AIDS in cats

Like AIDS in humans, cats have an acquired immunodeficiency virus. This is FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). Although it belongs to the same family as HIV, no current data suggest that it can be transmitted to humans.
Your cat can contract the FIV virus if bitten by another infected cat. But in general, the virus is not transmitted between cats in the same household. Your infected cat can therefore continue to live at home with your other cats. The virus' main target is the solitary adult male cat, defending its territory. As the virus does not cross the placenta, kittens born to infected mothers are healthy at birth. However, they can contract the virus by drinking their mother's milk, or via her saliva.

Symptoms

FIV causes a disturbance in the cat's immune defense immunity: white blood cells no longer work properly.
Initially, your cat develops a fever, and its lymph nodes may swell for 2-3 months. At this point, he's particularly prone to skin and intestinal infections.
Then the cat recovers, but the virus persists in its bloodstream. From then on, it can transmit FIV to other cats. For several years (3-5 years), the cat can excrete the virus, without its condition giving rise to any suspicion of infection. Later, swollen lymph nodes reappear.
Finally, the terminal stage of the disease is characterized by viral and bacterial infections resulting from the immunodepression caused by the virus. Infections are then observed in the mouth, nose, eyes, skin and intestines. The cat may also suffer from anemia, fever and weight loss.
All these symptoms generally appear in cats around ten years old.

Diagnosis

To find out if your cat is infected with FIV, it is necessary to test its blood for antibodies. But it's important to remember that the techniques used to detect these antibodies are not infallible, and a negative result can be obtained in an infected cat! What's more, some infected cats remain seronegative for more than a year after infection. Finally, a seropositive cat may never develop the disease!

Prevention and treatment

Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to protect your feline friend from this disease. However, you can reduce your male cat's risk of infection by asking your vet to castrate him. In fact, castration generally reduces the aggressive, territorial nature of male cats, thereby reducing the risk of fights and bites!
If your cat has FIV, you'll need to control infections with antibiotics. Recently, antiviral veterinary drugs have also been developed to delay the progression of the disease.
Finally, FIV should not be confused with another immunodeficiency-inducing cat virus: FeLV. The latter causes a contagious disease called “leucosis”. Unlike FIV, you can protect your friend against FeLV by having him vaccinated.