The project:
1000 FIV cats project
a record of FIV+ cats living 'normal' lives
1000 FIV cats project
a record of FIV+ cats living 'normal' lives
"Real-life FIV"
Collecting owners' experience of FIV cats
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Collecting owners' experience of FIV cats
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The
Project - is to document the lives of FIV cats living
normal lives in homes across the world - often living together
with other cats.
The Purpose - is to show, by way of real-life examples, just what it means to have an FIV cat in your home.
The Method - is for their stories to be told by those who know best - cat lovers who have given homes to FIV cats over the past 20 years or so, making it their 'real-life' experience.
The Purpose - is to show, by way of real-life examples, just what it means to have an FIV cat in your home.
The Method - is for their stories to be told by those who know best - cat lovers who have given homes to FIV cats over the past 20 years or so, making it their 'real-life' experience.
If
you want to know what FIV cats are really
like -
this is the place to find out
this is the place to find out
The
target - is to list as many FIV cats as we can
locate, we need to get a large number in order for any
statistics to have validity, so we felt that a target of 1000
cats would provide that. (Now that we have achieved
that initial target, we intend to continue increasing the
number of cats listed.)
We show answers to these questions, which will be of interest to anyone considering giving a home to an FIV cat:
The project got under way in December 2014 - we have reached our initial target of 1000 FIV cats listed (but intend to continue to increase the number of cats listed) - the stories are mounting up, every one adding to the depth of experience and information available to be seen - now!
We have set up the results to show each cat with some basic information, and a link to the individual's full details. There is a facility to filter the results shown if you are interested in specific factors: location, household type, feeding choice - the information available will expand and develop as we grow.
Please go to the questionnaire page to add your cat's information and your experience
Most people are given to believe that an FIV cat will suffer many health issues, but our experience over many years with the FIV cats in our sanctuary is that they have no more health issues than one would expect from any other group of rescued cats.
This made us wonder whether we had just been lucky, or whether the 'normal' expectations were wrong.
So we decided to collect the experience of lots of owners of FIV cats and see how their cats compared with regards to their general health.
If you have an FIV cat, or have had one in the past, would you help us by telling us what you can about your cat and any health issues he (or she) had?
We need to gather information about lots of FIV cats, from all parts of the world, and build a comprehensive resource and show the results here on this website; so everyone can see what they can really expect if they have, or take on, an FIV cat.
Previously, we studied the cats in our sanctuary. We produced a simple chart showing how the 80 FIV cats we cared for had fared through their time with us. The results surprised many vets, and others who saw them!
Having tried this with our own cats, we realised we need to do it in a more detailed way and with many more cats, particularly those living in homes, so the results will give a good representation of what can be expected.
Obviously there will be variations, some cats will be more healthy, and others less so. This is why it is important to get a large number of cats listed, then the broader picture will become more reliable.
So if you, or anyone you know, has experience of one or more FIV cats, please help us by passing on what information you can - we have made the process of doing this as easy as we can, with a web page where you can simply tell us the different things we ask - would you help us... Please?
To start, please enter the simple information requested on the questionnaire page, we will guide you as to what we would like to know.
Please don't worry if you don't have much information, it is important to get a whole range of cats and information, so anything at all you can tell us will be helpful.
New to FIV?
If you are new to the subject of FIV - perhaps your cat has recently been diagnosed with the virus - it would be great to hear what you have experienced so far, and hopefully we can keep in touch to see how things progress in the future.
This is an on-going, living project, which we hope will grow and grow over time, and will increase the understanding of how the virus really affects the cats who are infected.
Please add your cat -
Please go straight to the questionnaire page to add your information
We show answers to these questions, which will be of interest to anyone considering giving a home to an FIV cat:
How do
you keep your FIV cat?
What do you feed him/her?
Do you give supplements?
What was it like when you first heard about FIV?
Were you worried or have doubts?
If it would help to read about others living with FIV cats, then please look at the stories of those who have so far added their FIV experience to the project.
What do you feed him/her?
Do you give supplements?
What was it like when you first heard about FIV?
Were you worried or have doubts?
If it would help to read about others living with FIV cats, then please look at the stories of those who have so far added their FIV experience to the project.
The project got under way in December 2014 - we have reached our initial target of 1000 FIV cats listed (but intend to continue to increase the number of cats listed) - the stories are mounting up, every one adding to the depth of experience and information available to be seen - now!
We have set up the results to show each cat with some basic information, and a link to the individual's full details. There is a facility to filter the results shown if you are interested in specific factors: location, household type, feeding choice - the information available will expand and develop as we grow.
What was it like when you
first heard about FIV?
Were you worried?
Did you have doubts?
Would it have helped if you could have read about others
who were living with FIV cats?
If you would tell us the story of yourself and your FIV cat, we can add it to the website so anyone can read what it is really like to own an FIV cat
- so much better than academic studies on the subject - there is nothing better than real-life stories.
We catalogue the responses and produce statistics to get a better idea of the bigger picture about FIV cats, and show them all on the website
Please would you tell us about yours?
Perhaps your cat has just been diagnosed with FIV,
or maybe you have many years experience of FIV cat(s) -
either way, please help us by telling us what you can.
----
What was your expectation
about FIV, and was it matched by your experience?Were you worried?
Did you have doubts?
Would it have helped if you could have read about others
who were living with FIV cats?
If you would tell us the story of yourself and your FIV cat, we can add it to the website so anyone can read what it is really like to own an FIV cat
- so much better than academic studies on the subject - there is nothing better than real-life stories.
We catalogue the responses and produce statistics to get a better idea of the bigger picture about FIV cats, and show them all on the website
Please would you tell us about yours?
Perhaps your cat has just been diagnosed with FIV,
or maybe you have many years experience of FIV cat(s) -
either way, please help us by telling us what you can.
----
Please go to the questionnaire page to add your cat's information and your experience
Most people are given to believe that an FIV cat will suffer many health issues, but our experience over many years with the FIV cats in our sanctuary is that they have no more health issues than one would expect from any other group of rescued cats.
This made us wonder whether we had just been lucky, or whether the 'normal' expectations were wrong.
So we decided to collect the experience of lots of owners of FIV cats and see how their cats compared with regards to their general health.
If you have an FIV cat, or have had one in the past, would you help us by telling us what you can about your cat and any health issues he (or she) had?
We need to gather information about lots of FIV cats, from all parts of the world, and build a comprehensive resource and show the results here on this website; so everyone can see what they can really expect if they have, or take on, an FIV cat.
----------
Previously, we studied the cats in our sanctuary. We produced a simple chart showing how the 80 FIV cats we cared for had fared through their time with us. The results surprised many vets, and others who saw them!
Having tried this with our own cats, we realised we need to do it in a more detailed way and with many more cats, particularly those living in homes, so the results will give a good representation of what can be expected.
Obviously there will be variations, some cats will be more healthy, and others less so. This is why it is important to get a large number of cats listed, then the broader picture will become more reliable.
So if you, or anyone you know, has experience of one or more FIV cats, please help us by passing on what information you can - we have made the process of doing this as easy as we can, with a web page where you can simply tell us the different things we ask - would you help us... Please?
To start, please enter the simple information requested on the questionnaire page, we will guide you as to what we would like to know.
Please don't worry if you don't have much information, it is important to get a whole range of cats and information, so anything at all you can tell us will be helpful.
New to FIV?
If you are new to the subject of FIV - perhaps your cat has recently been diagnosed with the virus - it would be great to hear what you have experienced so far, and hopefully we can keep in touch to see how things progress in the future.
This is an on-going, living project, which we hope will grow and grow over time, and will increase the understanding of how the virus really affects the cats who are infected.
Please add your cat -
Please go straight to the questionnaire page to add your information