- Image via Wikipedia
I did a little more searching for information on adoption of FIV cats. Of course, the Best Friends Sanctuary site had some of the most well-researched and entertaining anecdotal information on cats with this illness.
Here are a few new things I learned:
- The disease can only be passed by a deep and penetrating bite
- Some FIV cats can live to be a healthy twenty years old!
- Some Veterinarians have recommended euthanasia for cats diagnosed with this disease! (But I’m hoping most of them are more educated than that now. As I’ve said many times, veterinarians are some of the most caring human beings on the planet)
The main thing you need to be aware of is not exposing an FIV kitty to a disease that their immune systems just wouldn’t be able to handle.
The more I think about it, the more this scenario reminds me of the early days of HIV and AIDS research, when humans with these conditions were isolated by friends and family. Gradually, over the years it became common knowledge that it wasn’t all that easy to pass the disease from one person to another.
Best Friends Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah has two rooms devoted exclusively to FIV cats. I assume they have separated them from the other cats because the prejudice about this condition does still persist. Besides, if you are taking in strays and unwanted felines, I imagine you have to be extra careful.
There are plenty of heart-warming adoption stories you can read about there, and a lot of encouragement for people who may have just discovered that their cat does have this condition.
In my last post, I mentioned that my brother had an outdoor kitty with FIV. She lived in his back yard for many years, and received her share of outdoor pets and attention, especially in the summer when Jeff and his wife enjoyed back porch suppers. When the weather turned cold, Jeff designed a heated cat house for her! She lived for many years, and eventually perished from a stroke. So despite the fact that she was separated from the other cats, she had a good life.
Have you had your own experience with an FIV infected cat?
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