My seven-year-old rescue cat has really gross lumps on the back of his tongue. My vet tested for FIV and feline leukemia – both came back negative. He gave the cat a cortisol shot (I think – some kind of steroid) and the cat is going back after 2 weeks to see if that helped.
He also had some ulcers around his mouth. The vet also told me a couple of other things that it could be, which I will need to ask him about again, because I don’t remember. We are to watch him carefully to make sure he can still eat – no problems there and I hadn’t noticed any problems before he was diagnosed. We found the issue when he was in having a wound attended to.
Have you seen this before? Thanks in advance. Will he need periodic shots to keep this under control? I really feel bad for him.
Lynne
Houston, TX
Based upon your description several things could be going on.
Your cat may be suffering from stomatitis. Stomatitis is a painful condition in which the immune system attacks the teeth. This causes inflammation of the gums and in some cases the tongue. Cortisone shots sometimes reduce the inflammation associated with stomatitis. However, the benefit usually is temporary. Extraction of multiple teeth generally offers the best hope of a permanent cure for stomatitis.
Severe dental disease also can cause symptoms similar to stomatitis. Unlike stomatitis, dental disease does not involve an improperly functioning immune system. Professional dental work at your veterinarian’s office should eliminate oral lesions caused by dental disease.
Eosinophilic granulomas, also known as rodent ulcers, are common causes of ulcers and sores in the mouth. Rodent ulcers occur when an overactive immune system attacks the lips, gums, or tongue. Cortisone is the most commonly used treatment for rodent ulcers. I also recommend that cats with rodent ulcers receive consistent flea preventatives. Flea bites can stimulate the immune system and may exacerbate rodent ulcers.
Unfortunately, tumors can develop on the tongue. Squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive cancer that sometimes develops in the area.
If your cat’s condition does not improve significantly after the cortisone injection or if the lesions return when the cortisone wears off I recommend that your cat’s mouth be evaluated under anesthesia. At that time dental work can be performed if it is indicated. A biopsy of the affected area also is very likely to yield insight into the problem.
Meanwhile, watch your cat’s appetite and feed him soft food if necessary.
Hi, my cat, Charlie is three years old. He has been diagnosed with feline aids. He is a outdoor cat so it is impossible for me to keep him indoors and he tends to be a fighter. He has many wounds that are not healing and become abcesses due to the aids. Otherwise he is relatively healthy and happy.
Our vet has recommended that we have him humanely euthanised, due to the fact that he is spreading the virus when he fights with other cats, but I am very attached to him and it breaks my heart to have a healthy cat put down for this reason alone?
Ottilie
South Africa
Feline AIDS is caused by the feline immunodeficiency virus (also known as FIV). FIV is related to HIV, the virus that causes human AIDS. There is no evidence that FIV poses a health risk to humans.
Like HIV, FIV is not highly contagious. It is spread by fighting. And like HIV, untreated FIV takes seven to 10 (or more) years to be fatal. Sadly, there is no safe or effective method to treat FIV.
Like your vet, I am worried that your cat is spreading FIV to other individuals in the area. The sort of fighting that leads to abscesses is exactly the type of behavior that transmits the disease.
Also, remember that the virus may have weakened your cat’s immune system. He is therefore more likely to suffer from serious infections and other complications from fights and injuries that occur outdoors.
However, I don’t agree that euthanasia is the best option for your cat. I recommend instead that you keep him indoors. You state that he cannot be kept inside, but you don’t offer many details that indicate why. Have you truly made a concerted effort to keep Charlie indoors?
I recommend that you seriously try to keep him inside. There may be a difficult adjustment period as he gets used to his new lifestyle. But if he is like most cats I have known, he ultimately will adapt and thrive.
If you do not keep Charlie indoors you will be endangering his health as well as that of other cats in your area.
I have a q, I have two cats. One of them is positive for FIV. I just found out yesterday. I was wondering if it is alright to keep them together. They’ve never really been apart (since birth). So one really looks for the other. They don’t fight but when they play they do those playful bites to each other. So is it safe that they are kept together? or must they be kept apart?
FIV, short for feline immunodeficiency virus, causes feline AIDS. FIV is genetically related to the human AIDS virus. I am aware of no evidence that FIV poses a risk to humans living with infected cats.
FIV causes suppression of infected cats’ immune systems. This can lead to intractable infections or certain types of tumors. However, most FIV-infected cats live years (decades in many cases) without suffering any complications from infection.
FIV is not highly contagious. It is spread by fighting–serious fighting. To spread FIV, an infected cat must bite another cat severely enough to break the skin.
This sort of fighting is very rare in cats that live together. Cats that reside together in a house are often like siblings growing up in a family. They usually don’t get along perfectly. There may be a significant amount of noise and squealing. But they rarely inflict serious injuries on each other.
None of my FIV-positive patients has spread the virus to non-infected housemates. Since your cats get along well, it is very unlikely that the virus will spread.
Of course, it is still possible. A serious fight could lead to infection of your currently FIV-negative cat. You will have to decide on your own whether such a fight is probable. But if your cats are like ones I have known, the disease won’t spread. Here is a quote from my website:
FIV does not frequently spread among cats that live in the same household. Cats that cohabitate rarely engage in the aggressive, severe form of fighting that spreads the virus.
Idexx laboratories is a major veterinary diagnostic corporation with veterinary-specific laboratories located in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company is an innovator in veterinary diagnostics. And, I am happy to see that Idexx has signed on to the current initiative to boost the quality of health care delivered to cats.
As I have mentioned in at least one previous post, feline health care generally receives short shrift relative to the care that canine companions receive. Vets, industries linked to veterinary medicine and cat lovers are working to change the situation and give cats their due.
As part of its work to promote feline health, Idexx has launched a new website. The site, www.kittytest.com, displays the number of cats infected with FIV, FeLV and feline heartworm in each county in the USA as reported to the laboratory.
It’s a very interesting site. I recommend that you check it out.
Photo: Red, of Texas, has been diagnosed with FIV.
Hi, Anders here–I’m nudging Dr. B off of his soapbox for a few minutes to jump in on the Vet Blog today because I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Barchas this past weekend for Tailer’s first check-up since he arrived from Sweden.
Due to Tailer’s leap of faith at 0:24 in the video, I almost posted this on Snuzzy as well, but in the end felt that, thanks to a super thorough and very informative interview with Dr. Barchas, it really needed to be posted here.
Dr. Barchas talks about common vaccines, rabies, feline Leukemia, feline HIV and microchipping, among other things. Hope you enjoy it–HUGE thanks to Dr. Barchas for making this happen.
I am a foster parent for a cat rescue and am
currently fostering an FIV-positive cat. Our
philosophy is that FIV-positive cats can live
happy and healthy lives with proper care and we do not need to resort to euthanasia.
The problem lies in the misperception of FIV in the cat community.
Many people, some vets included, believe we should
euthanize FIV-positive cats and should not adopt
them out. I hope you can write an article to help
educate the Catster community about FIV.
Lily
West Covina
Frankly Lily, I couldn’t have said it better than you.
Infection with FIV, also known as feline AIDS, is not a valid reason to euthanize a cat. Many FIV-positive cats lead normal, healthy lives. A large proportion of these cats ultimately die of unrelated causes.
FIV, like human AIDS, is not highly contagious. It is spread by fighting. And, like human AIDS, FIV does not cause illness or death on its own. FIV weakens the immune system. This predisposes cats to infections and certain cancers.
Sadly, there is no effective treatment for FIV. Nonetheless, most FIV-positive cats live for many years before their immune systems are clinically affected.
FIV-positive cats have special needs. They should be kept indoors. This prevents the virus from spreading, and it protects infected cats from many types of wounds and infections. Also, FIV-positive cats may require more aggressive treatment for minor injuries or infections.
However, with proper care FIV-positive cats can lead long, happy lives.
Finally, I should point out that routine screening tests for FIV are not perfect. They sometimes falsely identify uninfected cats FIV-positive. Until a positive result has been confirmed by a more rigorous method it cannot be considered definitive. And it certainly isn’t a good reason to euthanize a cat.
A comment on the recent post about a potential treatment for FIV/Feline AIDS caught my eye. Here is the comment.
S Bridges posted a comment on August 7th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Is there any way to participate in the testing of a new FIV drug? We adopted a 3 year old cat a year ago and he, as of today, is positive for FIV. We were told that he may be showing a positive result from a previous FIV vaccination but we do not know if he has been vaccinated.
A vaccine for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) has been on the market for several years. It has been the subject of intense controversy among veterinarians since its introduction. The vaccine is not widely used.
Many experts question the effectiveness of the FIV vaccine. Laboratory studies performed by the vaccine’s manufacturer have shown efficacy of the vaccine against some strains of the virus. However, there is no conclusive proof that the vaccine works in real life. As well, there is an inherent conflict of interest in studies performed by the manufacturer.
Another major complaint about the vaccine is that it interferes with testing for FIV. The test for FIV checks for antibodies to the virus. Any cat that receives the vaccine will develop antibodies to FIV. Therefore, any cat that receives the vaccine will test positive for FIV–even if he is not infected.
Is the cat belonging to the comment’s author actually infected with FIV, or has he received the vaccine? Because the vaccine is not commonly used, it’s most likely that the cat is infected. However, there is no way to know for sure. And, sadly, clinical trials of the treatment mentioned in the original post are not yet under way.
This situation is unfortunate, but there is a silver lining. FIV is fatal, but the disease takes several years to run its course. I hope that a more advanced test, one that can differentiate infected cats from vaccinated cats, will be available soon.
In the meanwhile, my advice to the commenter is as follows. Enjoy your new cat, and let him live a normal life. Keep him inside to protect him from contagious disease, and to protect other cats from possible FIV infection. Get veterinary examinations at least twice each year. And keep your fingers crossed.
Feline immunodeficiency virus, also known as FIV is very similar to the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Both cause a disease called AIDS. Neither virus is highly contagious. There is no proven vaccine for either disease (a vaccine for FIV exists, but experts do not agree that it is effective). Both viruses damage the immune systems of affected individuals, leading to increased rates of opportunistic infections and certain types of cancer. Untreated, both viruses lead to death several years after infection.
HIV patients, thank goodness, may benefit from anti-viral therapies that can stop the virus from reproducing and prevent the development of AIDS. These therapies have saved the lives of millions of people who have access to them (sadly, other millions of infected individuals do not).
Cats, however, do not tolerate some of the anti-viral therapies that have helped so many people. Other anti-viral therapies do not inhibit FIV. Therefore, there is no effective treatment for feline AIDS.
But that may change in the future. The North American Veterinary Conference’s May, 2008 Clinician’s Brief details a study (original paper: Savarino, Pistello, D’Ostillo, et al. Retrovirology 4:79, 2007) that describes a new class of anti-viral drugs.
The drugs, called INSTIs, inhibit FIV grown in cultures.
This is an important step forward, but it is a long way from an effective treatment for feline AIDS. The drugs have yet to be tested on infected cats.
Meanwhile, cats with AIDS must live without effective treatment.
FIV is transmitted mainly by fighting. The most effective way to prevent the disease is to keep cats inside. FIV cannot spread to humans, and cats cannot catch HIV.
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My seven-year-old rescue cat has really gross lumps on the back of his tongue. My vet tested for FIV and feline leukemia – both came back negative. He gave the cat a cortisol shot (I think – some kind of steroid) and the cat is going back after 2 weeks to see if that helped. 
Hi, my cat, Charlie is three years old. He has been diagnosed with feline aids. He is a outdoor cat so it is impossible for me to keep him indoors and he tends to be a fighter. He has many wounds that are not healing and become abcesses due to the aids. Otherwise he is relatively healthy and happy.
You have questions. 