Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, or FIV, is a Retrovirus (Retroviridae) in the same family as those that cause Feline Leukemia in cats, and AIDS in humans. In the USA, about 1.5%-3% of all healthy cats are infected with FIV, whereas about 15% of cats with other signs of disease carry the antibodies for FIV.
Although this disease may spread from mother to kittens and by sexual contact, it is most often spread by bite wounds from infected cats. Outdoor cats, especially un-neutered and aggressive males are most likely to carry the virus.
This disease is extremely similar to AIDS, and works much in the same manner. The virus attacks the cat’s immune system, especially the helper-T cells that are responsible for much of the immune system’s action. The virus, however, has a tendency to remain dormant for months or even years, and therefore, symptoms often do not present themselves until quite a while after the virus was contracted.
Symptoms of the disease itself can include the swelling of the lymph nodes, and/or anemia; however, the disease is most often characterized by the secondary infections that it causes.
There is no cure or vaccine for FIV, and the treatment consists of mostly preventative techniques. For an FIV positive cat, an environment free of possible pathogens is the best way to ensure that a secondary infection does not occur. FIV cats, even with proper care, tend to live years less than their non-FIV counterparts. The life expectancy decreases with each serious infection that the cat endures.
Although this virus is extremely similliar to the human virus HIV, it is in no way transmittable to humans. The virus is highly species specific, and appears to be restricted only to cats.