Transfer Factors and Your Cat's Health

If your cat is in poor health from a long term chronic illness, or is in a weakened state due to injury or recent surgery, many veterinarians are recommending supplements containing transfer factors. These are immune boosting molecules that may help your cat fight off disease.

In order to understand how this works, it's necessary to understand a little about how the immune system works. Transfer factors are protein molecules and are part of the immune system.

All mammals, including cats and humans, have an immune system that protects their bodies from illness.

In a healthy immune system, foreign invaders, such as bacteria, are recognized and the body mounts a defense against them. Certain specialized cells are called on to attack the invaders. When the invader is defeated, the attack is called off. This is a proper immune response.

If your cat's immune system becomes compromised, she'll have trouble coping with invaders is more susceptible to becoming sick. In conditions such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or feline leukemia virus (FeLV), a weakened immune system leaves the animal vulnerable to attack.

In other cases, the immune system doesn't know when to shut down, or incorrectly identifies a part of the body as foreign. In autoimmune diseases, such as many forms of arthritis, an immune response is mounted against the body's own tissues. The immune system is misdirected and doesn't shut itself off. In effect, the body is at war with itself.

How do transfer factors work? Transfer factors act as messengers, alerting your cat's body to the presence of foreign invaders. These proteins also modulate an overactive immune system. Essentially, they call the immune system to action, and then call off the attack at the appropriate time.

The balancing or modulating effect that transfer factors have make them essential to proper immune system function. This means that they can be used on cats with compromised immune systems, as well as those with autoimmune diseases like arthritis.

Specific products are now available for your pet, including a version for cats, that contain transfer factors. This is a dietary supplement for your cat, combining the immune boosting power of transfer factor with nutrients that are beneficial to overall cat health.

You should check with your veterinarian before adding any supplements to your cat's diet. If you're interested in boosting the immune system of your cat with transfer factors, check with your veterinarian first to make sure there are no problems with it.

By: Kurt Schmitt

Author Kurt Schmitt has created an online resource for cat lovers and writes about using transfer factor for pets as a possible solution to boost the immune system of your pet

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