Maternal hematological and virological characteristics during early feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection of cats as predictors of fetal infection and reproductive outcome at early gestation.

The FIV-infected cat is a small animal model for HIV mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) because the two lentiviruses are biologically related and produce similar clinical syndromes. Both viruses are vertically transmissible and may negatively impact reproductive outcome. Maternal hematological and virological parameters are predictors of MTCT in HIV-infected women.