FIV cat advice wanted, mostly wondering about having him defanged

BG: I have 4 cats, 3 males and 1 female. The female is a FIV pos house feral. I had her defanged on my vet’s advice. From what I understand FIV is passed by body fluids, so the fangs need to go to stop the transmission through deep bites.

My cats are used to me fostering cats and will hiss and maybe slap an intruder, but they really are just kinda meh about newcomers.

My out of state SO adopted a FIV pos stray. Ranger is a smooshy cuddlebug, and the rescue said that he gets along with other cats.

Now that Keystone is happening, Bill’s work situation has become very fluid. We know that he will be going to Nebraska for at least a month very shortly and Bill would rather bring Ranger to me than have him boarded.

I want Ranger defanged. Bill thinks that Ranger is mello and won’t fight with my cats. I think that my first responsibility is to my healthy ones, so Ranger would have to be locked up alone if he has fangs. I don’t want to do that to the poor boy, if he’s locked up alone in a bedroom, he might as well stay in Texas and be boarded.

Right now, I’m standing firm about having Ranger defanged. Bill thinks it would cause unnessary pain and trama.

What are your opinions, please?

Veterinarian here. First, I would confirm the cat’s FIV status with a Western Blot test, as the ELISA test that was probably used by the rescue to test Ranger does sometimes have false positives. I would want to be absolutely sure the positive is correct. If he was vaccinated for FIV, the ELISA test will be positive. It does not differentiate between vaccination and true disease status.

Secondly, I agree with Bill. This would cause unnecessary pain and trauma, and won’t really prevent the spread of the virus anyway. Theoretically, if you removed all his teeth and declawed all four paws–which is bordering on unethical, IMO, he could still spread the virus, albeit less efficiently, if the cats engage in mutual grooming. This is true of your female cat, too.

The better plan is to vaccinate your FIV negative cats, with the caveat that they will then test positive should they ever end up in a shelter.

I changed my mind on recommending vaccination, as I am thinking there is some question as to efficacy, the vaccine is adjuvanted (creating a great deal of inflammation in cats) and a vaccinated cat will always test positive (except if tested via PCR).

Now, it would be highly unlikely for them to become infected through grooming, but as it is spread via body fluids, I don’t want you to have the false impression that simply defanging a cat makes the possibility go away. It is better to introduce the cats slowly, observe how they act toward each other, and if they are getting along, and not fighting, the chance of spread is low.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply.

My FIV neg cats got their shots when I brought the FIV pos feral in. My vet didn’t tell me that they would test positive afterwards, this is worrisome. They are housecats, have tags and microchips, and don’t rush the door when friends are over. I still worry about them getting out and lost and eaten by coyotes and owls.

I do know how to introduce a new cat/cats into our pride. If Bill was going to just give Ranger to me, all would be good. The problem is that Bill wants to take Ranger back home when he’s not traveling. This means that Ranger will be a stranger every 3 or 4 months. I’ve never done this.

Now…about the mutual grooming. My FIV pos cat does cuddle up with the boys. They adore her. She doesn’t groom them, they groom her. I use catwipes on her when she’s sleeping (I do like my fingers and know better than to try that when she’s awake). Is there anything else I should be doing to keep my neg cats safe?

(the litterboxes are scooped twice a day, the litter is changed twice a week and the boxes are bleached every weekend. Should I be doing anything else there?)