FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus)

 

FIV is Feline immune deficiency Virus. It is one of the two cat blood diseases that cats can get. FELV is the other one. The only way for a cat to become infected with FIV is to be bitten by another positive cat. FELV is different and can be contracted many ways. FIV moms can pass the antibody through to the kittens but not the actual disease. FIV positive kittens are not really infected and have been wrongly euthanized for years due to this lack of knowledge. Information online and through vets all have different information because not much study had been done in the past. If you do a PCR titer test over the age of 6 months it will always come back negative unless the positive mother actually bit her kittens. (Which there is always that possibility.) FIV also does not have as many "episodes" as I call them compared to FELV where they are doing fine 1 minute and not the next. FIV basically makes them more prone to pick up diseases and makes it harder for them to fight off a simple infection. But they can fight off infection without risk of loosing their life depending on the existing immune system in the individual cat. They can live a normal life without any extreme issues from this disease. For risk of spreading this to other cats they should only go to a home with other positive FIV cats or no cats at all. They can not give this to people or dogs so can live a long happy life with a family and other animals. They should also always stay indoors or in a safe outdoor cat enclosure and never be allowed to wander outside for fear of picking up a sickness or spreading the disease to other neighborhood cats.