Many people that I have talked with in many places did not have any idea that cats could get AIDS (Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome) or even that there was such a thing. For this reason I pulled this information from my hub about the importance of Spaying/Neutering Your Cats and Other Animal Companions. http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Importance-Of-Spaying-and-Neutering-Your-Animal-Companion

This disease can also be carried without any sign of the diseae in the pet itself.  Auto Immune Deficiency means that the body attacks it's own immune system.

Feline AIDS is not transferred from cat to human or human to cat, but it is very much like the Human AIDS that is passed from human to human only this is passed from cat to cat.

It is fatal to cats. It is not spread by mating, such as the human AIDS is, but through body fluids such as tears and blood from scratches and bites of fighting cats. Some cats are carriers of the disease and will not show any signs of it. Once they get the virus they can never get rid of it. About ten years ago Vets would put the cat down who had shown the virus in a blood sample. I know I had a cat that was put down because he got it from a cat that was left on our doorstep. She was wrapped in a blanket and was put there by someone who knew she was dying. We brought her in and my male cat, very nurturing, licked her tears away while we were sleeping and contracted it that way.  We hadn't any idea about Feline AIDS then.

Symptoms of Feline AIDS from the initial onset to the final stage of the disease are

1. fever
2. depression, and just not feeling or acting like they should
3. bad gum infections and the loss of teeth.
4. Lack of and sudden weight loss
5. Cats get colds easily and are hard to get rid of.

The second stage of the illness they can stay there for the rest of there lives if well cared for and given lots of love and attention. At times the cat may not want to eat or lack the willpower to do so, but you can experiment with foods from Special Cat foods, to canned foods and even human and baby foods. The best ones are fish and chicken. .

The Third stage is where the immune system totally breaksdown and the cat is very ill. At this time the cat will not be able to sustain itself and it's organs start to fail at a rapid pace. These signs are the same as Feline Leukemia too and most will be put down if you haven't lost them first. This stage takes about a month and then they are gone. My Little Black Cat, I think, had Feline AIDS because it is very contagious to other cats that she was around when we brought that dying cat in. She never showed signs of ever having the disease, but the last few years of her life were not that good. Oh she played and stuff like that, but she was 18 when she passed away. She got colds easily and they would take a long time to go away. She had problems keeping food down. We had her on raw chicken for a while and then some salmon and it was hard finding something that she would eat and keep down. The Vet even gave her a special formula for senior cats, but she wouldn't even take a bite and that was a waste of money.

Since then I have found out that to keep pets in top shape, nutrician nd the right food is very important. Raw Foods such as beef, chicken, turkey, venizon and duck are great. I have found that my dog will not touch a raw chicken wing or leg but my cats will tear them up. At the same time my dog loves cubed steak, but my cats think they are something to be played with. Both my cats and dog love hamburger or ground chuck. I was also told that Chicken Livers is a very good source of vitamins and minerals, but only give it once a week.  All my animals love this stuff.  You can also add carrots and apples to the mixture.  They also suggected to give them Cottage Cheese, but I have never gotten any of my animals to eat that.  I end up eating it--but that is no problem because I love the stuff!

Going to the Vet for another cat that just couldn't shake her Upper Respiratory Infection, She was tested and had no AIDS nor Luekemia.  She just had a low immune system and we need to get that back up.  This is when I found out about a dry Cat Food that is most like the fresh meat diet. It is called EVO and you can only get it in certain places. On their website you can put in your zip code and it will list all the stores in your area tht carry this food. The web address is: http://www.evopet.com/where-to-buy/ Take a look around their site to get acquainted with their many other products.  They also list what is in the foods they make and I have not seen any by-products nor any grains and fillers.

Just like the Human AIDS, the care it takes becomes a labor of love and there is no cure as of yet.

Links for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_immunodeficiency_virus

http://www.jugglingcats.com/Disease/feline_aids.htm

http://milwaukeeweb.net/felineaids/