FIV, or the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus is a cat health care problem which is unfortunately untreatable, it remains relatively common because there is no vaccine available at the moment. Because this serious cat health care problem is passed from one cat to another in the saliva when they bite each other, it is especially prevalent amongst un-castrated male cats who are more likely to fight.

Similar to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), FIV works by attacking and destroying the cat’s white blood cells.This is dangerous to the cat because the white blood cells are responsible for fighting off infection. This means that cats which have been infected by the virus are significantly more susceptible to picking up infections which will be more likely to bring about complications than in healthier cats.

Because cat health care should be a priority for any cat owner, they should be watching out for FIV symptoms. Amongst the common symptoms of the virus are discharge from the nose and eyes, high temperatures, anaemia, skin infections, loss of appetite, swollen lymph glands and gingivitis, which is a type of gum disease.Owners often fail to realise the scale of the threat to cat health care posed by FIV because infected cats can often appear to be healthy for years, despite being susceptible to infection.

At present cat health care experts have been unable to find a treatment for the virus, but secondary infections can be managed with antibiotics giving the infected cat a better quality of life. There is not sure fire way of avoiding the disease because there is no vaccine, but keeping cats from mixing and fighting with other cats helps. Ensuring that your cat has been castrated is also a good idea because castrated cats are less inclined to fight with others.