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Feline Leukemia Virus
Should my cat be vaccinated for FeLV?
What are the signs of FeLV?
Testing for FeLV
Feline Immuno-deficiency Virus
How is FIV transmitted?
What are the signs of FIV?
Can FIV be treated?
Testing for FIV
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- Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV)
- Feline Leukemia Virus is spread from cat to cat, primarily through the saliva and tears, though possibly urine and stool, of an already infected cat. It can also be transmitted from a lactating queen to her kittens via her milk. It requires fairly close contact between cats such as communal grooming between adult cats or kitten nursing on their mother. As such, it can be thought of as a disease of “friendly cats.” Cats that go out are much more likely to be exposed to an infected carrier in the neighborhood, so keeping your cat indoors is the best protection from the disease. If your cat goes outside, there is a vaccination that helps protect against FeLV infection.
- Should my cat be vaccinated for FeLV?
- In recent years, there have been an association between the FeLV vaccine and a type of cancer called fibrosarcoma that can arise at the vaccination site. While that is a rare occurrence, when deciding whether to let your cat outside unsupervised, you need to weigh the risks of exposure to FeLV versus the risk of vaccine-induced cancer. The vaccine protects and saves many more cats from FeLV than the number of vaccinated cats that develop the tumor, so if your cat goes out, it is safer to vaccinate than not. If your cat stays in, we can reduce the risk of the tumor developing by NOT vaccinating for FeLV since the risk of exposure is zero as long as your cat stays in, no other household cat goes in-and-out, and you test your new additions. If any cat in the household goes outdoors, all cats in the household are at risk so all should be vaccinated.
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- What are the signs of FeLV
- The signs of FeLV are varied and nonspecific. They include: • weakness, lethargy, • swollen lymph nodes depression • chronic dental disease• weight loss • chronic vomiting or diarrhea• fever • chronic coughing or sneezing• anemia • eye abnormalities
It is important to realize that these are not specific to FeLV infection, but FeLV is one disease that needs to be ruled out if you see them occurring in your cat.
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- Testing for FeLV
- Testing for FeLV is an important step in control of the virus in cat populations. All new cats and kittens should be tested prior to being introduced into a new home. All cats with access to the outdoors should be tested annually, even if they receive the vaccine, as no vaccine is 100% effective. There is a convenient in-hospital test that we can do on a small blood sample from your cat if it is newly adopted or at risk because it goes outside. We can also test for another serious viral infection called Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) at the same time. Please see the additional information on FIV.
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- Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)
- Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is a virus similar to HIV that infects people. There is no evidence, however, that FIV can infect people or that HIV can infect cats. FIV causes a suppression of the cat’s immune system. The cat is thus more susceptible to infections from common microorganisms. These microorganisms cause no problems in healthy cats.
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- How is FIV transmitted?
- The virus is most commonly transmitted through bite wounds and free-roaming outdoor cats are most commonly affected. Rarely, kittens can be infected from their mother. Transmission through casual contact, communal grooming, or shared dishes and litter boxes, likewise, does not seem to occur. As such, FIV can be thought of as a disease of “unfriendly cats.” In multi-cat households with an FIV-infected individual, there is little likelihood of spread to the uninfected cats if everybody gets along. Sexual contact is not thought to play a role in the transmission the virus.
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- What are the signs of FIV?
- Clinical signs of FIV infection are related to the organ system and secondary infectious agents involved. These signs can be varied and nonspecific but include: • weakness or depression • decreases appetite • weight loss • fever• anemia • labored breathing• swollen lymph nodes • chronic dental disease • chronic stomatitis or • chronic coughing inflammation of the mouth or sneezing • recurrent infections or • chronic eye problems non-healing wounds
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- Can FIV be treated?
- There is no vaccine to prevent FIV infection and no treatment directed specifically against the virus. Treatment is aimed at fighting the secondary infections and providing supportive care for the patient.
Diagnosis of FIV infection is based on the cat’s medical history and a blood test for antibody to the virus. An initial screening test (ELIZA test) can be done in the hospital, and any positive result is confirmed with a second test (Western Blot Test) that is sent to our commercial laboratory. Persistently infected cats can still survive for months to years as long as secondary infections are treated early and aggressively with appropriate veterinary care. Eventually, though, the immune system of most FIV-infected cats becomes so weakened that infections become insurmountable.
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- Testing for FIV
- We recommend testing all outdoor or in-and-outdoor cats annually for FIV. In addition, all new additions to a household should be tested before introduction to their new home. Kittens can falsely test positive due to the passive transfer of antibody from their mother, so any positive kitten should be retested when they are 6-8 months old to determine their true status.
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