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Anonymous
>>57893 My cat is turning 17 next month. He was a mainly outdoor cat where FIV is rampant and he has a fighting, alpha personality with other cats. We've known that he has FIV for over 7 years. He's lived really quite comfortably with good nutrition, vitamin supplements, and early detection of bacterial infections and viruses. We also converted him into an indoor cat so he wouldn't infect other cats.
Like with HIV, there's no reason that a cat with FIV is unable to lead a relatively normal, healthy life. Additionally, FIV in cats is milder in extent than HIV is in humans - do we condemn HIV patients to death because they might need help fighting off an infection? My vet suggested that we try interferon starting next month for FIV treatment - we're going to go ahead with that because my cat is very healthy and brave.
I can see how you'd want to euthanize cats that were unhealthy before they got FIV and continue to become less so as the disease progresses, though, as a matter of humanity and comfort for the cat.
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