This is (an older pic of) Jasper. He showed up on my doorstep some 3 years ago a beaten and bloody mess, but was super friendly. We speculated he was older but how old I'm not sure. He has lived with three other cats, and to my knowledge, none of these others have inherited his FIV. Ultimately, if there is bloodshed, the risk is higher, but if not, it seems unlikely diseases spread. Same with FeLV.

He has lived an awesome three years. Got really fat, super cuddly, spoiled rotten with attention. I think he may have been someone's breeder and when he had gotten a problem (maybe they found out about fiv, or he had a tumor in his ear) they made the decision to kick him out. We had him fixed and he mellowed out.

FIV is not a death sentence. 12 is already an older kot. I think we thought Jasper was about that age when he showed up and he lived three extra years or so. We started giving him regular fluids for ckd and he actually bounced back from the brink. Unfortunately found out today, he's got cancer somewhere in his urinary system. What it is really is anybody's guess but they found some blood in his bladder when we took him in for a blockage and they tested it and that's what they found. The cancer is probably in there somewhere and yeah. He's still peeing and if the meds help then maybe I can spend a little longer with my bud and that'll be great. But it will make any infections happen faster and that's kind of unfortunate but it is what it is.

Why I say this is that it's never a death sentence. No vet will tell you put an animal down or even not release a wild cat. You have to watch more for signs of infection or disease, but honestly if you didn't know at all then what's it matter? If it isn't the fiv it could be the kidney or if not the cancer or whatever. Their lives are shorter and we do what we can with what we know. Tons of people have this same problem and their cats live good long lives. Can't change the past. Good luck friend.