FIV, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus in cats that is similar to human HIV. Usually, cats are infected early in life but don’t become clinically sick for years; these cats are usually diagnosed by routine blood testing.
The virus hangs out in the immune system for years. While it lives there, the virus weakens the immune system. The more immune challenges the FIV infected cat encounters, the more likely that cat will have a shortened life expectancy. On the flipside, there are wonderful examples of FIV positive cats who live to 18 years old.
For the owner of one of these cats, it may be a challenge to help these cats live to a good old age with good quality of life. The key is in taking care of the immune system. Almost 75% of the immune system lives in the intestinal tract in any mammal. This means that what we put in our mouth is more important than anything else we can do. This is especially true for FIV positive cats. These cats should eat very low antigen diets. What this means is a diet with low allergy stimulating ability. Diets that are least likely to over stimulate the immune system are those made with pure, fresh ingredients. For cats, these diets should be 80 to 90% meat. The remainder of the diet being a mixture of whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
Other things to consider for the FIV positive cat: minimal vaccines, minimal use of chemicals, and avoid heavy cleaning products in the house. Other than legal requirements, the argument can be made that FIV positive cats should never receive another vaccine in their lives. Any flea product, any medication, any other type of chemical can all have effects on the immune system. Any of these can weaken the defenses of an FIV positive cat.
Similarly, exposure to fleas, mold, and any other environmental allergen can attack the immune system and be equally hazardous. Therefore, the owner of an FIV positive cat must walk a fine line to protect the kitty.
FIV positive cats can live to a wonderful old age without living in a bubble. By working with your holistic veterinarian, you can achieve the happy balance that should protect your kitty for years to come.
My husband and I have a multi-cat household and recently took in a young cat that tested FeLV +. Would the information you provided be helpful in our situation as well? Our newest member is isolated from the rest of our cats and will be retested. I have been giving him a probiotic once a day with hope that will help his immune system. I purchased your book today because I feel our household could really benefit from a home cooked diet. We have our FeLV+, a diabetic, 2 overweight kitties, 2 young brothers with genetic heart disease and still another in the early stages of kidney disease…..all others are otherwise healthy 🙂
FELV is a bit different than FIV, especially in a young cat. As long as your kitty stays healthy, you might repeat that FELV test in 6 months – sometimes it goes negative. My fear is your kitty will become quite ill in the next few months and succumb to the virus.
Great food will help all your kitties do well – Let me know how it goes.
As for Feline Leukemia – it’s a hard to predict virus and blood test. Sometimes the test is wrong – called a false positive (no test is 100% accurate). Sometimes the cat is truly infected with FELV but the virus goes into hiding in the body. It can hide for years – this is where feeding the best possible food will do the most good. In this scenario, the cat may get sick later in life and all of a sudden be positive when testing had been negative for years. In the third possible scenario your little kitty may become sick within the next six months and die from the disease – I hope this is not the case for you.