Feline AIDS

Many people that I have talked with in many places did not have any idea that cats could get AIDS (Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome) or even that there was such a thing. For this reason I pulled this information from my hub about the importance of Spaying/Neutering Your Cats and Other Animal Companions.Your cat can also be a carrier and not show signs of the disease. Auto Immune Deficiency means that the body attacks it's own immune system.

Feline AIDS can not be transferred from cat to human or vice versa. It is very similar to Human AIDS in that it is passed from human to human only this is passed from cat to cat.

Much like the Human AIDS which is incurable so it is with Feline AIDS. Once they get the virus they can never get rid of it. Ten years ago Vets would put the cat down who had shown the virus in a blood sample. I know I had a cat that was put down because he got it from a cat that was left on our doorstep. I learned the hard way when I brought a cat inside that someone had left in a towel on our doorstep. One of my cats was a very nurturing cat and unbeknownst to us he had licked her tears. None of the other cats that we had got the disease and we couldn't figure out why. He was the only one who nutrured anyone and never really bothered ny other cat. We didn't know anything about Feline AIDS then.

Symptoms of Feline AIDS from the initial onset to the final stage of the disease are

1. fever
2. listlessness
3. gum infections and the loss of teeth.
4. Lack of and sudden weight loss
5. Cats who get colds easily find it hard to heal.

The second stage of the illness Cats can stay at the 2nd stage for the rest of there lives if they are well cared for. At times the cat may not want to eat or lack the willpower to do so, but you can experiment with foods from Special Cat foods, to canned foods and even human and baby foods. The best ones that I have found that they will eat is raw hamburger but you can try fish and chicken as well. .

In the 3rd stage the immune system totally breaksdown and the cat is very ill. The cat's organs start to fail rapidly. These signs are the same as Feline Leukemia and most will be put down if you haven't lost them first. My Little Black Cat, I think, had Feline AIDS but I think she was a carrier or the signs never really showed up until later in her life. She passed at age 19. She got colds easily and they would take a long time to go away and near the last year of her life she had problems keeping food down. It was hard finding something that she would eat and keep down. The Vet even gave her a special formula for senior cats, but she wouldn't even take a bite of that.

Since then I have found RAW Foods such as beef, chicken, turkey, venizon and duck are great. Raw chicken wing or leg are the favorites of kittens and some Outdoor unneutered/spayed cats. My cats and dog love RAW hamburger or ground chuck. Chicken Livers is a very good source of vitamins and minerals, but only give it once a week becasue it zapps the Vitamin "A" from their bodies. You can also add carrots and apples to the mixture. They also suggected to give them Cottage Cheese, but I have never gotten any of my animals to eat that or Rice. I guess it depends on the cat.

Just like the Human AIDS, the care it takes becomes a labor of love and there is no cure as of yet.

Links for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_immunodeficiency_virus

http://www.jugglingcats.com/Disease/feline_aids.htm

http://milwaukeeweb.net/felineaids/