Cats are very important subjects in cancer research. Leukemia is perhaps the most infamous of the diseases shared by cats and people. In cats, it is caused by an AIDS-like retrovirus. A recently discovered vaccine against feline leukemia may act as a model for an AIDS vaccine. Mammary cancer is also common in the cat, and many features of feline mammary cancer resemble the human breast cancer which, among the human cancers, is the greatest killer of women.
Toxoplasmosis is a disease in cats caused by a parasite which reproduces in the cat's intestine.
Many thousands of human infants are born every year with this disease, and many of these infants have damage which requires permanent hospitalization. Research in cats is being conducted to develop treatment and preventive measures against this disease. Since 1898, cats have also contributed to the study of emotion, cardiac disease, spinal cord injury, cataract surgery, glaucoma, lupus, diabetes, spina bifida and more. Because these and the above diseases are common in cats, these animals stand to benefit greatly from the medical research advances which they make possible. Researchers have been working on viral diseases of cats for over 35 years.