could rarely meow, if coming out as a gasp. I miss her so much.

Hello, I’m looking for advice from the FIV community.

About 2.5 years ago I adopted two senior FIV cats who had lived in a shelter for years. (Not in cages, rooms like a warehouse with multiple cats each).

I know usually FIV is not a death sentence but it seems I adopted them somewhat at end of life relative to what they’ve been through (even though one was 8 and one was 11).

They had diarrhea for years which was extremely messy. I was finally able to clear one cat using Kitty Biome after exhausting most vet options. (I will sing its praises the rest of my life). He then died three months later of brain or nasal cancer. 😭

My remaining cat, no intervention has helped. He’s had every test and scans - to no avail. We have tried every medication (holistic and not) you can think of, every diet.

He’s at the point where he’s a fussy eater on top of it, I have to come up with different enticing things for him to eat, for him to eat at all. So limited diets are no longer an option.

Despite all of this I can’t imagine giving up now because he still purrs; still sleeps, is not hiding, begs to eat (even though he doesn’t actually eat that much anymore).

I can tell his digestion is painful. It’s audible and messy and he sits with his butt in the air raised off surfaces.

He has trouble staying clean but I’ve read grooming elderly cats is so stressful as to be counter productive.

He’s steadily losing weight. (Down to 7 lbs from 10 lbs). Despite steroids he’s been on now for years. The steroids make his skin issues chronic.

Describing all of this now I see many of you may say it’s time and maybe I don’t have the external perspective to ascertain this. I know some of you will understand that I don’t want to give up pre maturely while he still may have a relatively good quality of life, especially since he lived on the street and then a shelter before arriving to my forever home.

Please send any similar stories and what you learned in retrospect. I really appreciate it. 🧡

Pictures 1-5 are Obie, 6-8 are Little Miss Muffins, and 9-11 are my sweet Biskit. The last picture or 2 in each is their before photo.

They were neighborhood cats that showed up on my property in August, 2022. Muffins, the only female was pregnant and very anti-human. She also didn't meow. A real wild kitty!

Obie was the big neighborhood tomcat and Biskit was young, maybe a year, and in really poor condition, extremely thin and dehydrated.

I had already brought them in, spayed and neutered, before I found out about their health issues. I figure they need me more than ever!

Her two little girl voidlings were adopted together by a doting catdad. They're all grown up and thriving!

After more than a year of trying to integrate Bob with our two cats, we have come to the extremely difficult decision to look for a home where Bob can reign freely over his kingdom.

 When he first showed up on our deck in Feb of 2025, we thought such a beautiful cat had to be lost. Then we saw he was unneutered and heard he had been making the rounds to neighbor's homes and knew he must be a stray. He started showing up with terrible injuries and we felt we needed to do something. With lots of help from the neighborhood, and after months of trying, we finally managed to trap him. It was never our intention to keep him ourselves. We already had two cats, and our female is very anxious and territorial. As a stray, he was tested for FIV and FeLV when he was fixed. Getting the FIV+ results was a shock to us. We had never even thought about that being an issue. But, as he was positive, we knew he could not be returned to the streets, and it would be hard to place him in a home. At the time we did not know how he would adjust to life indoors. Not knowing his history, we were bowled over when he seemed to take to it like a duck to water. He warmed up to us quickly and soon we knew that he would need to move out of our bathroom for a larger area while we tried to integrate him into our home. 

Learning that FIV+ cats can live perfectly well with negative cats, we hoped for the best. Despite all our  efforts these last 12 or so months, Tilly has never accepted Bob, and she is under a great deal of stress because of his presence. When Tilly hisses and growls at Bob, he in turn, gets reactive. Bob did get past our gate system and got hold of her one time. Now, she is even more fearful of him. 

We have done everything in our power to acclimate the cats to each other- proper introductions, re-introductions, behavioral vet consultations, medications for them both, pheromone diffusers, etc. 

Bob has his own room, and we swap the cats so he gets to spend a few hours in the house with us. As I am home during the day, I visit/play with him frequently.

We know though that this is not the best situation for any cat. He deserves a loving home where he is free to roam and can be king of his castle. Bob is a wonderful cat. This decision has not been easy for us. We love him very much. But we want the best life possible for him. Bob survived the streets and deserves to be loved and pampered and to feel safe.

Our hope now is to find him the loving family he deserves. If you, or anyone you know, in the Columbus, OH area, are looking for a beautiful, smart and energetic cat, please let them know about Bob. 

Bob is very healthy, up to date on all vaccinations and gets regular vet care. He is about three years old. We do not know how he is around young children or dogs. We also feel that he would do best as the only cat in the household.

Besides being incredibly good looking, Bob is smart, curious and still figuring out life in a house. He is a fun, frisky boy who enjoys bird watching from windows, chasing his feather toys through his tunnel and being up on his high perch. He does not scratch furniture or carpets and uses his litterbox like a champ. Although he looks like a Bengal cat, we believe him to be a spotted tabby. We just ordered a DNA test kit for him, though.

While Bob enjoys pets and brushing, he can get overstimulated on rare occasions. When he does, he communicates clearly through body language (ears will go back) before he gets defensive. 

Currently, Bob is not a ‘lap cat’ but this may change once he gets to spend more one-on-one time with his person or people. He loves to be around people and gets the zoomies from time to time. He is active & clever and likes to keep sharp by solving food puzzles and hunting for hidden treats. His snuffle mat and ball pit are favorites.

We don’t have an extensive personal network in the Columbus area which is why I thought this post might get Bob’s story to more people. Also, while not the ideal living situation, we are committed to Bob and will keep him until his perfect home is found. 

If you are interested in Bob or know someone who might be, please reach out. There will be a rehoming fee and a vet reference check.

Mr Samson - ex stray

Hi,

This is Mr Samson. He was a stray and estimated 4 years old. He has FIV. He has some health issues too. Recently hes been put on Prednisolone and Doxycyline for chronic rhinitis after hes been grunting and wheezing. To diagnose this he underwent a rhinsocopy with biopsies.

He is overweight aswell which isnt great but we r trying with a hills science metabolic diet.

Anyway my question is, is it possible that the pred and doxycycline can make him lethargic and spaced out a bit? Im not joking when i say all he does it sleep. He was never particularly interested in playing but he did chase the and and use his interactive hunting mat but now he is NOT interested in the slightest. Hes eating drinking and pooing and peeing the same and wants cuddles all the time. He is just not interested in any type of movement or play. I have tried everything

I forgot his photos! Ahh

i’ve had my sweet boy cheeto for over three years, he’s currently about 13 years old and is fiv+. I think his biggest issue is his sneezing and sometimes runny noses. the antibiotics that the vet puts him on sometimes makes his stomach hurt and nebulizing him works sometimes. does anybody have any other tips for managing congestion/runny noses in their cats?

UPDATE: after i dropped him off i wept so hard BUT the couple i contacted on reddit ended up adopting him!! and they have another sweet orange cat so he’s never spending a single night in the shelter again!! so thankful for reddit 💕💕💕

hi guys,

I wanted to make this post to help me with coming to terms with the end of my foster journey with sweet 7 year old Gingie.

I met him at the shelter and I absolutely fell in love. I asked if I could foster him for a bit, and decided really quickly i was seriously interested in adoption. I bought everything and was so beyond excited because I’ve never loved or bonded with a cat more in my life.

Ultimately, I came to the decision that with the way my apartment is set up, I don’t have enough space to comfortably live with this velcro baby. With the help of Reddit, I was able to find a family going to visit him shortly after I drop him off tomorrow morning, and they are super excited and aware he’s FIV + , I also told the shelter to give all my supplies to the next family who adopts him (months worth of food, beds, litter, litter box, treats, toys) . I just want him to be happy.

He’s the absolute sweetest cat in the world, and he just loves being near his human. He’s never bit, scratched, nipped, the only thing he does is meow cause he wants to be pet.

Putting some pictures of this sweet boy (last pic is him sleeping rn next to me) , I’m going to love him forever, and I don’t think I can get a cat for a while even after I move because I will be missing him for a long time. So thankful for the beautiful couple adopting him, and fingers crossed he won’t sleep ina. shelter again for the rest of his life after drop off!!

My kitten (7mo) was just diagnosed with FIV. He unfortunately also has Herpes, so he’s really going through it. He was prescribed L-lysine, probiotics, calming meds, and Immunogen to help his immunity. He tolerates everything, but the Immunogen. He doesn’t eat much after he has the medication and acts like he has a tummy ache. Once he goes to the bathroom he’s back to normal. Is this normal for immunity medication like this? I’m trying to determine if I should stop it all together or keep going. Baby boy added for cuteness