Spread Of Felv - How Worried Should I Be?

[fuzzycat]

Hi all,
I know this is wordy - just want to give as much information upfront as I can. I have checked out websites on the subject, but would like feed back from those who have experience and know a thing or two. I may have had a feral with FeLV in my laundry room for two weeks and am now worried about the risk to my other cats. Some background;

New male to our fairly stable TNR'd colony. He was extremely underweight when he first showed up, but over time put on weight and seemed to be doing better. He was an occasional visitor at our door. We would see him several times a week but not necessarily every day.

About two weeks ago he showed up looking beat up - ears torn and working off of 3 paws. We took him to a vet. She said he had an infection and gave him a shot of convenia (sp). We brought him home and then set him up in a large dog crate in the laundry room. I didn't want him marking the room. We then kept the door to the laundry room shut and the other cats had no interaction with him. All bowls were put through the dishwasher after use. Separate litter box and litter disposal etc.

His weight was Ok and his appetite was excellent. If fact he acted like he was starving all of the time and wolfed down everything and anything we gave him. I largely fed him canned, but sometimes I mixed in dry. He did have diarrhea, but in our neighborhood we have girardia and salmonella and tapes (from bunnies). And I knew it could have also been from the diet change or even the convenia.

It took longer than I anticipated for the leg to heal - a sold week before he was putting weight on it. I finally was able to get him into the humane society today to be neutered. He had a sever reaction to the anesthesia and passed away right off the bat. I had ordered a FIV/FeLV test on him, but I guess it didn't get done. They said his mouth was in bad shape with sores. The Humane Societies thought was that he had some serious underlying condition. They felt very badly about the whole thing.

Do I have to take everything out of the room and Clorox and Lysol the bejesus out of it, or should I be safe. If this was FeLV, do I have to worry about having transferred it through my clothing etc? I tried to be conscientious about washing my hands after I handled him, but totally possible I forgot a time or two.

I had once heard that FeLV stays in a house for up to a year - but that is not what I read today. How worried should I be?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[denice]

I don't think it's FELV that stays in the environment for a year, it's the distemper virus that stays for a year. It's hard to say what you should do since you don't know what he had. A good cleaning and disinfecting would be wise. Mouth sores are not part of distemper.

 

[kittyluv387]

So sorry about him. Felv is contagious but not THAT contagious. You can spray the carpet with some Lysol or alcohol spray. Your other surfaces should be cleaned normally. If you forgot to change clothes a couple times it should be ok. If you want to be extra cautious you can have the laundry room off limits for a couple of months.

 

[fuzzycat]

Thanks. I feel badly that I missed it- although he was a bit prickly. But then the vet I took him to missed it and the humane society vets obviously didn’t catch it either.

From what I read mouth sores, diarrhea and bad infections all fit FeLV. But, he could be a stomatitis kitty who had been rolled by a coyote or car.

Just want to do what I can do to minimize risk.

It occurred to me that I have seen him share food bowls with the other ferals. Drat!

I will Clorox away (from what I have read- Clorox kills almost everything including Ebola).

 

[Willowy]

Aww, sorry you had to go through that. It's rough when it ends badly when you're trying to help a kitty. But at least he knew love and was well fed and warm toward the end.

Just as a personal observation. . .FeLV is generally seen in younger strays/ferals. They only live a few years with it, even with vet care, so it's somewhat self-limiting in that respect. It's unusual for a feral to contract it later in life.

But even if he was FeLV positive, transmission requires prolonged exposure to bodily fluids so there isn't much risk if the FeLV+ cat is kept in a different room and food/water dishes and litterboxes aren't shared.

My guess, because he was an older tom, is that he had end-stage FIV. Cats can live many years with FIV, and mouth sores are common toward the end. The good thing is that FIV is harder to transmit, and requires a deep bite. It doesn't transmit through sharing food dishes or litterboxes.

Feline Leukemia Virus

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

 

[fuzzycat]

Aww, sorry you had to go through that. It's rough when it ends badly when you're trying to help a kitty. But at least he knew love and was well fed and warm toward the end.

Just as a personal observation. . .FeLV is generally seen in younger strays/ferals. They only live a few years with it, even with vet care, so it's somewhat self-limiting in that respect. It's unusual for a feral to contract it later in life.

But even if he was FeLV positive, transmission requires prolonged exposure to bodily fluids so there isn't much risk if the FeLV+ cat is kept in a different room and food/water dishes and litterboxes aren't shared.

My guess, because he was an older tom, is that he had end-stage FIV. Cats can live many years with FIV, and mouth sores are common toward the end. The good thing is that FIV is harder to transmit, and requires a deep bite. It doesn't transmit through sharing food dishes or litterboxes.

Feline Leukemia Virus

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Thank you,
That helps.
FIV doesn't scare me as much as FeLV. However, we will still need to keep an eye on the colony. Sigh.

 

[jen]

I think you are fine, I agree with everything W Willowy said. Best you can do for the colony is TNR all of them and have it contained as best as possible. If they have any babies you could catch you could always test them (I would anyway if they can be rehabilitated into housepets) and if any of them come up positive with something, you might have a better idea.