FIV cats can live with other cats, as long as they do not fight (no biting). There is no cure for FIV in cats, but there are treatment options that can help your FIV positive cat live a healthy life. FIV is a cat-only disease and cannot be spread to dogs or other animals.
Zarah Hedge, chief medical officer of the San Diego Humane Society, says some people believe that FIV-positive cats should always live separate from other cats. Not true, she says: FIV-positive and -negative cats can live together as long as all cats are spayed or neutered, remain indoors and interact peacefully.
Yes, as long as the cats get along and do not fight. The risk that a FIV-positive cat could spread the virus to a FIV-negative cat can be minimized by having them live in separate rooms until you are confident that they will not fight with each other.
Unfortunately, many FIV-infected cats are not diagnosed until after they have lived for years with other cats. In such cases, all the other cats in the household should be tested. Ideally, all infected cats should be separated from the non-infected ones to eliminate the potential for FIV transmission.
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.
FIV-positive cats that become clinical for the disease usually succumb to secondary infection, cancer, or immune-mediated disease.
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 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.
Just as we tend to avoid close contact with humans who are sick, you should avoid kissing your cat when he or she is sick.
Treatment for the feline immunodeficiency virus is quite expensive. According to estimates, the cost range from $150 to $2,000 per treatment.
The Vaccine Led to False-Positive FIV Results
Another issue with the FIV vaccine was that vaccinated cats could test positive for FIV for up to four years after vaccination. These false-positive results occurred because tests could not distinguish antibodies produced by the vaccine from natural infection.
There are three stages of FIV infection in cats: the acute stage, the latent stage, and the chronic clinical stage.
Management of FIV Infected Cats
Keep core vaccinations (rabies, feline calicivirus, feline herpesvirus-1, feline panleukopenia, and, in some cases, feline leukemia) up to date. It's important to realize that FIV-infected cats may not mount as strong an immune response to vaccines as cats that are not infected.
Cats Protection recommends that FIV-positive cats are kept indoors and only allowed outside in an impenetrable garden or safe run. They should not be allowed direct contact with FIV-negative cats.
Street Paws opposes euthanizing any feral/street cat simply because he or she tests positive for FIV (feline immuno-deficiency virus) or FeLV (feline leukemia virus). If the cat shows no active signs of ill health, we believe he/she should be released back into his colony regardless of the test results.
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.
There is absolutely no evidence that any person has ever been infected with FIV.
A healthy FIV positive cat can live for many years, and indeed can often outlive non-infected cats, but please be aware that this is not always the case. Due to their impaired immune system, the cat may succumb to illness earlier, and not reach their normal life expectancy.
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.
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.
The terminal phase of FIV infection is commonly associated with moderate to severe periodontal disease, lymphoplasmacytic stomatitis (Figure 21-4 ), gingivitis, and feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions,52 which may result from opportunistic bacterial and viral infections.
The cat may have a mild fever for a few weeks and there may be enlargement of the lymph nodes (the little lumps often referred to as “glands”). But often, cats infected with FIV appear completely normal. Months or years later, as infection progresses, the cat may develop fever, lethargy, poor appetite and weight loss.
As far as we know, once a cat is infected with the FIV virus, it will remain infected for the rest of its life. However, it is not clear if all infected cats will become clinically ill. It may be weeks, months, or even years after initial infection with FIV before a cat will develop clinical signs of illness.
Can FIV-negative and FIV-positive cats live together? Yes, as long as the cats get along and do not fight. The risk of an FIV-positive cat spreading the virus to an FIV-negative cat can be minimized by putting both cats in separate rooms until you are confident that they will not fight with each other.