(FeLV) & feline aids (FIV) and infectious disease

hi. i am so sorry, i post a lot about my dog. this is about my kitten who is on her first heat, something i thought would be avoided by spaying her before this happened but guess not. Asking for any basic info you may have on this, though i will google and go crazy. My neighbor has a 7 month old kitten. no vaccines. I took care of her for a week, unexpectedly in April. My kitten had received all possible vaccines by that time (two feligens, one felv (country is out so only got one) and a rabies. The kitten is sick and just saw a vet. She has a fever and it's my understanding that the vet beelives (FeLV) & feline aids (FIV) or 'infectious diseases' are possible that would have been in the kitten since birth i guess. I don't know more. If there is any simple guess, explanation at anything relevant to my kitten - i would be so grateful to learn. I will see my vet in a bit. i have made him stressy re my dog. Would it make any sense for my neighbor to go to the house that was giving away kittens to ask if any of them have gotten any diseases? i have not googled anything kitten until this heat stuff, so i dont know anything but will google. thanks so much in advance

sorry. what i mean is that the plan was to spay her before she got her heat. she got her heat before she could be spayed. it is not ideal for my sanity. but, it's life.  i am unsure how anything kitten works but understand that my neighbor lacks the resources for tests, which i will pay for, those two in the title plus the basic blood tests that the vet ordered. her kitten is not crazy like mine is. her kitten never leaves their floor/ balcony (above me). my kitten is crazy and has learned to open doors. she is not preggo. but there was possible some contact last week when a sitter was not as OCD. the kittens are not besties and i doubt they even got near each other. The kitten upstairs lived with me for a week when an unforeseen situation happened. sorry. i will just google. this must be annoying. thanks sorry

omg sorry- both kittens are female. the one upstairs has a fever as of today. i wont write more. her vet thinks thre is more going on and i will do my best to suggest i pay for those tests while ideally not neurotically worrying about mine (will see our vet later today)

Hi - first, let me send you a hug.  I find that unknown possibilities are much more scary than a known, estaished plan so it seems to be a good idea to go through this systematically and understand the following......

1.  What FeLV and FIV are and how they are passed on.   This is summarised nicely in an article in our blog site called: How reliable are FIV / FeLV tests. 2.  Is it likely that your cat may carry FIV or FeLV - and will tests be helpful in this regard, or will they further muddy the water? (can the testing can bring up false positives after a vaccination?).   Your vet will be happy to discuss this with you. I do not reccommend sending neighbours round asking questions; in my experience, the answers are rarely helpful, first because of the 'whispers' effect but also because not every cat carrying these diseases is ill, so your neighbour might not have noticed symptoms - and if they had noticed symptoms of illness, the signs could be down to something else because the signs of FIV and FeLV are quite inspecific.  Being aware if either disease has specifically been flagged by their vet is useful, if you feel that you can trust the answers.   It seems sensible to ensure that your cats are not in a position to pass these diseases on if they were to be carrying them, and how to do this. Thankyou for considering the possibility of this disease and educating yourself in advance of any problems.  'Would any of these tests be useful in my situation?' is a very good question for your vet.

If you still have outstanding questions after this, please do not hestitate to come back.  You never need to apologise for asking questions to help you to understand your cats' health.

ok since i wrote a lot has happened and i think i don't know what your thoughts are for my kitten- i also suck at this. She is allowing me to pay and we are going to today to get the tests as her kitten hasn't eaten. the orders are for the two diseases and some basic blood tests. her kitten has a fever, isn't grooming, and she took her to her vet today (that is how i know she wants both diseases tested, i just had to push her a bit).  SO here is what i will ask my vet.well. i will insist on both tests for mine no matter what - but any thoughts on those tests when a kitten is on a heat? i will go with what mine says. and this next question is likely dumb sorry- so i lent my neighbor the kitty backpack i have- one of those with like a plastic dome thing- this feels really stupid to ask. sorry- i am googled out. until we know what her kitten has, would you suggest 1. dont put your kitten in the backpack 2. clean it with xyz and then it's ok 3. something else? i read that whatever the kitten could have she can't give it to me to give to my kitten (i mean, i know i cant get it and i don't plan to touch the kitten but just want to triple check while knowing these are dumb). so for now let's pretend the kitten could have either/both and since birth (not mine, the one im about to go to the vet with, with neighbor). these feel really dumb. im sorry!  

and thank you so much. i skimmed whta you wrote really fast. i need to spend more time on it. unsure if i should say to neighbor- hey, let's go to where xyz person gave you the kitten and try to ask what issues any have had- but maybe best to wait for results

sorry . i feel like a d%#k asking about my kitten, in any case, i am going to take my neighbor to the lab to do the test either today or tomorrow. the vet is the best and really really wants the tests done asap so i assume it's for a reason. i will be taking her and the kitten asap- she is from a neighboring country so has the language but this is all foreign to her. understandably, she is hesitant about the two disease test  and i get it, trust me. but in any case, sorry, i feel super selfish to make it about my kitten. i trust my vet and will take her to the lab today or tomorrow and just hope the kitten is ok- this is the first time she has had any symptoms. she is very sweet. sorry. i feel like i take way too much of your time. i got this. thak you

hi. sorry, ignore me. whatever happens happens. i won't google what does it mean if mine could only get one vax  and i took care of that kitten xyz days after the one or xyz or anything. i trust my vet and have enough to pretend i won't worry about. all good. thank you. i know that our situation is wayyyy too far removed from the UK and i am taking time from people who have issues more relevant to your expertise. im sorry- thank you !!  

i will update with the result- they did the tests today. i am bricking it, as it seems that the vet feels that they symptoms = a likelihood of mom gave it to the kitten- i guess because of just the two symptoms- the fever and no grooming. i am bricking it because those diseases are all over this town- FeLV for sure - no idea about the other one. The shortage of vaccines hasn't helped. and well, i took the kitten as she was left alone for several days and I felt that was not ideal. she was like 4 months old and scared. in that week, sure my kitten had just had the one felv and the others-i don't think the kittens groomed each other but the played. and for some reason my kitten did her bizaz in the litter box of the upstairs one. i will feel bad, asit will be my fault, but im used to making mistakes, i just didnt want to make them with the kitten too. sorry. all of this is irrelevant to the UK. but maybe i won't update if it's  bad news for the neighbor kitten as nobody loves a debbie downer. but i believe the results of those and the bloods will be back today.  i was going to get all those tests before the spay anyway for mine, but ideally without whatever could happen today. sorry. this is probably non-linear.

hi. im sorry. i would love your help and i should have posted in 'kitten' originally and unsure if i need to do a new post as it's a new diagnosis and i am sorry. i am also feeling terrible but won't make this about if my kitten gave this to her- but based on the blood tests -- the two rapid tests came back negative for the above two,  but based on on the blood section portion and symptoms -- FIP is the diagnosis for the kitten. I will have to hope that the neighbor asks the the vet the right questions as that part is out of my control- i am just very very very concerned as i do NOT want this kitten in pain. I hope you may be able to share, on a very general level- Do you have any recommendations of just food/nutrient type things I could buy? for my dog i knew one time i bought some gel thing she hated but i guess some dogs like it- something like nutrigel- is there anything good for kittens like a gel thing? or a go to 'try this' for kittens that aren't eating?  i  have faith in the vet's plan, which I understand to be trying an antibiotic - yesterday, day 1 went ok, but today is bad. I have total faith in the vet's plan, which is they will meet on Monday. she is fantastic, the issue is that my neighbor has $ challenges. I worry she may not pursue vet help due to $ issues. My neighbor needed to ask which symptoms = the kitten needs to see a vet if she declines rapidly. i  don't believe she asked those questions. Based on your experience/ knowledge with FIP- any recs on 1. symptoms that = see a vet asap and ask for xyz and/or 2. things to try to feed 3. pain reduction i would be so grateful. My neighbor and her vet of course have the relationship, but i would like to have anything available / knowledge due to the specific context which = i may have to be pushy as i will be paying and i am fine with paying but she is reluctant to embrace that. sorry. not sure if i phrased any of this right. thank you so much

omg i am so sorry. as of seconds ago there is a new situation- well. 1. the vet had her buy some wet food, she ate it yesterday not today. 2. i will get a different wet food 3. when she was giving the kitten the med, the kitten bit her. omg sorry this is getting more nightmarish. it bled. it is no longer bleeding. it is our undrestanding that corona virus is not something a kitten can give to her. i have zero knowledge, clearly about anything medicine. i asked if it's swollen, weird, red lines, anything funky- she said there is a red mark under her fingernail. yesterday/today holidays in our south american country. thevet is closed. ugh. sorry- i can google this but any chance you have any suggestions on 'what = a human should be concerned about a bite that bled that bled for some time, and has now left a red mark'? i am so googled out on dog stuff but i will jump back in as i am so needy and annoying. im sorry. what a quilombo, as they say here  

ok. sorry. last post for real. she has cleaned it with alcohol. i  write her in english and perhaps should not have mentioned my peru dog bite experience- but i went with this any any quick ideas on the top of your head - amazing and i feel i should nevre write again as this is super uggs.

Hello - please note that I am not a human doctor.  However, any cat bites that penetrate the skin should always be shown to a human doctor sooner rather than later because there is a high likelihood of bacterial infection (whichever country you are in).  Furthermore, the human doctors will be aware of any other species-specific illnesses local to them.  Feline Aids and Feline Leukaemia are species specific ie not transmissable to humans.