People often use the “it’s like AIDS” phrase to describe a number of
illnesses in the animal (and human) community with the idea that most
people know so much about AIDS that this analogy is useful.
Unfortunately most people don’t know much about AIDS and the resulting
effect is to scare people out of their wits and have them dump their
cats or dogs at the nearest pound because they are so deathly afraid of
catching AIDS from them. The ONLY similarity between FIP, FIV (Feline
Immunodeficiency Virus) and FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) to HIV (which is
believed to cause AIDS) is in their genetic makeup. All are RNA (as
opposed to DNA) viruses, and FeLV and FIV (and HIV) are what are known as
“retroviruses.” FIP is a type of “coronavirus” which makes it even less
similar to HIV. To make it clear: THERE IS
ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO CATCH AIDS FROM A CAT, NO MATTER WHAT FELINE
DISEASE THAT ANIMAL MAY HAVE. See the FeLV FAQ for more
information on retroviruses.