Table 1.

FIV testing recommendations for FIV‐unvaccinated cats in Australia and New Zealand

FIV testing indication	Time of FIV testing	Initial FIV testing	Confirmatory FIV testing
Unwell cat (e.g., unexplained weight loss particularly in a young cat, diarrhoea, lymphadenomegaly, renal disease in a younger cat, behavioural issues, respiratory disease, uveitis, anaemia of unknown cause)	Concurrently with other blood tests (e.g., haematology and biochemistry)	Any independently validated PoC kit (EDTA whole blood)	Use a different independently validated PoC kit (EDTA whole blood)
Blood donation (only enrol cats with no risk of cat fights in previous 12 weeks)	During screening, prior to collecting transfusion blood (will also need blood for FeLV PCR testing)
Any new kitten or cat (from 12 weeks of age)	At time of initial health check	Any independently validated PoC kit (EDTA whole blood) or Anigen Rapid™ PoC kit (saliva)	Use a different independently validated PoC kit (EDTA whole blood)
Introduction of new cats to a household	Prior to introduction
Dental procedure	Before dental procedure commences
Cat fight abscess (CFA)	8 weeks after CFA
Primary FIV vaccination	At time of health check and prior to first FIV vaccine administration (including recently bitten cats)

Three commercially available FIV point‐of‐care (PoC) antibody kits to date have been independently validated in Australia in FIV‐unvaccinated cats: Anigen Rapid™, Witness™ and SNAP Combo™. FIV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to detect FIV infection is not recommended since the relatively lower sensitivity compared to PoC testing means that a negative PCR result does not rule out FIV infection. Note that none of the FIV PoC antibody kit manufacturers currently endorses using saliva instead of blood as a diagnostic specimen. FeLV, feline leukaemia virus.