There’s a disturbing story that I just learned about yesterday. Our next door neighbors moved away last September but left behind their cat. Henry the cat is mostly an outdoor cat that has FIV disease. I was not aware that Henry was left behind because since my neighbors moved, I have not seen him. If I had, I would have certainly done everything I could to feed him and offer him our porch to sleep on. It’s very upsetting to know that Henry was abandoned. Since I already have two cats, I was always concerned about the transmission of feline FIV disease. The disease can be controlled by feeding cats with this disease a high quality protein cat food.

Cats.about.com has described FIV in detail

FIV (Feline Immumodeficiency Virus) is a retrovirus in the same family as the human AIDS virus, with a few significant differences. It is estimated that in the United States, 2% of cats are infected with the FIV virus. http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/fiv_in_cats.htm. Saliva to blood (biting) is generally accepted as the primary source of spreading the virus, and it is unlikely (but not impossible) that cats will spread FIV by drinking or eating out of the same cat food dish, or water bowl by mutual grooming. It is not surprising that outdoor cats are particularly susceptible to the virus, and the best way to prevent infection with FIV virus is to ensure that your cat stays indoors only, which eliminates the possibility of contact with FIV cats. Another, less common means of transmission is from the mother cat (Queen) to her kittens during gestation, during birth, or by nursing. There is comfort in the fact that not all FIV -positive queens pass the virus on to their kittens. This phenomenon is not fully understood, but all kittens from FIV-positive mothers should be tested for the FIV antibodies after six months.

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