<p>Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) represent the most significant diseases in felid species. In this paper, a critical review about FIV and FeLV as well as the research status in African lions, cheetah and domestic cats in Africa were thoroughly discussed. Comprehensive data on these retroviruses of cats are limited in Africa. The initial section highlight on the studies of FIV and FeLV in African lions and were recorded between 1990s and as late as 2010 indicating a time frame of active research. The African lions were found to have a higher FIV seroprevalence than those seen in any feline species. While much less is known about FeLV in African lions, the majority of studies found no evidence of FeLV exposure in this wild felid. The second section presents FIV and FeLV in African cheetah. Of note, varying prevalence of FeLV is documented–of interest is the evidence of FeLV transmission from domestic cats to captive cheetah. The third section documents these diseases in domestic cats, whereby data on these infections were very sparse, originating from only 5 countries out of 54 member states in the continent. Interestingly, only one study in South Africa which investigated FIV genetic diversity demonstrated the presence of FIV subtypes A and C. In conclusion, extensive studies on these retroviruses are warranted in Africa to detect changes in viral exposure in these cats and to provide update information on their epidemiology, genotyping, and pathogenicity.</p>