Feline Aids

My vet recently told me that because I have more than 7 cats it is considered I have a colony.

He also diagnosed one of the older stray cats with Feline Aids.

He advised me to have them all vacinnated. Does anyone know anything about this as if it is expensive, it will cost lots of money.

I never even heard of Feline Aids before.


Catty Carla

Yes, I had the same thing happen to me. When we lived in Ireland we bought a house which came with about 15 stray cats.

The system there in rural areas anyway, is that once you buy the house, you get the pets as well! It is the same in parts of Spain too.

Anyhow, yes, one of 'our' cats in Eire was very thin and looked sickly. I took her to a brilliant vet who was also a surgeon with his own practice looking after all kinds of animals, from farms to horses to cats and dogs.

He took a blood sample, and after a couple of days I rang and he said she had Feline Aids. When I explained how many cats I had inherited, he also told me that technically, that number is considered a colony.

That particular cat got sick very often, and finally after taking her about ten times to the vets, he recommended to 'put her to sleep' She really was not well and had no quality of life, and so I took the difficult decision to agree, and stayed with her while he did it. It was sad because she had had a difficult life, but I did what I thought was the best thing for her.

The other cats took it in turns to be taken to the vets, usually two at a time, and all had blood tests, but thankfully, none of the rest had AIDS.

So yes, your vet is correct. There may be cocktails of antivirus now (my Irish cat experience was ten years ago) which they can administer now to cats with this awful disease, but I am not sure. The best thing is to ask your local vet his advice. If you are still not sure, go to another vet for a second opinion.

If the cat seems very sick, then it may be kinder to do the most difficult thing, as I had to. But if there is a way to extend her life which is not too expensive for you (some animals charities will help with this sometimes), then maybe that will work for you.

Please tell us how you get on. And do not worry that if she does have the Feline version of Aids that you could somehow 'catch it' from her. You could not. Viruses rarely 'jump' species.

Hope this helps.

I have never heard of this before. Is there a vet somewhere here on the Forum who can confirm this information please ?

It is rather worrying as I have several cats and would hate for them to get this terrible disease.

Thank you.


Sara

Hi Sara et al -

FIV is a widespread viral infection which attacks your pets immune system.

It is caused by the same type of viruses that triggers AIDS in humans and has much the same devastating impact on infected cats. It is often referred to as "feline AIDS."

The virus devastates a cat's immune system, stopping it from effectively fighting off any other diseases and infections. Infected cats eventually fall prey to a wide variety of secondary illnesses that overwhelmingly prove fatal. There is no cure, but cats can live for up to 10 years – much of it in seeming good health – before succumbing.

It is estimated that between one percent and 14 percent of the cat population is infected with FIV.

The disease is transmitted from cat to cat by blood and saliva. This happens primarily through biting and scratching so outdoor and male cats that fight with other cats are at greatest risk. Yet another reason to keep your cat IN at night and not let him or her go out and get involved in a cat fight.

puss_doc