If kitens are sired by a male cat who has feline aids, will they also have the terrible disease?

Question

I live in a country where unwanted cats are left to live on the streets and cope for themselves. It always breaks my heart because they are so hungry and ill. I have adopted many in the past 21 years. Recently Cat Aids is becoming a problem here. I have adopted a lovely little kitten two weeks ago. She seems healthy and fine. However she looks very much like a stray male whom I know has the aids disease. I am so worried he might be her father. I am afraid that she might have been born with his disease. When would she start to show symptoms of it, if it were so? My vet can't answer this question and I haven't been able to access anything on the net (many sites in English do not reply to direct questions from overseas.)
Please reassure me! Thank you!

Answer 1

Possibly but probably not.

Research at the Cornell Feline Health Center in the 1990s showed that the FIV virus is seldom passed from an infected mother to her kittens. So it would seem even less likely that it would be passed on from an infected father,

As someone else already posted, it's usually passed by deep bite woulds or sex. Your kitty's mother is in more danger of infection than her kittens are.

Try not to worry too much about FIV infection. For one thing, if kitty is infected, there's nothing you can do about it now, so worrying won't help.

There is a test that will tell you if kitty has FIV, but since there's nothing you can do about it, the test might not be worth bothering with.

Even if kitty has FIV, that doesn't mean she'll get AIDS. Here in the US, FIV infection has become fairly common, but feline AIDS seems to have remained pretty rare.

I know a woman who works with a feral feline rescue group. In more than ten years of involvement she says she's found dozens and dozens of FIV+ cats, and she's only seen four cases of feline AIDS.

My cat Scooter was FIV+ for pretty much his whole life. He lived to be almost 16 years old and his death had nothing to do with his FIV. (He died of a heart attack due to a heart weakened by two bouts of hyperthyroid.) At the time of his death his immune system was still functioning normally. For Scooter, being FIV+ was a complete non-issue.

I hope your kitty doesn't have FIV, and that if she does it will be a non-issue for her like it was for my Scooter.

P.S. - Forget about the FIV vaccine! It doesn't work very well. There are at least five different strains of FIV and the vaccine only works against one of them, and not very well against that one. (As written on the ASPCA's fact sheet on FIV, "there is no *effective* vaccine against FIV." The big risk with the vaccine is that if your cat ever gets lost and winds up in a shelter, many shelters test for FIV and immediately euthanize any cats that test positive, and a cat that's been vaccinated will test positive. Also, if she already has FIV, the last thing you want to do is increase the amount of virus in her system, which a vaccine could do!

Answer 2

Feline AIDS is spread from cat to cat primarily through bite wounds, as the virus is shed in high levels through saliva. Outdoor cats are at higher risk for contracting the disease. An actual bite wound is an integral part of the disease transmission. Although rare, it is possible for a mother to pass the infection on to her unborn fetus. You need to take the kitten to a vet and have him tested, if he's not you should have him vaccinated against FIV, because as you say it's an increasing problem, so best to be on the safe side. keep him indoors to be on the safe side and make sure he has a nutrional diet.

Answer 3

Hiya,
the best thing to do is have her tested and put your mind at rest. Like the human disease, cats can live for years without showing symtoms, so if you get her tested now, at least you will be prepared for the future and know if she starts displaying symtoms.
There is a chance that even if the father had it, he may not have transmitted it to her but of course this is a low chance.
Like in humans again,sometimes if the mother has it, it is not always necessary passed onto the child.
Symtoms vary but can start off as pneumonia or anemia.
hope this helps
good luck

Answer 4

My cousins cat also had feline aids a few yrs back...if the stray is the father, then chances r the will have it too...best thing is to take her to ur vet n ask them to do some blood tests, i'm not sure when she will start showing the symptons. But unfotunately if she has got it, it is uncurable, theres no treatment to rid her of it....try this site http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/fiv.html dont know if its n e use for u.

Answer 5

I never heard of a cat that had aids (feline aids) but if it does you bet those little kittens are going to have it. The disease runs in the blood and blood is in the felines sperm. Sorry to tell you that but that is the truth.

Answer 6

I think theres a very strong possibility that your little friend may have this disease. If you get her to a vet soon eenough, she may be helpable, but I have never had a rescued cat with this yet, and dont know; call a vet, thats the best thing, as we are all amateurs on here, doing out best for animals as you are. Very good luck to you and your kit.

Answer 7

It is possible yes.Cats can get it from eating out of the same bowl as another one with feline aids.I had 2 cats that got it from cats knocking about when they were out,maybe from a scratch or bite.Unfortunately i had to have them put to sleep :-(

Answer 8

Hi,try typing in cataids in search i found an excellent site,please let me know if you can get it

Answer 9

http://www.bridgerlandanimalhospital.com/felineaids.html

copy and paste to your address bar. Hope this helps. Thanks for your question, I have never heard of "feline aids" until now and I have kittens.