Several years ago my brother and his wife (cat lovers par excellence) began feeding a homeless kitty in their backyard. They took her to a vet for a checkup and discovered she had FIV, a virus that attacks the white blood cells supporting the immune system. It was because of her positive FIV result that they kept her outside, away from their two indoor cats. And that’s the way I figured things had to be, until I read a recent copy of Best Friends magazine.
In this issue I learned:
- FIV positive cats can lead healthy, active lives
- FIV is hard to transmit since the virus can only live a few seconds in open air
- A vaccinated cat will always test positive for FIV
Is it possible to house an FIV cat safely with uninfected cats?
Apparently it is! This really amazed me. But there are many instances of FIV positive kitties living with uninfected cats for years, with no resulting transmission of the virus. And this makes sense, since most transmissions are from mother to kitten, or through a bite.
What happens to infected cats in most shelters?
Well, unfortunately many of them are euthanized. But there is a shelter I read about called FIV Cat Sanctuary in Tennessee that houses FIV positive cats and kittens. The shelter is run by a woman named Jen Crews, who adopted an FIV positive cat in 1994, before she even knew what that meant! She mentioned in the Best Friends magazine article that she has had many long-lived cats that had FIV and never even had a sniffle.
Should you adopt an FIV positive cat?
After reading this article, I certainly would not hesitate. (That is, if I were not allergic to cats in general, a condition I hope is temporary.) But how about you? Would you take an FIV cat or kitten into your home, to live with your uninfected cats?
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