Feline immunodeficiency virus causes progressive immune compromise in infected cats, with management centred on indoor lifestyle, disease monitoring, and prompt treatment of secondary infections.
FIV management welfare follows the same principles as FeLV management: the virus itself, once established, cannot be eliminated, so welfare management focuses on reducing the additional infections that immune compromise enables. FIV progresses more slowly than FeLV - many FIV-positive cats live full, normal lifespans without ever showing significant illness - but the uncertainty about progression creates ongoing monitoring needs. The indoor lifestyle recommendation for FIV-positive cats serves dual purposes: protecting the cat from infectious challenge that could overwhelm the immune system, and preventing transmission to other cats through bite wounds. This welfare trade-off between restricted movement and outdoor enrichment must be managed by providing adequate indoor environmental complexity to compensate for the loss of outdoor access. Prompt veterinary attention to secondary infections - dental disease, respiratory infections, skin conditions - that would be minor in healthy cats can prevent prolonged illness in FIV-positive animals. The population-level welfare intervention for FIV is neutering: neutered male cats fight less, reducing biting transmission, and this single intervention has measurable effects on FIV prevalence in cat populations.