We have good news and bad news about the cat who was left on our street. She is spayed, and has a microchip (though it is unregistered). Unfortunately, she also tested positive for FIV. That is pretty discouraging, but it’s not a death sentence. Feline leukemia (FeLV) has a much more grave prognosis. For now we’re going to build her a cozy house outside and put some nice bedding in it and we’ll keep feeding her. But I thought I’d use this opportunity to share some facts about FIV with you.
A positive FIV test may or may not mean that a cat is actually infected with the virus that causes feline AIDS. The test checks for FIV antibodies, but not for the actual virus. This may mean several things: a cat may have the virus, it may have received antibodies through a mother’s milk, or it may have been previously vaccinated against FIV. If the medical history is unknown, there is no way to tell if a cat had the vaccine or not – if it has, it will always test positive for FIV. Retesting is a good idea, since they may just have received antibodies from their mother to protect them. We don’t know the age of our cat, but she is young. We will have her tested again later.
Cats are much less likely to develop AIDS-like symptoms than people who carry the HIV virus and can live full, healthy lives. They may become more susceptible to infections, but the main concern is transmitting the disease to other cats. It is contagious, but only through deep bite wounds or scratches, or mating. If a cat is fixed the likelihood of transmission is much lower, as (obviously) there will be no mating, but also neutered cats are much less territorial and therefore much less likely to fight aggressively. Sharing food bowls or litter boxes won’t infect other cats, and people can’t catch the virus just as cats can’t catch HIV. (It is, after all, feline immunodeficiency virus).
Of course having a positive FIV test will make it harder to find Gingy (my 4-year-old named her) a place in a shelter or someone’s home. She would have to go to a shelter that has an FIV community, or to a home that has no other cats or only cats who are FIV positive. Our cats haven’t had a newcomer in 9 years and judging by the “greeting” they’ve been doing when they see her on the porch, they won’t welcome her into our home with open arms. I don’t want our four to become infected, especially since three of them have ongoing health issues. We’ll take good care of her, and as much as I dislike the idea of having an outdoor-only cat I don’t see much alternative at this point.
What would you do? Do any of you have cats who are FIV positive? Are these facts surprising? Let me know in the comments.
