iVillage: Why is FIV more commonly found in cats five years of age and older?

Dr. Zislin: It becomes clinical in cats that are middle age or older. But in most cases, I think cats become infected when they are much younger than that. Cats will become infected with the FIV virus, and often the virus in the cat will live without the cat showing signs for months to years. And then at some point down the line, the virus essentially takes over and destroys the cat's immune system. The reality is that very slowly the virus starts infecting more and more cells within the cat's system and destroys the immune system very slowly over a period of time. But in the early stages of the disease, many cats don't show any clinical signs. Many cats can live months to years without seemingly being sick.

iVillage: Can FIV be transferred in utero?

Dr. Zislin: That is an interesting question. For the most part that is not a common mode of transmission. Most of the time infected females do not pass the virus on to their kittens. The most common transmission is through bite wounds.

iVillage: What are the most common complications experienced by cats with FIV?

Dr. Zislin: The virus infects cells that fight infections for the cat (the white blood cells). And those white blood cells then become nonfunctional and decrease in numbers. So when the animal faces a viral infection, or a fungal or bacterial infection, it has less resistance to those disease agents.

iVillage: Meaning that any type of opportunistic infection is going to take over?

Dr. Zislin: Exactly. It is very similar to feline leukemia (FeLV).

iVillage: Why are multi-cat households more at risk?

Dr. Zislin: Just like anything else, if you've got one or two cats in the household, the chances for either one of those cats to become infected are extremely low. But as you add more and more cats to the household, you increase the chance of adding an infected cat. The close proximity the cats have in the household increases the chance for transmission to occur.

Unfortunately, what people tend to do is see a cat in the backyard that comes back repeatedly, feed the cat and then decide to bring that cat into their household, where they have other resident cats. They don't isolate or test the cat before integrating it into the household. And now, essentially, they've increased the chances for transmission because that outside cat may be infected with FIV or feline leukemia.

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