Coping with leukemia in your cat

Feline Leukemia is a disease caused by Fel V virus. Clinical signs of this disease are anemia, leukemia and tumors. Fel V virus is transmitted via contact with infected saliva, milk, cat excretions and developing kittens in utero. After a cat is infected, the virus multiplies in the cat, creating tumors which can be found in different parts of the body. These tumors interfere with the function of organs and cause organ function failure. Clinical signs are fever, mouth ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea, poor appetite, weight loss, swellings in the abdomen and weak health.

To prevent infection with feline leukemia, your cat needs to be vaccinated against the disease. Booster shots are to be followed annually. Before this vaccination is done, your cat is first tested for the presence of Fel V virus using a drop of its blood. In households with more than 1 cat, it is strongly advisable to test all your cats and vaccinate them against Fel V virus.

Another possibility is your cat may not fully recover and continue shedding the infectious virus.

Fel V virus does varying amounts of damage according to the age of the cat infected. Kittens from infected queens are permanently infected. With increasing age, the susceptibility of the cat to the virus decreases until the cat reaches old age. Then, the trend is reversed as the cat's immunity is weakened.

If the cat receives a large dose of the virus, then its infection is also large. In multi cat households, the frequency of exposure to Fel V virus is higher and when there is infection, it is persistent as the cats infect one another. For strays or free ranging cats, there is minimal exposure to other cats so the risk of contacting the virus is low. Even if a cat is infected, the dose of exposure is low and the cat subsequently develops immunity to the virus.