English 
Deutsch 
Nederlands 
SHE USA FIV is the abbreviation for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus.
Core facts about FIV are:
- FIV is not in itself a life-threatening disease
- FIV does not ‘destroy’ the immune system
- FIV is not ‘Cat AIDS’
- FIV is not contagious1
- FIV does not necessarily shorten life expectancy.
- FIV cats do not have to be segregated
- FIV cannot be transferred to other species (animal or human)
As long as a FIV+ cat does not fight with uninfected cats, they will not become infected. Castration and sterilization, which all SHE cats have undergone, significantly reduces the risk of fighting.
A cat cannot pass on FIV by living with other household cats, sharing water bowls and cleaning each other.
A properly cared for FIV cat need not have a shortened life expectancy.
The FIV virus reduces a cat’s immune system, slowly (over several years) this can leave it more vulnerable to other feline infections later in life. – That is all.
FIV+ cats can have happy lives in socialized multi-cat households.
FIV won’t cause a cat to become ill and die at an early age. FIV+ cats do not have a higher incidence of illness, and live the same lifespan as non-FIV+ cats.
Please explore this excellent website (where we got his information from) to read more about FIV.
- it is transmitted through biting
↩︎