The purpose of this web site is too aid anyone who is trying to fight FIV/Feline Aids.  We feel that the more information there is available the better chance other cats will have against this horrible disease.  This treatment and page should also be helpful in dealing with FelV.  Everything included in this page is meant to help our precious cats.  I think that we can all find a cure or effective treatment if we continue to educate ourselves and share our ideas with each other.  Also we make no claims to or for the companies or products listed, and we are in no way affiliated or paid by these companies. Since other pages have covered definitions, symptoms and FAQ's about FIV we have not covered that information in this web page.  Please refer to the other sites mentioned below for that information.  And please don't give up hope!!!

Felix's Story (Living with FIV)

In 1994 my wife and I moved into a duplex, near where we attended college in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.  The people that were moving from the duplex told us there was a 2 year old cat that they fed but was not theirs and they would be leaving him behind.  So for the first month we continued to feed this "Stray Cat" and with each day he became less and less shy.  We already had one cat so we didn't know how they would react with one another so we were cautious about taking him in.  One rainy night I came home from school to find that my wife had broken down and let this soaking wet cat into our house.  Well he and our female cat acted as though they were old acquaintances.  That night we let him in the door he came into our lives and family for good.  He has never gone out since, nor does he have a desire to go out again.  The next day we named him Felix (because he is black and white).  Felix is the sweetest cat I have ever seen, he has been a lap cat since day one, and he and our other cat adore each other. They sleep and eat together and groom each other.  One night I woke up to find he had thoroughly groomed my head, my hair was soaking wet.  He did have some early signs of a problem (wheezing and a heart murmur) but none of our vets ever linked it to FIV and they may be unrelated. 

August 15, 1999  Week 1

Felix had been losing weight for the past week or two, and he had some previous problems with mouth ulcers.  He had also had one nail on each front foot grow extremely fast and into the pad on his foot about 2 weeks before.  He seemed sick and scrawny and was not eating much so we took him to the vet.  The vet gave him some cortisone and antibiotics for his 104 degree temperature and took a blood sample.  We were hopeful that he was just sick and this would clear it up.  The next day our vet called us with the news that he was FIV +.  We were heartbroken, and determined to fight this disease with all we had.  That was the worst weekend I can remember.  I immediately got on the internet to find out everything about the disease.  I found some good sites with tons of good information, here is a good one to start with Simon's Story.  Felix had gone from a normal 10.5 pounds to about 9 pounds.  I started him on Tom Hapka's Shake except, I used an oil based garlic, big mistake, he spit up most of what I fed him.

Week 2

He has lost more weight and I switched to Balance ( a soy based version of Ensure found at a  health food store) for the base of Tom Hapka's shake because Felix is lactose intolerant I think.  I also left the garlic out.  His fever is still 104 and he is quite lethargic.

Week 3

Felix still has a fever and is barely eating on his own, we took him back in and his fever is 104 still. Our vet started us on Anitrobe Aquadrops (an oral antibiotic for his mouth ulcers and fever). And Felix weighed in at 8.2 Pounds. I realized it was time to start force feeding him.  I started using Hills A/D prescription canned food (ask your vet) and mixing vitamins in them with each meal.  This is what I added:

500 mg of Vitamin C

1/2 teaspoon of bone meal

1/2 capsule of Acidophilus (but not within 1 hr of giving antibiotics)

1/2 capsule 0f 400 IU of Vitamin E

1 ml of a vitamin mixture (Pet-Tinic) prescribed by my vet which includes most B vitamins and iron

I am feeding him this mixture with a 1/2 to 3/4 can of Hills A/D twice a day, plus I am giving him about 12 cc of water per mealtime too.  All this is given through large syringes found at Petco (they hold about 6cc's each).  You can use smaller ones but these are easier.

Week 4

Felix is not eating on his own at all but I am continuing to force feed the Hills.  We started him on Interferon (a liquid immune system booster given 1 ml every day for a week then take a week off then start again.)  and his fever is finally coming down.  Thanks to the Hills A/D his weight has come up to 8.4 lbs.

Week 5 

Not much change we started giving him fluids at our vet visits to keep him from dehydrating.  They give him fluids subcutaneous (under the skin, not intravenous, the saline solution is squirted under his loose skin through a needle and absorbs into his system).  Very cool trick I highly recommend it if your cat is not drinking enough water.  The Vet will probably show you how and let you take the solution home to do it yourself.  Mine was willing too.  Felix is up to 8.8 pounds now.

October 1, 1999 Week 6 

Things aren't going well this week, He seemed to be getting weaker so we brought him in for a checkup.  Our vet ran a blood test and discovered Felix's red blood cell count and hemoglobin are both very low.  His breathing is labored.  Our veterinarian has recommended a couple of possible courses of action.  One is a blood transfusion which he considers somewhat risky due to felines being difficult to match, plus Felix's weak condition.  Another alternative is adding hemoglobin from a cow to his blood.  He has done this procedure to dogs but never a cat.  He has read of other vets having some success with cats.  Basically what I have learned is that red blood cells and hemoglobin carry oxygen to all the tissues and organs of the body.  This procedure is expensive too.  We decided to sleep on our decision.

October 2

Felix is getting weaker, he is having trouble walking and his breathing is labored.  We decided to go through with the hemoglobin procedure.  Everything went ok, and the vet said we should hopefully see some improvement in 12 hrs.  12 hrs later, unfortunately we have not seen any improvement.  He doesn't move around much, he still walks to the litter box down the hall even though he staggers when he walks.  He is such a strong little guy, and we love him like a son.  We are devastated and heartbroken, and we cry all weekend.

October 3

I went to the health food store too see about some thymus hormone and Q-10, after reading Arlene's article in Simons Story.  A lady there suggested I might try some Sterinol it is a natural plant substance that helps balance the immune system. You can check their web site here www.moducare.com.  I decided to try giving him 1 capsule a day in some Hills A/D to start out.  I have also read the information about Immunoregulin in Arlene's article and ask my vet about it.  He had used it before but without much luck so he steered me towards the Interferon because it was somewhat cheaper and he had more luck with it.  

October 4 

Last night was very difficult for us but Felix is a very tough little guy, I took him to the vet today to give him some more fluids, his fever is elevated some and he gave him an antibiotic shot as well.  I had my vet order some Immunoregulin and put a rush on it.  He found it locally here in Dallas, TX. and shipped it out the same day. Things were not very promising for our little buddy.  He seemed somewhat refreshed after the saline solution.  We took him back at 4:00 to give him his first injection of Immunoregulin (he was given 1/2 cc intravenously. We will take him back in 48 hrs for another and more fluids, in the meantime I am supposed to give him more Anitrobe Aquadrops to keep infections down.  I am going to get some thymus hormone to give him as well.  All we can do now is pray and Hope.

October 7

Felix seems to be doing a little better, he had another Immunoregulin shot and I started him on Thymus hormone yesterday.  I am also giving him fluids daily, subcutaneous with an IV bag. We will be going back for another shot tomorrow then probably only twice a week. I am thinking of starting him back on Interferon next week at the same time as the Immunoregulin, has anyone out there tried these at the same time, if you have or have suggestions please e-mail me.

October 12

Felix seems to be improving some, he is more alert and energetic.  He goes into the living room and even got on the bed for the first time in weeks.  His weight has stabilized at about 9 pounds, we have stopped force feeding and are just letting him eat from a spoon 3 times a day.  He isn't taking in as much food as when we force feed but there is less stress on him this way.  I am giving him fluids every day with the IV bag (subcutaneous).  I have started giving him the Sterinol (1 pill a day) plus vitamin C and Bone meal, and Thymus Hormone.  He is receiving 2 shots of Immunoregulin per week now.  Unfortunately his fever is still high between 103 and 105.  I just finished a course of Anitrobe and he is also on another antibiotic (not sure of the name, it is a pill form).  We are retesting his blood on Friday to see what his cell counts are.  The fever might be partially caused by the Immunoregulin, but we aren't sure.

Our vet said Felix has a very strong will to live, and if it weren't for that and the TLC we have been providing he wouldn't have made it through last weekend.  I think the Immunoregulin is helping.  We will keep you posted.

October 15

Good news, Felix had his blood work done and his white cell count is close to normal and his red cell count is up from 15 to 22 (30+ is normal).  His platelets are somewhat lower though (platelets are what causes blood to clot) but we hope they will come up too.  I have started him on an anabolic steroid (Winstrol) to help his bone marrow.  He is now taking: 500mg vitamin C, 1 pill Sterinol, 2ml vitamin mixture (Pet-Tinic), and 75 mg thymus hormone, per day in his Hills A/D which we spoon feed him, plus I am giving him 1500 ml of fluids subcutaneous daily.  His temperature is at 104 but this doesn't seem to be affecting his energy level and may be fighting off infection. We are going from 3 shots of Immunoregulin a week to 1 every 5 days.  I am sure that if it weren't for Immunoregulin he would not have made it.

October 18

More good news, He seems more energetic, he is eating dry food again on his own, this morning he got in bed and woke my wife up to feed him, (this is a first in 2 months).  His temperature  is down to 103.  Things are looking good.  We are very happy!!!  

October 25

Felix is still doing well although he lost some weight, he was a little dehydrated when he was weighed last week so I think that contributed, he was down to 7 lbs.  After we found this out we started feeding him the Hills several times a day as much as he would eat and he was also eating small amounts of dry cat food (Science-Diet  kitten formula) several times a day.  Today he weighed in at 7.6 lbs. so that is a good sign, we will keep him eating as much as possible until his weight stabilizes and he can maintain it himself.  We are still giving him all the stuff I listed October 15 including daily fluids.  His energy level is good, he is sleeping in the bed nightly, and grooming himself.  Friday we will retest his blood to see how we are doing, but as of now he is off all antibiotics and his mouth sores are almost completely healed.  As of now we are giving him Immunoregulin every 5 days.

October 29

Today we had another blood test done, and great news!!  His white blood cell count is normal, red blood cells are still rising and just slightly less than normal (next week they should be in the normal range), and his platelets have risen from 12,000 to 65,000 (100,000 is normal).  His temperature is down to 103.2 which is also an improvement.  His weight is still around 7.5 lbs, but we are working on that, I am now grinding his dry food in a coffee grinder and adding it to his Hills to give him more calories (the dry food is kitten formula so it is high in fat, and protein. but don't do this if your cat is much older than about 7, it can be hard on their liver.  So except for his weight everything is going great.

November 8

On our last vet visit on Friday Nov. 5, Felix weighed only 6.8 pounds, this was somewhat discouraging, but we think was due to his mouth ulcers bothering him and keeping him from eating.  He was eating dry kitten food on his own but obviously not enough to maintain his weight.  We don't think his appetite is a factor, we think the sores in his mouth even though mostly healed are getting in the way of his teeth and getting re-injured.  Good news though, he is drinking plenty of water now on his own.  I am now feeding him the Hills again 1 can a day plus the usual dosage of vitamins and some ground dry kitten food mixed in.  I feed him 1/2 can twice a day, I am using the syringe method because he doesn't much care for the amount I am making him eat.  But I guarantee his weight will be up on Friday when we go in.  Friday we will get another blood test to see if he is still improving, and I think we will have his teeth cleaned and the tissue buildup from his mouth ulcers cut off, once this heals he can hopefully start eating plenty on his own.  We think he is strong enough now to endure the anesthesia.  So keep us in your prayers, we will let you know how it goes.

November 12

Well His red blood cell count is down some to 22, and his mouth is really bothering him so we are going to wait on the teeth cleaning and mouth surgery. His weight is at 7 pounds and his fever is at 104.5.  We are starting him on some more Anitrobe antibiotics.  He has been pretty lethargic, probably from the mouth infection.  

November 17

He is doing better, his weight is up to 7.4 lbs now and his fever is down to 103.  He has been a lot more active these last few days too.  His mouth is also improving.  We are going to check again on Mon. to see if he is strong enough for the surgery.  Meanwhile he is still on the Anitrobe and I am feeding him twice a day with the Hills/AD.  He is eating a little dry food on his own.  And he still gets a shot of Immunoregulin each time we go to the vet every 5-7 days.  He is also sleeping with us again :)   

November 22

Felix's temperature is 102.8 and his weight is 7.6 lbs so we are going to wait to see if he improves some more. 

November 29

We went back to the veterinarian  today, and his temperature is down to 102.6, the lowest it's been since we started this.  His weight is up to 7.7 lbs  and his mouth looks about the same not bad but not healed.  His red blood cell count is up from 22 to 24.  We are going to wait another week and see if he is still improving before we go through with the teeth cleaning.  I am still feeding him the Hills A/D twice a day with all the additional vitamins and stuff plus he is still on the Anitrobe and Winstrol.  I am up to feeding him 1and 1/2 cans of food a day.  He has been on the Anitrobe for 3 weeks straight now.  He is quite perky and seems to be feeling good. 

December 8

Good news his weight is up to 8.4 lbs and his temperature is 102.  This is a very good sign.  We will continue with the antibiotics for another week.  I have added 20 mg. of Coenzyme Q-10 to his daily vitamin regime, it is supposed to help boost his immune system and help eliminate gingivitis.  He also a little yeast and bacteria in his ears probably from the long term use of antibiotics.  We are treating that with Otomax drops.  Felix loves Christmas his favorite spot is under the Christmas tree. 

December 19

Felix had his teeth cleaned yesterday and had one tooth pulled because of a bad cavity.  His sores in his mouth are doing much better so we opted not to mess with them during the cleaning.  His weight is staying around 8.4 but he is eating on his own much of the time.  We still have him on the antibiotics for another week to keep any infections from the teeth cleaning down.  We are still feeding him the Hills with all the vitamins and other additives daily to help increase his weight.  And he is still getting 1 shot of Immunoregulin per week but we will probably decrease that to twice monthly soon.  We are hoping the teeth cleaning helps keep his mouth ulcers from coming back as well as other infections.  He is pretty active and seems very happy and content.  We are so happy to have him almost back to his old sweet self.  It is a miracle!!

January 4, 2000

After his teeth cleaning, His mouth improved greatly, I took him off the antibiotics a couple of days later and he has been eating on his own ever since.  He has not gained any weight yet but he is maintaining at about 8 pounds and his temperature is at an all time low of 102.  He is energetic and acts normal.  We are still giving him the Immunoregulin about 2 times a month and adding vitamin supplements to his store bought canned food.  He is doing great !!!!!!!   I'm so glad we never gave up on him.

January 10

Felix is eating well and doing great !! he will go in for another shot next week I will give a weight report then.  

February 1

We had him weighed and he seems to be staying right at 8 lbs. he is eating often (all on his own).  We had some blood work done to see if his thyroid was overactive but it came back ok.  Some of his enzymes are a little out of whack but that is to be expected.  We increased the amount of canned food we are giving him and we will see if he gained some more weight.  As of now 8 lbs seems to agree with him, he looks and acts very healthy.  He has more energy than ever and seems very happy.  It is easy to take it for granted how far we've come and forget how close we were to losing him.  Once again I would like to say thank god for Simon's Story and Immunoregulin.

February 22

Felix weighed in at 8.4 lbs. on our last visit, we are very happy he is gaining weight finally.  He is very energetic and seems very happy.  Everything is going great!! We are going to start giving him the Immunoregulin every three weeks now.  I redesigned the web page this weekend and I will be adding more pictures and links soon.

April 18, 2000

Everything is great !!!, Felix is doing great !!  He is still getting a shot of Immunoregulin every 3 weeks and other than that I am not giving him anything other than lots of food.  He is 9 lbs. now and friskier than he's ever been.  Please help us tell everyone about Immunoregulin!!! it saved his life.

May 5, 2000

Felix weighs 9.5 lbs now and doing great.  My parents cat Tommy has Felv (Feline Leukemia) and 3 months ago he had lost 2.5 lbs and was getting weak, so I had my mom start him on Immunoregulin (1 shot every 2 weeks) and he is now back to his normal weight and as energetic as ever.  I truly think Immunoregulin is a miracle treatment !!!

June 6, 2000  

Felix is doing great!! maintaining about 10 lbs. His coat is shiny and beautiful ( I will add a new picture this week).  He has tons of energy and is as loving as ever.  He knows what we have done for him and he repays us with plenty of affection.  Although if me and my wife's laps are both available he always chooses mine.   :)  Maybe he's paying me back for all those times he spit more food on me than he ate.

July 28, 2000

Everything is going great no changes, Felix is doing fine.  Coming up on our 1 year anniversary of his diagnoses!!

July 30, 2000

There is a sick cat in New Zealand named Toby who has just started on Immunoregulin after a frantic search for it.  He had severe diarrhea and his weight was down to 7 lbs.  He also has a tumor on his back.  After his first dose he is showing signs of improvement.  We will keep you informed of his progress.  In the meantime keep him in your prayers.

Aug 3 , 2000 

Felix went to the vet for his shot and checkup and his weight is down to 9 lbs. not sure what's causing it, maybe since it has been 5 weeks since his last shot.

August 17, 2000

Toby (the cat from New Zealand) has died after his struggle with Fiv, his tumor caused paralysis in his back legs and he died shortly after.  His "Mom" put up a valiant fight against this horrible disease.  We are very sorry to hear of her loss. And our hearts and prayers are with her.

August 24, 2000  

Felix went to the vet today for another shot and to get his teeth checked.  He has not been eating too well for the last 2 weeks and has lost some weight.  His weight is down to 8 lbs. but his teeth are not bad and he has no fever, unfortunately the vet has found a mass in his abdomen and is x-raying it as I write this.  We will pray for the best!

August 26, 2000

We got the results back on the blood work and they were inconclusive, our vet thinks its either tumors in his kidney, or acute renal failure, either one is not good.  Our choices are a blind needle insertion (where the insert a large needle into his kidney and draw a sample to have tested, or send him for a sonogram which could cost up to $500.  The needle test could cause internal bleeding and infections.  We are at a loss, I did some research on ARF Acute Renal Failure (there is a new link on the links page that tells about it) and the treatment is sub-Q fluids like before and a low protein diet Hills K/D.  So I am now doing those, he is eating very little so I am force feeding him twice a day and giving him 150- 200 ml of fluids subcutaneous per day.  I don't know what to do, I don't know if I would want to treat it if it is cancer, I don't want him to go through all that.  If it is ARF his kidney's could regain normal function at some point.  Once again we are devastated and feeling quite helpless.  I just want my little guy to be healthy and happy.

August 30, 2000

Felix isn't doing too well, his breathing is labored, probably due to his low RBC (red blood cell count) count.  I am force feeding him twice a day, and supplementing with 500 mg. vitamin C, 100 I.U. vitamin E, 1/2 teaspoon Petinic, and I am trying to find Amphojel ( for his high phosphorus levels).  I am going to start him back on the Sterinol also.  The problem is most treatments for his Fiv conflict with cancer treatments, and any anesthesia at his current fragile state is much more dangerous.  We are between a rock and a hard place, hoping for a 10th life and another miracle.

August 31,2000

Felix passed on today at 3:00 p.m

The last 24 hours his breathing became more and more labored, I knew there wasn't much more we could do.  I couldn't even force feed him because he couldn't get enough oxygen in between mouthfuls.  I tried giving him some Winstrol to stimulate his red blood cells but that takes time.  I put him in our bed but he didn't want to stay there, he went a laid on the bathroom floor.  I slept by him that night and stayed home from work the next day to be with him.   My wife loved on him before she had to go to work.  He spent the day in her closet and his breathing continued to become more labored.  I laid on the floor by his side all day.  At 3:00 he took his last breaths and passed on, while I stroked his side.  We held him for a long time after that and then buried him at my grandparents house so we can see him whenever we move.  He will always be apart of our family.

There was something very special bout Felix you could see the wisdom and love in his eyes.  I have never met a cat like him and I'm sure I never will.  If I had it all to do over again I would do the same, no amount of pain can take away the love and joy he gave us.  

Good-bye little buddy

I have added some additional comments to the site to summarize the two most important treatments for Fiv/Felv       * Teeth Cleaning     and ** Immunoregulin. after re-reading my entire journal I have come to this conclusion, Because of Fiv/Felv a cat has a suppressed immune system that can't fight off typical infections, the dirty teeth and resulting bacteria in the mouth cause ulcers, fever, respiratory infections, and many other symptoms.  Immunoregulin helps rebuild the immune system and keep it strong and in balance.  And having your cats teeth cleaned, helps to keep harmful bacteria from building up and causing infections.  I feel that if I would have had Felix's teeth cleaned 2 weeks after he started the Immunoregulin he would have recovered even sooner.  I just thank god I found Immunoregulin and decided to try it.  And again, we could have never done it without our wonderful Vet!!!  

Felix's food supplements 

Morning

1. Then I mix enough water to make it easy to suck into the large syringe.

2. I wrap him in a towel, just to hold him steady he would never try to scratch or bite me.

3. Then I squirt about 6 cc in the side of his mouth slowly, let him finish that then give him the other 6cc, refill the syringe and repeat.

4. When I am down to about 1 more syringe full I add 1.5ml of antibiotic to the remaining food and give that to him. (I had to start doing this cause he was spitting the antibiotic out)

 Evening

1. Same procedure as morning including another 1.5ml of antibiotic.

A side note on our vet.  If it were not for our caring and wonderful veterinarian we would not be able to continue with all of the visits we have been doing.  He is charging us way below what most vets would charge and spending as much time as we need at each visit. He answers all our  questions and never tries to hurry us out the door.  It is obvious that everyone at his office loves animals, and are truly concerned with Felix.

Links

Please explore these other web sites they contain tons of excellent information

If you have a relevant page please e-mail it to me and I will add it here, and please add my page to your site.

If you see a relevant site I would also appreciate it if you could tell them about mine, maybe you can help me, help other cats.

Contained in these links is a wealth of information, I know it can be overwhelming so just take it one step at a time. 

1. An excellent site containing research information and treatment for FIV using drugs used in treating Hiv (this site has tons of great information including what sounds like a very good treatment)

2. Simon's Story

3. Tom Hapka's Site

4. Good Info about treatments and medications

5. Living with FIV and FELV

6. "Boots Story" an Interferon success story

7. Excellent web site on kidney disease and treatments (worth checking out even if your cat is not having kidney problems)

8. Holistic vet information and homeopathic treatments

9. Sterinol information

10. more holistic treatments

I would like to reiterate some important information I have learned over these last months:

1. If  your cat is dehydrated or not drinking well you must have him re-hydrated at your vet.

2. Use Hills A/D to put weight on your cat if he won't eat (without food and water he has nothing to work with).

3. If your cat is showing signs of sickness, it is probably a good idea to supplement with vitamins and minerals refer to Tom Hapka's article or Simon's story.

4. I was told at the Health food store that Echinacea may throw an Fiv/Hiv cat or persons immune system out of balance and do more harm than good. I would check this out though.

5. Please read all the information you can and make your own determinations on what to do.  I know it is scary and difficult but, anything is probably better than nothing.  

6. Check out this new product it may be a good weapon against our fight. Sterinol at www.moducare.com

7. If you think your cat has a fever get a Digital thermometer and apply some KY jelly or something like that and use it rectally for your cat.  The digital kind is good because you know when to take it out.  If you use the regular kind make sure you hold onto it,  it could get sucked in.  We are using an old digital thermometer we used to use (orally) for ourselves.

8. I have been told a normal temperature for a cat is around 101+\- degrees. 

9. If you don't have any success with interferon, Try Immunoregulin right away !!!, It is amazing.

 If you have a web page we would appreciate it if you would add a link to our page so we can spread the word and help as many cats as possible.

We are also deeply sorry if you are going through this same ordeal.  We are not strange pet people.  We are just normal people who love our animals. We are not wealthy and this has put a slight financial burden on us but we feel we owe it to our family to do everything we can.  After all when you adopt a pet it is a life-long commitment.  Below are some pictures of our little buddy Felix with our other kids.

 This web site is a journal of treatment by non medically trained pet lovers, This is our personal experiences and is not intended to take the place of a licensed veterinarian.  We only hope this will help you in your fight against FIV and its cousin FelV.