Feline Immunodeficiency Virus is not an automatic death sentence! Franny, our lovely adoption-promoting friend and Guide of About.com Cats, has a very personal, detailed article posted on her site with that title. She knows how a positive result from an FIV test can be devastating to a cat owner – she herself went through it with her cat Shannon, who shared her life and her heart for 19 years. Shannon (in the photo at left) tested positive for FIV two years before he died, and Franny tells how her first instinct was to learn everything she could about the FIV virus. Her second instinct was to share it all her About Cats Guide readers, and she’s done a wonderful job! She answers such important questions that arise when the test results first come in: How could my cat have FIV? What can I do? How long does he have? I thought he had been vaccinated against FIV. Isn’t there some miracle medication he can take? She talks about the FIV Diagnosis, the different tests vets use to confirm the antibodies are present, and what an owner can do once the tests confirm that your cat does have FIV. You can click here to read Franny’s two page Cat FIV article in full. Thank you Franny, for sharing your experience to help other cat owners who’s cats have FIV!