These mysterious acronyms hide serious viral diseases in cats, known as feline AIDS or feline leukaemia. Their diagnosis is not always easy, but it is all the more painful – all of these diseases are incurable and often fatal to their carriers. None of these diseases are transmissible to humans.
A cat sitting on a white couch. Behind her is an orange background.
FIV – “feline AIDS”
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is a long-lasting, incurable disease of cats that is nicknamed feline AIDS. It causes the cat to lose its immunity, so that it eventually cannot defend itself against even the most trivial infections. The disease is caused by an RNA virus in the family Retroviridae, which is related to HIV.
Causes of FIV
Feline AIDS is transmitted by contact between cats, most commonly by biting, but also by sexual contact or by intense and frequent contact between a healthy and an infected cat. Kittens can become infected while still in the womb, during birth or by drinking milk.
Symptoms of FIV
It can take years for an FIV-positive cat to show the first signs of the disease. These include frequent inflammation associated with fever and apathy. These symptoms may go away as quickly as they came, leaving the cat as a healthy individual for some time before more and more symptoms start to appear.
- Frequent inflammations (e.g. skin, eyes, upper respiratory tract)
- Fever
- Apathy
- Weight loss, lack of appetite
- Development of tumours
- Chronic diarrhoea
Treatment and prevention
This is an incurable disease, veterinary care can only mitigate and delay its course. As a precaution, it is recommended to keep your cat indoors, and if you let it out, consider neutering it. Cats are then more likely to stay indoors and are not as exposed to the risk of meeting strangers.
FeLV – “feline leukaemia”
Feline viral leukemia is an incurable disease with a slow course that leads to weakened immunity, anemia and cancer. Fortunately, quality veterinary care increases the chances that an FeLV-positive cat will live a long and relatively healthy life.
Causes of FeLV
The disease is most commonly transmitted through saliva, when cats eat and drink from the same bowl, sneeze at each other, bite each other or brush each other. Transmission can also occur through breast milk, urine or sexual contact.
Symptoms of FeLV in cats
- Nose and eye discharge, inflammation
- Diarrhoea
- Nausea, dejection
- Fever
- Enlarged lymph nodes
Treatment and prevention
The treatment of FeLV aims to suppress the symptoms and to prolong and improve the animal’s life as much as possible, for example with good quality cat food or supplements. The cat can be vaccinated from 8 weeks of age with a booster vaccination in 3-4 weeks.
The cat lies in the arms of its owner.
FIP – “feline coronavirus”
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is an incurable infectious viral disease of cats caused by feline coronavirus. It is currently the most serious viral disease of younger cats – most patients are under two years of age.
Causes of FIP
Transmission of the infection is fecal-oral, meaning it is spread by ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces, licking soiled fur or objects. Cats can be hidden carriers of the infection for up to several years before they show signs of the disease.
Symptoms of FIP
The virus enters the host through the mucous membranes and multiplies in cells in various parts of the body, most commonly affecting the abdominal organs, thoracic organs, eyes and central nervous system. The disease can manifest itself in two different forms: effusive (wet) and non-effusive (dry).
Symptoms of the effusive form:
- Unappetite.
- Fevers
- Painless abdominal inflammation
- Vomiting, diarrhea
Symptoms of the non-effusive form:
- Nervous symptoms (trouble walking, head swaying side to side)
- Eye changes (conjunctivitis, eyelids closing, bleeding)
- Uneasiness, emaciation, exhaustion
Treatment and prevention
Treatment of FIP in cats is always supportive and alleviates the symptoms of the disease. The only appropriate prevention is breeding measures (taking kittens from healthy breeders, disinfection of premises, etc.). Owners can have their kitten tested with an immunological test to see if the kitten has ever encountered FIP and related viruses.
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