FIV and FeLv?

[aries]

Sorry, I am very uneducated on cat diseases. What are FIV and FeLv? Are they curable? Can they be transmitted to humans? Where do they get this stuff? How can you prevent it?

I would really like to know more just in case I ever have to deal with these issues. And I think that some of people here are very knowledgeable or have first hand experience.

 

[solaritybengals]

Originally Posted by Aries

Sorry, I am very uneducated on cat diseases. What are FIV and FeLv? Are they curable? Can they be transmitted to humans? Where do they get this stuff? How can you prevent it?

Neither are human transmittable.

FIV is feline AIDS, similar to the type in humans. It is transmitted through a deep bite (as from a tom cat). It is saliva to blood or blood to blood transmition. I recently discovered that FIV positive cats can coexist with other feliens without a problem, as household cats do not inflict the kind of injury on each other that it would take for transmition. A friend recently got an FIV positive cat and she thought she would have to put it down because she had other cats and couldn't find a home. Someone on this board informed me that it wasn't necessary and they can cohabit together. I was thrilled! FIV positive cats are immune-suppressed so they can get sick easier. So they need to lead an indoor/sheltered life and they can live a very long time!

I don't know much about Feline Leukemia (Felv) other than it can lead to death pretty quickly. They have vaccines for this for cats that are at higher risk (outdoor cats).

 

[lionessrampant]

These diseases are not curable, but cats can potentially live long and healthy lives after testing positive for teh disease. Unfortunately, in order for your cat to live a long healthy life, you'd have to catch the presence of the disease BEFORE the cat showed symptoms. Once the cat is showing signs of illness, the symptoms can be managed to a point, but at that point, the disease will almost always prove fatal.

Both of these diseases are retroviruses. THey attack the cat's immune system, leaving them powerless to secondary bacterial and viral infections. Cats don't die OF FIV of FeLV, they die due to complications from other illnesses because they can't heal. FeLV is commonly associated with blood cancer and lymphomas. I recently lost an FeLV+ kitten to, according to the necropsy, a malignant tumor in her chest due to the complications of FeLV.

The best thing for these cats is a) to stay inside no matter what and b) to receive frequent immunotherapy treatments (preferably both traditional and holistic) and c) IMMEDIATE vet care if even the slightest symptoms appear. Immunotherapy, at least for my kitten, was in the form of Interferon-Alpha, but I have heard of people using Immunoregulin as well. Often, positive kitties have theri diets supplemented with L-Lysine, CoenzymeQ10 and Vitamin C.

Neither of these disease can be transmitted to humans. Hypothetically, the virus for FeLV could replicate in human tissue, but healthy people fight it off right away. Someone with AIDS or a very elderly person or a brand new infant should probably not be around these cats, although there are no documented cases of FeLV actually causing anything in people. At this point, it's just hypothetical lab models showing this.

FIV is transmitted through sexual activity and deep bite wounds. FeLV, on the other hand, can be transmitted through grooming, touching noses, sharing food bowls and sharing litter pans. Fortunately, it's also a weak virus, so it dies off in the environment within a couple hours. There is a safe vaccine for FeLV (it's made by Merial) and it will not cause the cat to test postive, nor will it cause the cat to give unvaccinated cats the disease. The FIV vaccine is availible, but not generally reccomended. The best course of action is to keep positive and negative cats away and keep all cats indoors so they can't catch it fro mfree-roaming animals. Also, good sanitation of the home is key.

Hope some of this helps!

 

[aries]

So, if you get a cat that has one of these, they need to be isolated from other cats, especially if they have the FeLv?

Will the vet detect something like this in a regular exam? And does their regular shots protect them against any of this?

What happens if a feral colony gets something like one of these? Do they just all die out or do they become resistant?

Sorry, I'm sure these are ignorant questions but I get several strays a year and I don't want my indoor / outdoor kitties to be untreated or protected if I can help it. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[lionessrampant]

Originally Posted by Aries

So, if you get a cat that has one of these, they need to be isolated from other cats, especially if they have the FeLv?

Will the vet detect something like this in a regular exam? And does their regular shots protect them against any of this?

What happens if a feral colony gets something like one of these? Do they just all die out or do they become resistant?

Sorry, I'm sure these are ignorant questions but I get several strays a year and I don't want my indoor / outdoor kitties to be untreated or protected if I can help it. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

The rabies and 3-in-1 that most cats get will NOT protect them against either of these. With the news of the Merial vaccine, I'd reccommend getting all of your indoor outdoor kitties vaccinated against FeLV. Indoor kitties shouldn't need it unless you've has an FeLV+ living among them. A normal physical generally won't detect these things, but there are two kinds of tests that can : a simple Elisa test, which tests for its presence in the blood stream and an IFA, which tests for its presence in the bone marrow. If the Elisa is positive and the IFA is negative, then there is a chance that the cat can clear the virus and test negative. If the IFA is positive, then the cat will be persistently infected for the rest of its life. For these tests, a blood panel will need to be drawn.

As far as colonies and mixing positive and negative cats go...with FeLV, about 1/3 of the cats who are exposed will never get it, they're naturally immune. 1/3 of them will get it and go into remission. 1/3 of them will become persistently infected. Unfortunately, there's no way of telling which third your cats will be in. I had FeLV come into my home...one of my cats died very quickly (she was born with it) and the other one never got it and has since had 2 negative Elisa's and a negative IFA. When any cat your cats interact with has been exposed, it's imperitive that you get them tested several time. I've heard 3 as being the magic number, over a course of 8-12 weeks. FIV I'm not as familiar with, but I've heard several tales of people keeping positive and negative cats together with no problems. I wouldn't do it knowingly, though.

Adults are much less likely to be affected persistently by FeLV than kittens. Kitten who are born with it have a life expectancy between 6 and 18 months and the mortality rate is virtually 100%. Adults respond much better to treatment and have that chance of going into remission or being immune. It's a terrible disease for them though...quite painful and unpredicitable. I wouldn't take any chances with this.

 

[solaritybengals]

FIV is pretty hard to contract. In a feral colony if a tom cat gets FIV then it would spread much faster because of mating and aggressive behavior that would draw blood. There are cases where kittens of an infected mother do not themselves become infected. Since feral cats are exposed to all kinds of conditions, survival might be very short as they would easily become sick from lacking a healthy immune system. Sick cats don't survive in the wild and often the cats can sense there is something not right. Often why a mother abandons a litter, she can detect sickness in her kits.

Tests can be done but aren't always accurate. Kittens can show positive early but not really have it. The FIV vaccine is discouraged because it can make the test show positive for FIV.

FIV positive indoor cats can live together in harmony with little worry. I recently did a lot of research on this since I was always under the impression that they could not live together. Transmission only occurs when saliva enters the blood-stream so mutual grooming, playing, sharing dishes and litter boxes will not cause transmission for FIV.

When you initially get a cat they usually always check for FIV/Felv/FIP. They will only test again if there is suspicion of being infected or vaccination (if you regularly get an outdoor cat the Felv vaccine then they will do the test first). These tests are always available upon request as well.

 

[aries]

Ok, here are some harder questions.

If I take a stray male into the vet for shots and neutering should he be tested? And if he test positive for either, should he be put down? Or go ahead and fix and release?

 

[solaritybengals]

Originally Posted by Aries

Ok, here are some harder questions.

If I take a stray male into the vet for shots and neutering should he be tested? And if he test positive for either, should he be put down? Or go ahead and fix and release?

If you are doing feral/stray fix and release then putting the cat down is really the best way to go (and yes testing should be done prior to anything else). If shelters get a positive cat they immediately put them down because its hard enough to find owners, let alone a special needs cat that will cost a lot in the end. If you release they *could* spread teh disease.

You could look around in your area to see if someone has a rescue set up where they house FIV positive together and FeLv positive together then thats a possiblity but I doubt it... unless you want to do something yourself for these animals.

 

[lionessrampant]

There are several no-kill shelters and organizations that will take in and care for FIV+ and FeLV+ kitties. I wouldn't put the cat down, personally, but many people do advocate euthanasia for FeLV+ kitties. Could you trap him and direct him to a rescue or foster family? It wouldn't be the most safe thing for teh colony, but you could also leave him there. It's a very personal call.

He should absolutely be tested at the vet visit.

 

[solaritybengals]

Its a sad topic but one life put down might save others

. No one wants to do it but unless there is a group/person will to take them then its really the best thing. An outdoor life for a test positive cat will be shorter than usual anyway and I wouldn't take the risk of transmition to others.

 

[hissy]

Originally Posted by Aries

Ok, here are some harder questions.

If I take a stray male into the vet for shots and neutering should he be tested? And if he test positive for either, should he be put down? Or go ahead and fix and release?

I test for FeLV only when i take strays in. In the 20 plus years of working with strays and street cats, I have only had to deal with that one disease one time.

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by Aries

Ok, here are some harder questions.

If I take a stray male into the vet for shots and neutering should he be tested? And if he test positive for either, should he be put down? Or go ahead and fix and release?

Yes - always test. I volunteer for a no-kill shelter and since they do feral TNR, this is one of the hardest issues for them. If the FeLV positive cat is absolutely feral and there is no hopes of socialization, they do make the decision to euthanize the cat. It is a question of individual cat versus cat nation. If you release the neutered cat back into the colony, it can spread the disease and more will die. Their first choice is to try to socialize the cat and place it into a special needs home.