Dr.Akanksha Upadhyay Mishra
MVSc Veterinary Surgery & Radiology
Alpharetta , Georgia , United States
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus/ AIDS Of Cats !
What a greater gift than love of a cat ~ Charles Dickens.
There are many of us who love cats more than a dog or any other pet. Their mewing and cuteness is absolute bliss. But like any other pet, cats too are prone to many serious diseases and require proper care and management by cat owner.
If you too are from cat lover community, you may have vague familiarity with one such deadly viral disease- Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, a lentivirus which is very closely related to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and have very similar effect on body but it is not transmissible between one species to another. It cause T-cell deficiency in domestic cats which in turn make them immunodeficient and they get prone to illness from even normally harmless bacteria, fungi and virus which are found in environment.
Origin of FIV in domestic cats is believed to be from African lion as this virus is even found in a non domestic felidae family. Brown et al. (1993) mentioned about one such study which revealed about the existence of antigenically similar lentivirus in a large number of non domestic felidae family like it is endemic in East and South African lion population and free range population of cheetah but it do not cause disease in African cats.
High incidence of FIV is directly associated with density of cat population, more the density of cat in an area more is a chance of FIV cases.
Figure 1. Showing distribution of pet cat population in world © Mapsofworld.com
Q. How it is transmitted?
A. Primary mode of transmission is through bite wound and intact feral male cat is more predisposed to FIV virus than that of female cat. It do not spread by sharing food and water in a same bowl, cuddling or grooming but it is better to keep two cats away to reduce the chances of fight which can give bite
wound. If your cat mingle with stray or feral cats unsupervised it is better to have it tested for FIV. As the virus is highly species specific it do not transmit from cats to human or other pets of different species like dogs.
Q. How you can know if your cat have FIV?
A. You may notice one or more of these following clinical signs and symptoms :
* Enlargement of lymph node often accompanied with fever. Sometimes this stage pass unnoticed unless lymph nodes are greatly enlarged.
* Progressive deterioration of cat’s health or recurrent illness.
* Loss of appetite.
* Poor coat condition.
* Inflammation of gums (gingivitis) and mouth (stomatitis).
* Recurrent infection of skin, eyes, urinary bladder and upper respiratory track.
* Diarrhoea
* Some cats may show seizures or other neurological disorders.
Q. How FIV is diagnosed ?
A. Blood sample is examined for antibodies to FIV by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA ) or Immune Fluorescence Assay (IFA). Positive ELISA is reconfirmed by Western blot. Kittens of infected mother cat can receive positive test result for several months after birth but rarely any of these kittens may actually get infected. Therefore, kittens younger than six months should be retested at 60 days for six month interval.
Q. Is there any treatment for FIV?
A. Unfortunately, there is no definite cure of FIV. Cat can carry virus for a long time before symptoms appear. Even if survival is unpredictable FIV affected cats can lead a normal life if managed properly. Once diagnosed with FIV a Veterinarian will start symptomatic treatment like anti inflammatory, immune boosters, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic to control the secondary illness. Some anti viral drugs have also shown good results in controlling stomatitis and gingivitis. Dental care is must for these cats.
Now, vaccines are also available like Fel-O-Vax® FIV to protect cats from this disease but it have its own limitations as it is not a core vaccine of cats and do not protect against all the subtypes of virus hence, even vaccinated cats need other precautionary measures against disease. Vaccine induced sarcoma (kind of cancer) is another complication related to vaccine. You must discuss in detail about treatment options and their outcome with Veterinarian.
Q. How to manage or care the FIV affected cat and how good chance of survival of such cat is?
A. You can manage or care such cats very well by following ways:
* Confine infected cat indoor to prevent spread of disease to other healthy cats.
* Environment should be stress free.
* Home should have only this cat or other pets of different species like dogs.
* Spay or neuter your cat.
* Feed balanced commercial diet.
* Uncooked food, raw meat, eggs and unpasteurized milk products should be avoided to reduce the risk of food borne bacterial and parasitic infections.
* Cat should be dewormed or have active parasitic control.
* Veterinary checkup at every six month interval is advisable for overall health screening.
Prognosis – If there is persistent fever and weight loss the chance of survival is generally poor but if managed appropriately cat can survive like any other non FIV positive cats.
Q. Can you adopt FIV positive cats?
A. Yes, you can adopt an FIV positive cats with some precautions to keep in mind like this virus is species specific and can spread from one cat to another through bite wound, so if you have more than one cat in your home and they don’t get along then it is better to not allow them to interact or should not be kept in one place. If needed one cat should be re-homed.
Such cats can live normal and healthy life if managed nicely.
FIV is completely harmless to humans or your pets of different species other than feline as it only harm cats.
FIV positive cats are safe to adopt and by adopting such cats you can save them from euthanasia which is used as a last option by shelters for such cases.
I hope this article can help people to know about FIV thoroughly and succor in adoption of many FIV positive cats. These cats want your love and euthanasia should not be their fate.
Reference:
1. Brown, E., Miththapala, S., & O’Brien, S. (1993). Prevalence of Exposure to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus in Exotic Felid Species. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 24(3), 357-364. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20095289
