fiv vs felv

why is it that people dont get fiv shots for their cats but often get felv shots? IS fiv harder to contact? They say 1 in 10 cats have it?

Doesn't work very well, risky - side effects, and your FIV vaccinated cats will test positive on ELISA test meaning that if they end up at a shelter or vets office in someone elses possession they will test positive and likely be promptly euthanized.

I don't even like the FeLV vac, to be honestly.

Maybe because FeLV is more easily transmitted through casual contact, whereas FIV is mainly transmitted through bite wounds?

If you want to learn more about these two diseases, the Cornell Feline Health Center is a good place to start.

I don't get FIV vaccinations for the following reasons:

1) it's not 100% effective and in fact doesn't protect as much as the FeLV vaccination.
2) FIV is not nearly as deadly as FeLV, which in full bloom form is always fatal. It is the theory of some vets that before they knew about FIV, it was very prevalent in the cat population and nobody even noticed. It wasn't "bad" until they identified the disease.
3) Once vaccinated, a cat will test positive for FIV. FIV has a bad rap and shelters will euthanize a cat that tests positive for it.

(and just fyi - FeLV is typically spread thru mating or fighting, but can be spread through casual contact over a prolonged period of time, with an emphasis on the word prolonged)

like sharing from the same food dish?

Originally Posted by chausiefan

like sharing from the same food dish?

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I brought in a pair of kittens one time that were supposed to have been tested for FeLV and by accident were not. At 9 months old they both became seriously ill and tested positive for FeLV. Since none of my other cats ever tested positive before, we knew they came into the house with the disease. Of the 11 resident cats (other than the kittens), 1 of them contracted FeLV and mine were all vaccinated for it.

It took roughly 7 months for the disease to show in the house, and probably 5 months before someone contracted it from those kittens. There were 2 adult cats that were very close to those kittens. They slept in piles, groomed each other, played with each other, shared litter boxes, food bowls and water bowls (the last 3 were shared by the entire 11 cats). 1 of those cats got the disease and the other did not. Those cats were littermates with the same genetic background. Why one and not the other? (good question)

When I researched why this happened, casual contact was defined as all of the above, any single one of them could spread the disease. Like HIV in humans, it takes bodily fluids to spread the disease. If a cat sheds the virus into a food bowl and another cat eats from that bowl, yes, they can contract it. But I suspect that sharing of bowls is not nearly as risky as say, grooming each other, where the saliva from one goes directly against the skin of another.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

(and just fyi - FeLV is typically spread thru mating or fighting, but can be spread through casual contact over a prolonged period of time, with an emphasis on the word prolonged)

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Thank you for adding that - I should have done so in my post.

Your comment about the FIV theory (i.e. that it was in existence a very long time before the virus was actually discovered) is also interesting. I agree that it is less scary than FeLV in some respects.

Originally Posted by motoko9

Your comment about the FIV theory (i.e. that it was in existence a very long time before the virus was actually discovered) is also interesting. I agree that it is less scary than FeLV in some respects.

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FIV was discovered in 1986. The history is a bit interesting if you do some googling on the topic.

Mine(Attitude and Nuts) have FeLV and Maude(boyfriend's cat) didn't. When Maude crossed the bridge(liver failure, she was around 10) she was still negative, but we did get her vaccinated before we let Attitude and Nuts inside.
Most adult cats have an immunity to FeLV. The amount of virus required to infect 100% of newborn kittens would only infect around 30% of adult cats.

I would never get mine vaccinated against FIV, of course on top of them not having any risk factors for FUV I would hate for them to get out and test positive for BOTH FeLV and FIV, even though either way on this side of the river their stories would be over by the end of a needle the second they got the results, but they still don't need an unnecessary vaccine. Actually more rescues/shelters here will take FIV pos cat and try to find them homes but will automatically euthanize the FeLV pos cats.

I don't know, maybe because I'm dealing with it FeLV is less scary than FIV. Like I said I think it's just the fact that I'm dealing with Attitude, Nuts inside and Mama, Biter, Runt, Goldie Jr and Half-tail(and maybe Blue when he comes around) and they have no health issues. That, of course, could change at any time.

Taryn

wow, 1 in 10 seems like an awfully high number, that's like saying 1 in 10 humans have HIV? (I don't know exact figures but I would really hope that is not the case) but anyhow, IMO, if your cat is neutered, their chances of contracting FIV are slim to none and slim left the building

I don't like either vax either, FIV because it causes a cat to test positive and FeLV because of the history of carcinomas at injection site and that it is not 100% effective, kinda like false security.... but on that note, if you allow your cats outside and there is the possibiltiy they can come into contact with other cats, something is better than nothing

While FeLV cats can live to an old age it is rare, while FIV cats, with proper care, can and do very regularly live close to normal lifespans.

On the subject of which is scarier, I, like Taryn, care for FeLV positive cats, but even after 10 years, this disease scares the crap out of me I never know when it will strike, or how for that matter. I've seen it do some pretty bad stuff, and it can happen so fast you don't even time to react The really weird thing is that I have 3 double positives, and I never even think about the FIV- plus, they are my healthiest cats. Maybe they cancel each other out

Just my 2 (or 10) cents!

It scares me too. Every time Nuts drops any weight I worry, I'm trying to get Attitude to lose weight but she's stubborn and insists on gaining instead of losing. Like I said I think a trip or talk with my vet is in order to get her to lose weight. Who thought I'd have a fat FeLV positive cat. I worry when they sneeze(Attitude sprayed snot earlier with a sneeze hoping it's just allergies) or appear sick. They are both faint positives so it is possible they are just carriers or whatever or will never suffer ill effects from it. Maude ate from the same bowls(they all had separate food bowls but of course what's in the other bowl is more appealing than what's in theirs), they share a water fountain(Attitude flings and dumps regular water bowls) and shared litter boxes, we had 3 but they went to whatever box was closest, not that I blame them, I'm not walking across the house to go to the bathroom if there is one right next to where I am. Like I said Maude remained negative until she crossed the bridge, but as I said, she was 10 years old, in good health until her liver failed(she stopped eating and we didn't realize it until it was too late) and she was vaccinated. She might have 'contracted' it but her immune system said 'I don't think so' and killed it. Attitude and Nuts almost did kick it and they were infected either in-utero or at birth. Like I said, cats seem to develop immunity/resistance to it as they age, but unless the cat is living with a positive cat, gets boarded(not everyone is honest that their cat is infected or even aware), or goes outside there is no reason for a leukemia vaccine. My vet doesn't even suggest it unless the cat is at risk. I would have never known about Attitude or Nuts being positive if it wasn't for the 'technicality' of Attitude being tested at her first vet visit(I adopted her first, I decided to adopt Nuts several weeks later, they are litter mates.) No one expected it to be positive.

I know FIV is the less dangerous of the 2 but I was kind of just tossed FeLV out of left field so I deal with it.

Taryn