Though there is no cure for FIV, recent studies suggest that cats with FIV commonly live average life spans, as long as they are not also infected with
Cats infected with FIV may live for months or years. On average, life expectancy is 5 years from the time of diagnosis depending on how active the infection is. There is a FIV vaccination given twice initially, then yearly thereafter for outside cats or cats exposed to outside cats due to the potential of cat bites.
Cats with FIV often have similar life spans to cats without it: Studies conducted in 2010 and 2022 found that an FIV diagnosis wasn't associated with decreased lifespans. In fact, cats can remain asymptomatic for years or even their entire lives.
Though there is no known cure, FIV is far from a death sentence. They have weaker immune systems, but cats who test positive for FIV can live fulfilling and happy lives like any other cats, and can live for many years, often without harmful symptoms.
FIV-positive cats that become clinical for the disease usually succumb to secondary infection, cancer, or immune-mediated disease.
Although cats infected with FIV may appear normal for years, they eventually suffer from immune deficiency, which allows normally harmless bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi found in the everyday environment to potentially cause severe illnesses.
Chronic oral infections occur in approximately 50% of cats with FIV-related disease. Cats may show pain when touched on the face, have difficulty eating or refuse to eat, and may have a bad odor around the mouth.
The progressive phase typically occurs later in life when the cat's compromised immune system can't fight off usually harmless bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi common in the environment; these can cause secondary or opportunistic infections and severe illnesses.
Although the ability of FIV or HIV to establish a latent infection in the CNS is controversial, several studies have reported a sustained proviral burden in FIV-infected cats in the brain [72,89] even in the absence of significant viral RNA.
FIV simply means a cat's immune system MAY be compromised somewhere down the road. FIV is a lentivirus, which is very slow acting and usually won't affect a cat for 7 to 10 years. Most FIV cats live long, healthy, normal lives with no symptoms at all. FIV cats need the exact same good care you give to ANY cat.
According to estimates, the cost range from $150 to $2,000 per treatment. This cost varies depending on the medications your veterinarian prescribes, whether or not you have pet insurance, whether or not your cat needs surgery, and the time in which your cat undergoes treatment.
Kittens under four months of age that test positive should be re-tested when they are six months old, by which time any maternal antibodies will have disappeared. It can take up to eight weeks for a cat to develop antibodies to FIV, so a cat that has been recently infected with this virus may falsely test negative.
FIV infection was significantly linked to extreme aggressive tendencies and the extremely aggressive FIV‑infected cats were more likely to have an unhealthy status compared to the non‑aggressive individuals (p = 0.022).
Cats infected with FIV should never be euthanized, unless they are actually experiencing a severe, debilitating illness that cannot be treated (as we would with any other cat).
Most commonly cats will experience a severe infection affecting the gums, just around the teeth. Also, any wounds that occur could be quite slow to heal.
It can be used to distinguish an FIV infected cat from an FIV vaccinated cat. The FIV vaccine has been withdrawn from the U.S./Canadian market, not for safety reasons but because it has never been widely embraced by the veterinary profession because of the testing ambiguity situation.
Feed a nutritionally complete and balanced diet. Avoid uncooked food, such as raw meat and eggs, and unpasteurized dairy products to minimize the risk of food-borne bacterial and parasitic infections. Monitor your cat's health and behavior very carefully – alert your veterinarian of any changes as soon as possible.
Many shelters would euthanize cats that tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, because they were considered unadoptable. However, new research proves that cats with FIV can live long, healthy lives and can even cohabit with FIV-negative cats.
During this third phase, FIV‐infected cats are predisposed to chronic and recurrent infections of various types. Gingivostomatitis is often present and is classically more severe and refractory to treatment than in FIV‐uninfected cats, and oral resorptive lesions are more common in FIV‐infected cats (Figure 4).
Feline Leukemia (FeLV) is much more devastating than FIV. This is because FeLV typically results in cancer (e.g., lymphoma), leukemia (e.g., cancer of the bone marrow or circulating white and red blood cells), and severe bone marrow suppression (e.g. anemia) in young cats.
There is absolutely no evidence that any person has ever been infected with FIV.
They will only feel a needle prick, but some felines may be more sensitive to this than others. If your vet injects the euthanasia drug directly from a needle and syringe, again they may react slightly to the needle prick but will not experience any pain when the drug is being injected.
Signs of FIV can vary from zero clinical signs (and being diagnosed based on a routine blood screening test) to more serious symptoms. These may include: Lethargy. Decreased appetite to complete inappetance.
FIV Cats Need to Be Indoor Cats
Any cat that has the FIV virus can spread it to other cats, which is why it's so important to keep them indoors as soon as you know they have the infection (or suspect infection and are waiting for confirmation from the vets).
FIV is spread between cats through blood transfusions, deep bite wounds, and less commonly, through intercourse or an infected mother's milk to nursing kittens. Sharing a litter box, sleeping area, toys, water bowl or other items will NOT transmit FIV between cats.