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I just wanted to post something important: This summer I had posted on how we found a black homeless cat. Well we caught it finally and took him to the humane society so if the cat had owners they could claim the cat. As it turns out, the cat had F.I.V., also known as feline aids.  
 
Some facts:  
 
- FIV cannot be transferred to humans from cats and so on.  
 
-FIV is commonly found in unnutered, male cats who are aggressive and territorial.  
 
- FIV is transferred usually to other cats from saliva (bite marks) and scratching.  
 
- A blood test (around $50) is reccommended to check for FIV if the cat is outside or has been around other cats.  
 
I got this information from a pet magazine so if anyone knows of other info on FIV, please fell free to post it. FIV can take many months to show up and takes awhile to progress. It can be manageable through diet and seperation from other cats and does not necessary mean the cat will pass on early.  
 
So the moral of the story is: if you catch a stray, do not let the cat around other cats as it can make your cat sick for life. The stray needs to be checked out as soon as possible and even then, FIV may not show up on the bloodwork for many months so should not be around other cats until it is known for a fact that does not contain the life threatening virus.