My cat was just diagnosed with FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). Does anyone know what the stages are?

Question

My cat, who I've raised since birth, turn six years old this June, and when we went to the vets last week, we got the news that no pet owner wants to hear. "Your cat has FIV."

Now, they did give us some information, but not much. Does anyone know what the stages of FIV are? Also, is there anyway to fight back against it to help my cat live longer and be healthier?

Only serious answers please.

Also, to Luisa, I did vaccinate properly. I always do. (I'm an animal rights activist Wouldn't it be a little hypocritic of me if I didn't, seeing as that's one of the causes I work for?) He was due last month and when we took him to the vets to get him vaccinated, they wanted to test him first.

They said he must have somehow got it within the week before we took him. His positive was only "mild".

Answer 1

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty! I know exactly how you feel... my "baby" was diagnosed with FeLV (not the same... actually, it's worse) a few years ago. I was devastated.

FIV isn't necessarily a death sentence though (like FeLV is). Like human HIV, cats can live for many years with FIV. Being six already, it's quite possible that your cat could die of old age in 8 or 10 years before the disease ever gets him.

He does of course need to be indoor only so he can't pass it on. There is conflicting information about having other cats. Until recently, it was advised that FIV cats only live with other FIV cats, but a year or so ago, some shelters (no-kills mostly) started allowing FIV cats to go into homes with non-FIV cats as long as they were not aggressive. Unlike FeLV (which is contractable by saliva - so sharing dishes, mutual grooming, etc) FIV is only transmitted by bites or other serious fluid-to-fluid contact. So basically if they dont' fight, they won't contract it or pass it on.

Anyway... a few things you can do. Keep your boy healthy. Feed him good food (you wouldn't believe the difference I saw in my 15yr old when I switched him from the cheap stuff to Felidae - it was like it made him five years younger!), keep him vaccinated if you have other animals (or do blood titers), and talk to your vet about putting him on Interferon, which is a liquid supplement which boosts the immune system (I think it's only available through a vet though).

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me.

Good luck, and be thankful you have a decent vet. Too many of them suggest euthanasia as soon as FIV or FeLV is diagnosed, even though a cat can still have several (or many, in the case of FIV) good years left. I wish you the best!

As for the person who rants about not vaccinating... the FIV vaccine was not even used by most vets until the last couple years... and even then, it's got serious drawbacks. For one... it makes a cat test a false positive for the rest of its life... so you'll never know if your cat is truly infected or not. Second... it's only about 70% effective even by the most optimistic estimates. I do vaccinate for FeLV (which is also only 70% effective, but does not affect their future test results) and the regular mess of annual vaccines, but I have never, and will never vaccinate my cats for FIV until they perfect the vaccine (so my cats won't show positive after being vaccinated).

Answer 2

I'm sorry about your cat.

This URL below is a reputable site. There are many, many more, but his site gives a good overview. A cat can live for many years with FIV, tho' the treatment (often blood transfusions) can be expensive. The single biggest worry about having a FIV cat is that it not have the opportunity to infect other cats - both yours and the neighborhoods.

As for the person who condemned you for not vaccinating the cat -- I have had my cats vaccinated EVERY year and one of them still became infected. The vet says that some cats are exposed at birth and the virus "hides" in the bone marrow until some other illness or stress makes it active. I managed to keep my old guy alive for about 3 years after diagnosis, but in the end, his quality of life told me I needed to let him go.

Good luck
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1313

Answer 3

There are 3 stages of FIV.

Stage 1: the virus spreads to local lymph nodes. This stage is usually ASYMPTOMATIC (without symptoms). And this stage can last for days, weeks or months. The cats CD4 count decreases, most cats have enough to get them through this stage. A few cats can get a fever, decrease in neutrophils (a certain white cell) or anemia.

Stage 2: is an asymptomatic stage that may last for years. When cats get to this stage it may be 2 to 6 yrs (sometimes more before they get to stage 3.

Stage 3: is called ARC (AIDS related complex), Cat Aids. Unfortunatly this is the final stage and once the cat gets to this stage the cat will die within a year. The cats immune system shuts down drastically making them more suseptible to illness and infectious diseases caused by bacteira, viruses etc. These are secondary chronic infections that get worse and more frequent over time. There is a long list of infections and illnesses that the cat can get at this stage, including; chronic abscesses, priodonitis, weight loss, anemia, enlarged lymph nodes, respiratory problems;; and neurological problems which include; changes in behaviour, face twitching, dementia, seizures etc.

All of this may seem rather dramatic, but your cat can live for a few more years before getting to stage 3. The main thing to remember is to treat him normally, to keep all cuts and abrasions clean, and it may be a good idea to keep your cat indoors in the later stages. In stage 2 going out will not affect his health or make the FIV progress any further. But at Stage 3 he/she will pick up every virus going so keep them inside. Once you see the signs of Stage 3 take him/her to the vet so the cat can get the appropiate treatment asap.

I got the above information from an excellent website, and I wrote down the info for you so you didnt have to trail through a lot of sites, but if you want to look it is www.animalhealthchannel.com it has much more indepth info, I just wrote the basics.

Hope this helps, and I am sorry to her your news. Please keep me informed on how your cat is doing. As I would love to know how he/she is getting on.

Take Care.

Answer 4

Have you tried "Google-ing" FIV in cats? I just did and a lot of links came up that will help you. When my cat was diagnosed with Renal disease, I wanted as much information as I could get and Google was extremely helpful.

Shame on Luisa. I'm sure your heart is breaking. You don't need to be scolded. I wish you the very best.

Answer 5

FIV cats can lead normal, healthy lives for quite a while. Because their immune systems are weakened, they can be more susceptible to illnesses non-FIV cats can fight off. Monitor your cat's health closely and see your vet regularly so he or she can check for signs of illness. Do you have other cats in the house? If so, they should be tested too.

Answer 6

I'm sorry to hear about your cat.i had a cat die from that to.its sad to see them die from that...i have 2 cats now that was born with it.all i can do is spoil them.no there not fat.i just want them to be happy while there still with me.(there all i have.)there should be something on the internet that you can look up for this terrible disease.i heard something about vitamins that you can give your cats for fiv but im not sure.

Answer 7

You may want to get a second opinion. I had a kitten that was diagnosed with
FIVand it turned out that the diagnosis was wrong. He did fine after some antibiotics.
If the diagnosis is correct, your vet should be able to answer all of your questions.

Answer 8

I'm sorry I don't know anything about FVI but this is the best result I could find for it in Google.
I really hope it's helpfull...best of luck!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_immunodeficiency_virus

Answer 9

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't vaccinate your pet properly, and now it will suffer because of you.