I was greatly concerned when I learned (in the "Ping Philip..." thread) that
Orange County Animal Care Services routinely vaccinates all cats for FIV. As
others pointed out in their responses, this means that cats from that
shelter will test positive for the virus - as a direct result of the
vaccination, not because they actually have FIV. To compound the problem, it
appears that the shelter does not test for FIV prior to vaccination. That
flies in the face of recommendations that were standard even many years ago
(at a time when I still had my own cats vaccinated and before the protocol
changed). I seriously doubt if they test each cat and kitten and then follow
up with vaccinations. Instead of protecting the cats under their care, the
shelter is actually placing cats at serious risk by carrying out this
policy. Any cat that comes from that shelter and later gets lost and is then
found by rescue groups or sent to another shelter is likely to test positive
for FIV. Likewise, conscientious adopters who have their cats tested will
receive a positive test. It is likely that this will actually lead to a
death sentence for many cats because of erroneous test results. The irony is
that the vaccine is not completely effective and that the leukemia vaccine
itself has serious risks, including feline sarcoma. Rabies and distemper are
the only vaccines that should be routinely required. That is the policy that
was followed by the shelter where I adopted Duffy.

I would like to encourage those who read this message to contact some of the
news outlets in the vicinity of the shelter to express your dismay and
request that action be taken to change the policy of this shelter. Here are
the telephone number for news outlets in that area:

KCBS - 323-460-5316

KNBC - 818-244-6397

KABC - 818-863-7500

KTTV - 310-584-2000

KNX - 323-460-3000

KTLA - 323-460-5500

I am also including several sources to verify this information -

From Dr. James Richards, director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, and a
board member of the AAFP and co-chair of several of its feline guidelines
panels:

"The big question we've been receiving has been on testing"-an area he said
neither the vaccine label nor the initial advertising material addresses.
"Veterinarians just did not realize that cats that were vaccinated would
test positive for antibody. Many of those who did understand that cats would
test positive on the in-house kits failed to realize that they would also
test positive on western blot."

From Dr. Jean Hofve, DVM (littlebigcat.com):

Killed vaccines contain virus particles that have been completely
inactivated and cannot reproduce. In order to produce sufficient antibodies,
a variety of agents are added to the vaccine to "stimulate"

the immune system. These agents are called "adjuvants." Certain adjuvants
have been implicated as causing vaccine-associated fibrosarcoma, a
particularly malignant and hard-to-treat type of cancer.

Killed vaccines include the rabies and feline leukemia vaccines. Both of
these vaccines are known to cause fibrosarcomas. The new FIV vaccine is a
killed vaccine, means that it, too, is likely to cause tumor formation.

***The most dangerous problem with the FIV vaccine is that a vaccinated cat
will test positive for FIV on all currently available tests, even the most
sensitive ones. ***

Also, because the vaccine protects less than 70% of vaccinated cats (critics
argue that the real number may be less than 50%), if a vaccinated cat
becomes ill, there is no way of knowing whether or not he actually has
active FIV. The vaccine manufacturer (Fort Dodge) admits that this is a
problem, but says that, hopefully, in the future, a test may be developed
that can distinguish between a vaccinated cat and an infected one. For now,
if an FIV-vaccinated cat is unfortunate enough to become lost and end up in
a shelter that tests for FIV, he will most likely be euthanized. Feline
experts are not recommending this vaccine for the vast majority of cats.

From Mar Vista Animal Medical Center (marvistavet.com):

In August 2002, Fort Dodge Animal Health released a vaccine for FIV and
promoted it heavily. Our hospital has looked long and hard at this vaccine
which, on the surface, seems like a good idea for outdoor cats or cats
living with FIV positive housemate cats. We have chosen to say no to this
vaccine at least until more information is available and are happy to list
the features of the product that leave us with reservations.

There are five strains of FIV virus, called "Clades." The vaccine was made
using Clades A and D and tested using Clade A. Clade B, for example, is a
very common strain in most regions of the U.S. and no testing of the vaccine
has been performed thus far against Clade B.

This means that a pet owner might wrongly believe they were protecting their
cat fully against the FIV virus with this vaccine. California has both
Clades A and B.

The FIV vaccine is an "adjuvanted" vaccine. An adjuvant is an additive used
with killed vaccines to improve their ability to stimulate the immune
system. Unfortunately, adjuvanted vaccines have been implicated in the
development of certain tumors in the cat. Our hospital currently uses no
adjuvanted vaccines for cats and has no desire to administer a vaccine that
stimulates tumor growth even under rare circumstances.

***Vaccinated cats will test positive on all current methods of testing for
the FIV virus. This means it will no longer be possible to distinguish
vaccinated cats from truly infected cats.****

The vaccine is advertised at protecting 82% of cats which means 18% can
still be infected. This is nearly a one in five chance of unknowingly having
an infected cat.

From Veterinary Partner (veterinarypartner.com):

The American Association of Feline Practitioners has made some
recommendations concerning the use of the vaccine for several reasons.
Current tests now used in veterinary clinics and some animal shelters for
FIV in cats are antibody tests. Since this new vaccine causes antibody
production, the tests currently used will be positive after the vaccine.

Because of this, it will be difficult to determine if a positive test is due
to vaccine or actual disease. Consequently, all cats should be tested and
found to be negative before given the vaccine.

***It will be impossible for a veterinarian to determine if a sick
vaccinated cat is actually infected with FIV or not. This makes a major
difference in prognosis of the case. Also, some animal shelters euthanize
stray cats with positive FIV test results. It is possible these shelters
could euthanize healthy but vaccinated cats.***

From about.com:

Shortly after the announcement of FDA approval for the FIV vaccine, as more
information came forth, emails began circulating among cat rescue groups
because of one fatal flaw: All current methods of testing for the FIV virus
will show a "positive" for cats vaccinated with the FIV vaccine. What this
means to you or me is frightening in its ramifications.

***If we vaccinate our cats against FIV and one of them is lost, or simply
gets picked up by an animal control officer, it will likely be destroyed as
an FIV-positive cat.***

***There is simply no way of knowing which "positive" cat is truly infected
and which cat has simply been vaccinated against FIV. ***

It is no wonder that the reception of this vaccine has been less than
enthusiastic among the greater community of cat lovers, particularly in the
U.S., where FIV strikes only 2% of the cats "at risk."

Does Not Provide Full Protection Although there are five strains (called
Clades) of FIV, the vaccine was developed by only using two strains. Clade
B, which is common in the U.S., particularly in the east, was not one of
those two, nor was the vaccine's efficacy tested against Clade B.

The Vaccine is Adjuvanted Since Adjuvants are suspect in VAS
(vaccine-associated sarcomas), yet another vaccine with an added adjuvant is
unlikely to be met with much approval among feline practitioners.