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submitted: Jul 17th 2008 | by: KurtSchmitt | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 409 | |

In the last few years, a number of supplementation products designed to boost your cat's health have been created. Many veterinarians are recommending those that contain a little known immune boosting component called transfer factors. If your cat is in poor health from a long term chronic illness, or is in a weakened condition due to an immune system disorder, injury, or other ailment, many veterinarians are recommending these products.

What are transfer factors? Transfer factors are small protein molecules that are part of the immune system. In order to get a handle on the concept, it's necessary to understand a bit about the immune system.

Like people, dogs, and monkeys, cats are mammals. All mammals have an immune system that protects them from disease.

In a healthy immune system, the body recognizes and attacks foreign invaders, such as bacteria or fungi. This is known as an immune response. Specialized cells attack the invaders and destroy them, and then the attack is called off.

Sometimes, however, things don't go quite right with the immune response. For example, in cats with certain conditions, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the immune system is compromised and has trouble defending the cat's body against invaders. This is the feline version of HIV-AIDS, and causes the immune system to under perform.

If the immune system gets confused, it may not know when to shut down, or it may identify healthy tissue in the body as foreign and attack it. This is what happens in an autoimmune disease, such as forms of arthritis. Essentially, the body attacks itself.

How do transfer factors work? Transfer factors act as messengers. They call the immune system to action, and then call off the attack at the appropriate time.

In this respect, transfer factors are essential to proper immune system function. Also, notice that they don't just increase disease fighting capability, they balance or modulate the immune system. This means it can be used on cats with autoimmune diseases as well as cats with under performing immune systems.

Dietary supplements are available for your cat, combining the immune balancing power of transfer factors with nutrients that are beneficial to the overall well-being of your cat.

There are a number of veterinarians using homeopathic techniques, and some have added products containing transfer factor to their recommendations. If you're interested in boosting the immune system of your cat with transfer factors, check first to ensure your vet is open to the idea, and that there are no negative interactions.

About the Author

Kurt Schmitt has created an online resource for cat lovers and writes about using transfer factor for pets as a possible solution to cat health issues Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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