FIV-positive cats are frequently euthanized in shelters despite being able to live long, comfortable lives with appropriate management. Better understanding transforms welfare outcomes for these cats.
FIV-positive cats have suffered disproportionate shelter mortality based on outdated understanding of the disease. Modern veterinary consensus is that FIV-positive cats should be adopted to indoor homes where transmission risk to other cats is managed and where they can receive the attentive health monitoring that allows early detection of secondary infections. Quality of life metrics for well-managed FIV-positive cats are comparable to seronegative cats until late disease stages. Shelter euthanasia of healthy FIV-positive cats represents a preventable welfare loss affecting thousands of animals annually.