
Adopt a Kitten
If you have not had a cat in recent years, you may have never heard of these new, dangerous cat diseases. Feline Leukemia (FeLeuk) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) are diseases that attack the immune system, much as HIV does in humans. (Neither of these diseases can be caught by humans.) You should, if possible, have the kitten’s mother tested for these two diseases. Typically the kitten will not get one of these diseases unless the mother has it. If the mother is not available, you can have your kitten tested for FeLeuk, which is the most communicable of the two diseases. You may want to wait for about 6 weeks after receiving your kitty to test for FIV. This is because the test may give a false positive result if the kitten has been exposed to FIV through the mother, but has not caught the disease.