Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)
Does FIV look familiar? Reminds you of HIV doesn't it? That's because FIV, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is AIDS, feline AIDS. But like the human variety, it is transmitted in the same ways, but does not mean an immediate death sentence. Cats testing positive for FIV may still lead healthy long lives. Our Milly, who died on Oct 25 2005, and Rheilly, tested positive for it, but Milly did not die from it. She died from multi-cystic intestinal lymphoma - cancer of the intestines, a very fast-developing and aggressive cancer. Old school thinking was that isolation is a must, but luckily for Milly, and now Rheilly, the thinking is that it is not necessary. BestFriends.org's FIV: Catching a Bad Case of Rumors sums it up perfectly. If there is one thing to keep in mind about FiV, it is this: Like HIV, it doesn't do the killing, it weakens the body and destroys the immune system until the victim dies from another illness, like Milly. - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education
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