My cat has an eye infection. Can it cause a false FIV positive?

Yes if he's FIV positive he may have inflammation in the eye causing the pupil dilation. Smokey may have gotten infected just before you did the first test that is why it didn't show up. Many cats live normal lives with FIV. The important thing is to get immediate treatment if he gets a cold or infection, stops eating or otherwise seems sick. With supportive care these infected cats usually recover. Since his immune system is compromised with FIV he is more likely to get an infection and also some blood disorders and tumors. Hopefully he isn't infected. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! FIP is hard to diagnose. It is usually a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning all other diseases have been ruled out. The most accurate test is PCR of belly or chest fluid when the cat has the wet or effusive form of FIP. There is also the Dry or granulomatous form which likes the brain and eye. A simple blood test is riddled with false negatives and positives. Simple put a cat positive for coronavirus doesn't mean it has the mutated viral form that causes FIP. Unfortunately Mia's eye problem could be from FIP, but also many other things and sadly there is no 100% way to tell you that. FIP is not curable, it is a terrible disease. If Mia is doing well then I'd take that. And see if anything happens in the future. I hope this helps and I wish Mia the best!

I am sorry belvedeer was positive for feline leukemia. The test is very reliable and most likely if he tested positive he does truly have the disease. However if he is really young you can re test him at 6 months of age. At this time all the maternal antibodies will be gone from the kittens body. I would recommend retesting at 6 months. If Belvedeer is over 6 months than the test could always be repeated in 2-3 weeks just to double check and make sure the test did not make a false positive.

If Penelope is testing positive for FIV because she had the vaccine (and not the natural infection), then she does NOT actually have FIV. She is FIV negative in reality. So then getting another cat who is FIV negative is safe. Neither cat can spread FIV if they don't actually have the naturally occurring infection. Does that make sense?

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about Boots. I have never personally heard that for Feline Leukemia. The vaccines for FeLV do not cause a positive test result BUT previous FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) vaccines cause a positive test result that cannot be differentiated from a natural infection. One positive FeLV test in a healthy cat is always suspect. False positives do occur and if you really want to know, I would advise that you go get a confirmation test done at your veterinarians office. The test is called an IFA or Immuno Fluorescent Antibody test and this is specific for FeLV. This disease along with FIV are very complex and sometimes very confusing with respect to the results. Let me provide a website link here so you can learn more about these retroviruses in cats. Good luck with Boots. https://www.catvets.com/guidelines/practice-guidelines/retrovirus-management-guidelines

I agree, those symptoms are concerning for intestinal, oral, or kidney disease. Unless the test was falsely positive, cats don't outgrow FIV. There is also no cure for the virus, though not all cats that have it will develop disease. I would recommend that Tiger get checked out by the vet. After a thorough physical exam and review of his symptoms, the vet may recommend bloodwork, urinalysis, or x-rays to see what is going on. Here is more information on FIV in cats: https://www.petcoach.co/article/feline-immunodeficiency-virus-fiv-in-cats/

Hopefully Bear will test negative for FIV when you take him back in 4 weeks. FIV is transmitted by biting, but not any other casual contact. So the concern in your house would be if Bear is biting your other cats. Certainly this would be unusual in a household situation, so it is not generally recommended to separate FIV positive cats in a household from the other cats. I am attaching a handout with additional information about FIV below. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951815 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using PetCoach.