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FIV research There is little valid research into FIV |
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FIV has interest to the researches of the human HIV, but this rarely gives much useful information for FIV itself, which has similarities with, but is not the same as HIV. Although FIV has been around for a very long time, it was only "discovered" and identified in 1987. The early studies that were carried out have become, in our view, over-relied-upon. Sample numbers were fairly small, and seemingly very little account was given to the natural variations in cats general make up and constitution, and none to early-life variations in diet, care etc, which we believe can have a major influence on how any individual cat reacts to health issues later in life. The more recent research is focused upon whether using FIV as a model can teach anything about human HIV - clearly there is little money-making potential in feline health, but much in human health issues, so we don't expect too much useful research to emerge in the forseeable future. The best we can hope for is to gather the hands-on experience of the many who own and care for cats with the FIV vurus. This will not convince the scientists, however, and many vets rely on the scientists for their information - this is probably why so many vets are, in our view, in the dark ages with their understanding of the practicalities of dealing with the virus. |
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