FIV cats help HIV people cope with illness, depression
Unique program covers costs so AIDS patients can care for infected felines

Amy O'Brian
CanWest News Service
February 7, 2005

Bob Boulton, who has AIDS, takes care of Melody, left, and Mooshy, right, who have tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, the feline equivalent of HIV. He is able to care for his feline friends thanks to Forgotten Felines, a shelter that pays for the cats' food, litter and any medical bills.

VANCOUVER -- Bob Boulton has suffered for years from AIDS and depression, but says his life improved significantly about two years ago when he took in two cats that have the feline equivalent of HIV.

The 46-year-old got the cats through a program that matches people living with AIDS with cats that have tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV.

Melody and Mooshy have tested positive for the virus, but are otherwise healthy cats that are loved and coddled by their Vancouver owner.

"They give me a reason to get up in the morning," Boulton says. "I'm like a very doting mother."

Boulton says the cats were the catalyst he needed a year ago to take himself to hospital because he was suicidal.

"Having the cats was one reason I checked myself in," he says. "I just thought 'I can't do that to them.' "

Boulton's mental health has improved in the past year, but he says his cats are sympathetic when he has "bad days" and will spend the day in bed with him.

Technically, Boulton doesn't own the cats, but fosters them for Forgotten Felines, a shelter that pays for their food, litter and any medical bills they may have. Without the unique program, Boulton says, he likely wouldn't be able to afford the cats and would not have met Penny March, president of the organization.

March visits Boulton's apartment about once a month to take him pet supplies and, over time, the two have become friends.

"He's got a very kind heart," she says.

March says there are about 25 people living with HIV or AIDS in the Lower Mainland of B.C. who are fostering cats that have either FIV or leukemia.

Her program, which is the only one of its kind in Western Canada, is beneficial to both the cats and the people who take them in, March says.

Although the cats show few or no symptoms of being ill and, in most cases, are able to live long and healthy lives, most large shelters euthanize cats that test positive for FIV or leukemia.

The gay community and people living with HIV or AIDS are often more open to the idea of fostering an FIV-positive cat, which is why March says she promotes the program regularly in Vancouver's gay village.

She says people living with AIDS often feel isolated and lonely and appreciate having an animal with an illness similar to their own.

While Boulton adores his two cats, he is worried he may have to give them up soon.

His doctor told him last week he has a type of AIDS-related cancer and he wants to find some good people who would be willing to take his cats if he had to give them up suddenly.

"For now, I'm OK," he says. "I just need to know that if the time comes ... (the cats) will have a home."

FACTS ABOUT FIV

- There is no evidence that people can get AIDS from a cat that has FIV.

- FIV is transmitted between cats primarily by bites.

- The most frequent symptom is a chronic oral infection of the cat's gums, cheeks or tongue.

- Cats may also develop upper respiratory, eye, ear or skin infections, and show signs of lethargy, fever, diarrhea and weight loss.

- The disease progresses slowly, and cats can remain healthy for several years after being diagnosed.

- It is estimated that as much as 14 per cent of the cat population of North America is infected with FIV.