FIV

Our cat has been diagnosed with FIV. Can he have his annual vacations?

Hello!  That's a complicated question and from what i can gather, depends on quite a few things.  One of these is how you know that your cat has FIV, how they were tested and what stage they are at.  Another might be how great their risk of catching eg cat flu is generally;  FIV positive cats should often become indoor cats in order to stop them fighting with other cats, which might recalibrate how important the vaccine is vs potential side effects.  The best people to speak to are your vaccination company, but I suspect that your vet will want to do so on your behalf.

Of course, and particularly if they have encountered the situation recently, they might already have gauged this.

Thank you. He had a blood test and it showed up recently.  When you look at some advice online some vets are happy to give. We wanted advice due to catteries only taking cats that are vaccinated!!

Let me give you some more background to explain why I am not happy to give you a definitive answer.  A positive FIV test is not necessarily the same thing as your cat having the FIV virus; false positive results are possible with some tests (eg if they drank milk containing antibodies from an infected mum as a baby, or after vacc).  Furthermore, when a cat carries the virus, there is a difference between that and actually being ill.  The virus itself is passed on through fairly close contact (mating / fighting) so shouldn't be a threat to other kennel inmates.  So, as you can appreciate, the real-life situation with 'having tested positive to FIV' can vary from cat to cat.  My willingness to give a cat a flu vaccine, or write them an exemption note, will vary.  This really does need to be decided by your individual vet who knows the case and the context.

You should, however, make the cattery aware of your cats condition. Good care and lots of love can help your FIV+ cat enjoy a long life.