Description
This article is from the Feline
Leukemia (Cats) FAQ, posted to rec.pets.cats newsgroup.
Maintained by Erin Miller with numerous contributions by
others.
002. I've heard FELV is like AIDS. Can I catch AIDS or anything else from it?
People often use the "it's like AIDS" phrase to describe a number of
illnesses in the animal (and human) community with the idea that
most people know so much about AIDS that this analogy is useful.
Unfortunately most people don't know much about AIDS and the
resulting effect is to scare people out of their wits and have
them dump their cats or dogs at the nearest pound because they are
so deathly afraid of AIDS. They are similar to AIDS in that they
affect and weaken the body's immune system. The ONLY similarity
between FeLV, FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) and FIP (Feline
Infectious Peritonitis) is in their genetic makeup. All are RNA
(as opposed to DNA) viruses, and FeLV and FIV are what are known
as "retroviruses." FIP is a "coronavirus." (See the FIP FAQ for
more information on this disease).
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feline leukemia, cat, kitten, positive, felv
