Expert: Jessica - 7/12/2010

Question
I live in the country and have an outdoor cat that is a very friendly cat, except with raccoons.  I sometimes won't see him for over a day and he'll come back scratched up.  I recently had him checked and he came back positive for FIV.  Should he be euthanized?

Answer
Hi Jodie,

This is a very tough question to answer.  An FIV+ cat should really be kept indoors because of the possible risk that he might spread the infection to other cats through bite wounds.  If he is neutered, chances that he would spread the infection are smaller than if he is an intact male who would be more likely to fight over territory and females.  However, if another cat was to approach him aggressively, he surely would defend himself and could still spread the disease.  Is there any chance of moving him indoors?  If so, then there is no need to put him to sleep.  FIV+ cats can live many healthy years with the disease.  In fact, one of my FIV+ cats lived to the age of 17.

However, if you would only be able to keep him outdoors, I would take a very close look at your situation.  The best thing would be to try to find him a home where he could stay inside.  These homes are few and far between, but sometimes they can be found.  See if maybe vets will allow you to post flyers in their offices.  Next, take a look at how many cats are in your area.  If there are many neighborhood cats, your kitty poses a large risk.  It would probably be unfair to keep him outdoors around so many other cats.  If there seem to be no other cats in the neighborhood, maybe you can buy yourself a little more time.

I really hate to condemn a healthy cat, but FIV is considered a serious disease, so we certainly don’t want it to spread.  I would say to make every effort to move your kitty inside, but if there is no possibility of doing this, and your neighborhood has a lot of cats, then putting your poor cat to sleep is probably the most responsible thing to do.

Best wishes to you both!

Jessica