In February of this year, The Veterinary Journal accepted an article written by Annette L. Litster of Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences.  The paper presents Litster’s conclusions about FIV-infected and non-infected cats living together based on her examination of the cohabitation of FIV-positive and FIV-negative cats living in two separate rescues; FIV is the feline equivalent of HIV in humans.

In one of the two colonies studied by Litster, FIV was not transmitted between infected and non-infected cats during normal interaction in a shared living environment over a period of months to years.  In the second rescue, Litster’s work also indicated that FIV was not transferred to kittens when their mothers were infected with the disease prior to giving birth.

While Litster’s conclusions appear ground-breaking, the truth about how FIV is transmitted between cats remains the same, meaning the disease is transmitted when an infected cat bites another feline and breaks the other cat’s skin.  Because of this, Litster’s report also definitively states that caution should be taken when introducing FIV-positive cats to other felines to ensure the animals do not act aggressively toward one another.

Litster’s article documents FIV-positive and FIV negative cats living together harmoniously without the disease being transmitted among the group’s members “despite unrestricted access to one another, mutual grooming, minor episodes of aggression and sharing food and water dishes, litter pans and bedding”. Litster also suggests that her “study findings could have implications for the recommendations made by veterinarians and shelter staff asked to advise cat owners or adopters contemplating co-housing FIV-positive and FIV-negative cats and to shelters caring for litters of kittens born to FIV-positive queens.”

In other words, some of the public’s widely-held beliefs about FIV-infected cats threatening the well-being of non-infected felines might need to be revisited, since it is possible for non-infected cats to live with infected cats without transmitting the virus, if the cats are not aggressive with one another.  This also means that cats who would otherwise have been euthanized because of their illness no longer have to be needlessly killed as we now have evidence that they are not always dangerous to their brethren."

-Cindi Ashbeck

We are disappointed to report that the three bills introduced into the 2013-14 State legislative session have died without being passed. All three of these bills would have improved conditions for Court Case Dogs, like the sixteen that have been held at MADACC in Milwaukee County for the last three years.  

Although public support was very good for these bills, the state legislators did not place high enough priority on the issue to move the bills through the process.  Please remember this at election time and ask your incumbent and/or candidate what their position is on the issue.

Senator Grothman had the ability to schedule SB319 for a vote  in the Judiciary and Labor Committee but chose not to do so.  Hundreds of people called his office and emailed him but he didn't listen. When politicians stop listening to their constituents it is time for them to be voted out of office. Senator Grothman has announced his intention to leave State politics and run for Congress this fall, so he will have the opportunity to ignore people at the Federal level as well. Remember this when it is time to vote. 

Thank you to Senator Tim Carpenter, Representative John Spiros and the other legislators who co-sponsored and supported the bills. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to working with you again in the future.