The Granby Animal Clinic, Inc.
FIV Vaccination Update
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, commonly referred to as FIV or Feline Aids, is a virus that infects cats and leads to an immunodeficiency state which eventually leads to death. The primary mode of transmission of the virus is via a bite wound from an infected cat. FIV is not transmissible to people. .
It is important to realize that cats can have FIV for years without showing signs. Even though a cat infected with FIV may appear healthy, they can still infect other cats. The best way to prevent your cat from contracting the disease is to prevent your cat from coming in contact with possible carrier cats.
Recently a new vaccine to help protect cats against FIV has been developed. Like most vaccines, it is not 100% effective. A very major drawback to this vaccine is that a vaccinated cat will not be able to be distinguished from an infected cat based on the tests currently available to us. Even a cat that is tested before vaccination could potentially be incubating the disease and we would not be able to tell in the future if the cat had FIV.
Although FIV is a fatal disease, it can often be managed for many years with appropriate care. FIV positive cats can not be given certain medications and vaccinations. If your cat is vaccinated for FIV and contracts it anyway (approx. 16% of vaccinated cats and possible more are not protected by the vaccine), we will not be able to tell and we will not be able to properly treat your cat. For this reason, we are not currently recommending FIV vaccination.
If you decide that you wish to have your cat vaccinated for FIV anyway, we strongly advise that you have your cat microchipped for identification. If a vaccinated cat is picked up by someone other that its owner and it is tested for FIV, the test will be positive and your cat may be thought infected and it may be euthanized. We are concerned that this is a real possibility until a test is developed that can differentiate vaccinated cats from infected cats.
If you have any questions on FIV or FIV vaccinations, please discuss them with your veterinarian.