Feline AIDS: The Beginning of an Epidemic

In memory of a Cat-Lover-holic, who still remains very much with us.

When the Black Plague first struck Europe, very few recognized its potential as an epidemic.  Eventually, however, after the disease had wiped out almost 60 percent of Europe’s entire population, no one could deny its deathly existence. I compare the Black Plague to Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a lentivirus that affects domesticated housecats worldwide and is the causative agent of feline AIDS. I supposed the only difference between the two horrific, debilitating diseases is that Feline AIDS only affects about 2.5 percent of all house cats. Oh, and it’s a cat disease.

So why write about such a topic on a blog normally dedicated to selfish worries and whimsical dreams? Well, when Occupy Wall-Street is over, when Gadhafi is dead (oh wait), and when North Dakota decides that paying strippers $2000/night is ludicrous (true story), CNN will need material, and when my blog is discovered, and subsequently goes syndicated, you’ll say you knew me when. With that said, let me tell you why you should love your cat just a little more today, why you should squeeze him just a little tighter, and why you should never let a morning go by where you don’t give him a kiss on his furry cheek.

FIV was first discovered in 1986 by smart people at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (yes, I have a peep there. Her name is Jill). It was discovered among a colony (that was the name of a market down the street from my childhood home) of cats that had a high prevalence of “opportunistic infections and degenerative conditions” (cite Wikipedia because those words are definitely too big to pass as my own.)

The disease is primarily spread through deep bite wounds and scratches, where the infected cat’s saliva enters the other cat’s bloodstream. The other night I heard a cat fight outside my window and my first thought was, “Feline AIDS.” I mourned.

If you suspect that your cat or a cat you love has the disease, tests can be performed at your local veterinarian’s office with results in minutes, allowing for quick consultation. Early detection helps maintain the cat’s health and prevents spreading infection to other cats. Like a gleam of light in an otherwise dark and dreary rainstorm, infected cats, with proper care, can live long and healthy lives.

For more information, please see my blog post on CNN…when they get around to putting it up, of course.