Grouppe Kurosawa: Feline Leukemia and AIDS (print)

Feline Leukemia and AIDS

Years ago, one of the Grouppe Kurosawa members had a scientific colleague named Diane. Diane was single, beautiful, smart and extremely personable. She also had a Ph.D from Harvard and did not suffer fools well. She scared men, to be honest. She didn’t mean to…she was just smarter than they were and they knew it. At the age of 30, she found that the only stable, long term relationship she had was with her cat, Tigger. Tigger was a Moose cat…we are talking about a big tabby cat. If Tigger wanted to sit in your lap, it was not a topic of negotiation. Every morning Tigger would wake Diane by punching her in the nose. It was intended to be a “love tap”, but it became increasingly more forceful if she did not immediately wake up. This was Tigger’s way of telling Diane, “You have my permission to wake up and feed me…NOW.” One day, Tigger stopped punching Diane in the morning. He was listless and not his usual self. Diane took him to the veterinarian who diagnosed Tigger as having feline leukemia. She was devastated. Boyfriends come and go (literally), but Tigger was always there to comfort her. Now, he was dying and she couldn’t deal with it. So, being the intelligent woman that she was, she refused to give in. She devoured the scientific literature on feline leukemia, and talked to numerous experts across the nation. In the final analysis, all they could recommend was that she force-feed Tigger. Find something he likes and stuff it down his throat. If Tigger stops eating, he will lose the nutritional energy required to fight off the virus. Guess what? She stuffed him full of Chinese pot stickers every night. She put some medicine and supplements in the pot stickers and he ate them—not voluntarily—but he managed to choke them down. This feeding ritual went on for 4-6 weeks. Tigger seemed to be doing fine, but Diane couldn’t really tell. Some days were better than others. One morning, Diane woke up to a sensation she hadn’t felt in weeks. Tigger was once again punching her in the nose. He had beat the virus. Diane didn’t go to the lab that day. She spent the entire day hugging her best friend. It was a good day.

This is the moral of our story. Nothing is absolute. Cats can live with the feline immunodeficiency virus (cat AIDS) their entire lives without getting sick. Cats can also beat an infection with feline leukemia if their owners do not allow them to stop eating. However, if a cat contracts both viruses, death is almost certain. This essay was written to help people understand the nature of these viruses and how to treat them, should that become necessary. There is always hope. Just ask Tigger.

The feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) which causes AIDS in cats is very similar to human HIV. However, there are a number of differences. The FIV virus does not contain the VPR gene, and the presence of NEF, a gene which ostensibly plays an important role in the development of human AIDS (see HIV vaccine and AIDS essay), is suspected to be present in only a few FIV viral isolates. The lack of the VPR protein in FIV probably accounts for the mild nature of the disease compared to HIV. In FIV, the TAT protein is called ORF-A. Very little is known about the biological role it plays in the development of feline AIDS. The clinical syndrome of feline AIDS is very similar if not identical to that reported for human AIDS. One would be hard pressed to find an immune defect found in HIV+ individuals that was not also present in FIV infected cats. Since cats can be experimentally infected with FIV, a great deal is known about the early immune response to this virus. Pathogen-free cats are those bred and housed in a pathogen-free environment, and born by caesarian section. These cats are very resistant to feline AIDS when the FIV virus is introduced by injection. The cats become viremic (they have a substantial amount of virus in their body), but they do not develop AIDS. If the FIV infection is transmitted by natural infection, e.g. by housing the pathogen-free cats with normal, FIV-infected cats, the cats do develop AIDS. Normal cats harbor many diseases besides FIV. Feline leukemia virus (FeLV), in particular, is extremely common in house cats. Apparently, FeLV synergizes with FIV to cause AIDS. We believe we know why this occurs.

With respect to human AIDS, the question that begs asking is whether the human HIV virus, in the absence of opportunistic infections, or immunosuppressive stressors such as drug abuse, and surgery, can cause AIDS without help from outside factors? The HIV virus is more virulent (toxic) than the FIV virus, perhaps because it contains VPR and NEF gene sequences that FIV does not. Many natural FIV infections regress and the cats becoming seronegative over time (they no longer have anti-FIV antibodies in their blood). This rarely happens with HIV. In Africa, the average lifespan of someone infected with HIV is 3 years. In Western countries, it is 10 years. Why the difference? A most likely explanation is the higher incidence of concurrent opportunistic infections, such as malaria, TB, and parasites in people living in Africa and other poor areas of the world. People chronically infected with pathogens have persistently activated immune systems. In an effort to clear these pathogens from the body, large white blood cells secrete a number of factors into the blood. Two of these factor, an immune hormone called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and nitric oxide (NO) can activate HIV or FIV latently infected cells to produce additional virus. This creates a vicious cycle of viral synthesis, additional hormone release, and further viral synthesis. The cycle ends in death.

An FIV infection can be controlled if the cat is not also suffering from a host of additional diseases. These diseases chronically activate the immune system, which makes clearance of the FIV virus unlikely. An FIV infection, by itself, stimulates the release of comparatively little TNF-alpha. FeLV is another story. This leukemia virus stimulates white blood cells called macrophages to produce substantial amounts of TNF-alpha over a prolonged period of time. This results in apoptosis or programmed cell death of infected and non-infected lymphocytes. When the two viruses infect the same cat, death is rapid and probably irreversible. Maybe.

There are a number of very simple things people can do for their cat if they have FIV or FeLV. First, keep them in the house and away from other cats. These diseases spread rapidly in cat populations. If your cat has FIV, you don’t want him/her infected with FeLV or any other cat pathogen. FIV like HIV only causes AIDS when the immune response becomes over-activated. N-acetyl-cysteine, vitamin C, and zinc have all been reported in the scientific literature to reduce FIV viral replication and stop spontaneous apoptosis or programmed cell death in immune cells. We would add three additional factors to this list. The first is alpha lipoic acid, a very potent anti-oxidant that can actually regenerate both vitamin C and E in the body. This anti-oxidant was reported to completely shut down the synthesis of the HIV virus in a cell culture (lab) experiment. The HIV virus, and no doubt the FIV virus as well, can be activated by free radicals, by-products of chronic inflammatory responses. The anti-oxidants eliminate the free radicals, and their ability to stimulate viral synthesis. The second factor is acetyl-L-carnitine. This supplement is frequently used by body builders to protect the oxygen generating mitochondria from damage during exercise. If the mitochrondria becomes damaged, apoptosis or programmed cell death follows. The third factor is green tea. We are not joking. Green tea contains phytochemicals that are very toxic to leukemia and cancer cells. Their method of action is too complex to discuss in this essay. The scientific literature contains hundreds of studies on the medicinal uses of green tea and its components.

Prepare your home made anti-FIV and FeLV medicines as follows. Purchase some palm kernal oil. This oil can be purchased in health food stores or over the Net. This oil contains a very large amount of lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid that is very toxic to envelope viruses such as FIV and FeLV. Lauric acid is rarely found in the blood of mammals, birds, etc. because it is not a normal component of our diet. It is found in high concentrations in coconut and palm oils only. Lauric acid “pops” the membranes of many viruses and microorganisms. It acts like a non-specific detergent. Lauric acid is also a wonderful nutrient. It is a saturated oil, but it is too short to be incorporated into the membranes of our cells. Coconut oil was commonly used by movie theaters to prepare popcorn, one of the essential human food groups. The edible oil industry in the US, producers of canola, corn, safflower, and soy oil, convinced the theaters to ban it because lauric acid is a saturated fat. What this industry lobby organization did not tell consumers is that lauric acid is a saturated fat that is rapidly broken down in the body. It does not accumulate in our arteries like the longer chain saturated fats found in animals. When lauric acid is oxidized by cells, it produces a very large amount of ATP, the energy molecule of life. Lauric acid is a great energy source for people with HIV, or cancer or animals with debilitating diseases.

Palm kernal oil is liquid at room temperature so it is more convenient to use than coconut oil (which is solid at room temperature). There are three components to the medicine. The first is the oil. The second is an emulsifier called Lecithin. Lecithin is simply a gross looking concoction of soy-derived phospholipids that holds water and oil solutions together in the form of an emulsion. The third component is N-acetyl-cysteine, vitamin C, zinc chloride or zinc sulfate, alpha lipoic acid, and acetyl-L-carnitine. These components are dissolved in distilled or deionized water. Tap water is not acceptable because it contains chlorine. Try to purchase these products as capsules. If they are pills, you will need to grind them into a powder in a small food processor. If capsules, open the capsules and empty the contents into the water. Some of these products contain other compounds that will not dissolve in water. Do not worry about it. Put all the dry ingredients together in about one half cup of warm distilled water, mix in a teaspoon of Lecithin and one cup of palm kernal oil. Prepare the tea by boiling ten or so green tea bags (do not use decaffeinated tea) in a small pan. Boil them until nothing else can be extracted from the bags. Now concentrate the tea down to a few ounces. Do not burn the tea. Add one ounce concentrated tea (a shot glass) to the other liquid components. Add some pieces or tuna or sardines to give it flavor, and emulsify in a blender. The more disgusting it smells, the better your cat will like it. Now, put it on your cats’ furry little arms—lots of it. Be generous. Your cat may hate you, but they will definitely lick the emulsion off their fur. This is an old trick scientists use to get mice to ingest test chemicals. They put the chemicals in olive oil and literally soak the mouse in it. They hate oil on their fur, as do cats. Continue this practice every day. Also, of course, try to feed the cats high caloric foods, but do not stop dipping their arms in the emulsion. This is an easy way to get your cat or dog to take their medicine. Grind up the pills, mix them in oil, and put it on their arms. They will lick it off regardless of how it tastes.

For more information on this technique and others, we recommend you subscribe to the paid version of Dr. Steve’s Natural Medicines newsletter. There is a discussion forum in the private area of this web site that allows animal owners to share their experiences and formulas with one another.

Good luck, and happy cooking.