Introduction to FIV

FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) is one of the fairly common cat viruses, but it is much misunderstood....


Cats with FIV need everyone to understand the realities of the virus.

We have had many cats with FIV in our sanctuary, several with us for ten years or more and, in general terms, they have been both healthy and happy and living a full (but protected) life.

We know that FIV is a much misunderstood virus and, over the years, this misunderstanding has resulted in many otherwise healthy cats being euthanased - quite unnecessarily. So it is important for everyone to understand at least the basics about the virus.


What are the biggest misunderstandings?

Most people don't realise that:
Most cats with FIV have a strong immune system - it is only after many years that there may be sufficient decline for the effects of the virus to be evident - most FIV cats are perfectly healthy for most of their lives. Even for those who start to show effects, most infections can be handled by appropriate medications.

So why has this misunderstanding come about?

The FIV cats that do suffer, are those that are long-term strays, who have survived on a poor diet and probably been involved in fights, with subsequent injuries going untreated - this is the scenario that leads to the suffering that is wrongly thought to be common to all FIVs. These are also the FIV cats which vets and rescue groups are most likely to come across.

In our experience, FIV positive cats can have, and deserve to have, a long and healthy life. Like all cats, they need careful attention to their general health and diet, but this is no more than any cat should receive.


The effectiveness of all cats' immune systems reduce with age. Not many would recommend euthanasia just because a cat is getting elderly, so why so with FIV?

Why is FIV so feared by some?

It is a combination of the misunderstanding about the health implications, and the fact that the virus can be transmitted to other cats (only cats - no other species).

In the vast majority of cases, it is transmitted through biting. Cats fight for three main reasons: food, territory and mating. By providing a regular food supply and neutering, the need to fight is dramatically reduced, making the transmission of FIV far less likely.


There are many unidentified FIV cats everywhere, and most cats will come in contact with ones carrying the virus at some point, but, without fighting, there is no reason for them to become infected.

Eradicating the virus is not currently a realistic objective; and, putting to sleep a few individuals identified with the virus but otherwise healthy, is a futile reaction to the misunderstandings.


FIV is a virus that affects the cat's immune system, it acts very slowly, and it is often several years before the cat shows any signs of a damaged immune system - many never suffer at all!

In time, FIV can make a cat more susceptible to other infections, but these can be dealt with in just the same way as with any other cat.

In any animal (and human), their immune response varies in effectiveness from time to time depending on their general health. When we get run-down what do we do? - We take a tonic, get more sleep, have better food, take a holiday, we then regain our strength. The same is true of FIV positive cats - with good care, good food, and security, and preventing stressful circumstances, they seem to recover from most secondary infections just like non-FIV cats.

But, you may say, I have been told of FIV cats who are very ill

The FIV cats that have problems are the strays who have no-one looking after them - these can fall prey to all the other infections around, usually brought about through fighting for food, territory or females, and without treatment, these can escalate. It is mostly the un-neutered toms that fight, and therefore pick up and spread the virus. When one of these is captured and taken to a vet, suffering from all manner of secondary infections, it is not clear how much influence the FIV has had, but the fact that they test positive will give the impression that their poor health is due to the virus; whereas it is the environment in which they have been living that has caused the poor condition, not the FIV.


It is the nature of a vet's work, that they will see many more ill cats than healthy ones, whereas in fact, there are very many more healthy FIV cats than ill ones - they just don't need to see the vet! - take a look at the photos of the FIV cats in our sanctuary (on the sanctuary page) and decide for yourself whether they look healthy or not - most have no need to see a vet from one end of the year to another.
You can also see photos of many hundreds of individual FIV cats from our '1000 FIV cats' worldwide survey, which lists well over a thousand FIV cats living in normal homes (FIV gallery). You can also click on any of those photos to read their owner's report on them.

Visitors to our sanctuary often express surprise "We expected to see loads of ill cats, but they all look so happy and healthy!" - Yes, that's because they are!

FIV is not the terrible thing it is made out to be, it is no more than a weakness!


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