Feline Leukemia?

Question

My cat was recently diagnosed with Feline Leukemia...does anyone know anything about it? Or how much longer my cat could possibly have? The vet said that it differs from cat to cat, but I would like to hear from anyone who might have been through the same thing or knows anything about it. Thanks in advance!! :)

Answer 1

FeLV used to be the most common fatal disease of cats. But with a vaccine now available, there has been a substantial drop in the number of cases. Although the name leukemia means cancer of the white blood cells, there are many diseases associated with this virus, such as other types of cancer, anemia, arthritis and respiratory infections. FeLV is preventable if the cat is immunized before being exposed to the virus. Although the disease is not always immediately fatal, cats with FeLV rarely have a long life expectancy. NEVER bring other cats into your household when you have a cat with FeLV.

Cats at greatest risk of infection are those that may be exposed to infected cats, either via prolonged close contact or through bite wounds. Such cats include:
Cats living with infected cats or with cats of unknown infection status
Cats allowed outdoors unsupervised, where they may be bitten by an infected cat
Kittens born to infected mothers

Kittens are much more susceptible to infection than are adult cats, and therefore are at the greatest risk of infection if exposed. But accompanying their progression to maturity is an increasing resistance to FeLV infection. For example, the degree of virus exposure sufficient to infect 100% of young kittens will infect only 30% or fewer adults. Nonetheless, even healthy adult cats can become infected if sufficiently exposed.

What are the signs of disease caused by FeLV?

During the early stages of infection, it is common for cats to exhibit no signs of disease at all. However, over time—weeks, months, or even years—the cat's health may progressively deteriorate or be characterized by recurrent illness interspersed with periods of relative health. Signs can include:
Loss of appetite
Slow but progressive weight loss, followed by severe wasting late in the disease process
Poor coat condition
Enlarged lymph nodes
Persistent fever
Pale gums and other mucus membranes
Inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) and mouth (stomatitis)
Infections of the skin, urinary bladder, and upper respiratory tract
Persistent diarrhea
Seizures, behavior changes, and other neurological disorders
A variety of eye conditions
In unspayed female cats, abortion of kittens or other reproductive failures

My sympathy to you and your cat. I am sorry!

Answer 2

Here, read this on-line brochure on the website of the Cornell Feline Health Center at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resources/brochure/felv.html

As you'll see, FeLeuk (or FeLV) can be lethal, but it's often very managable. A FeLeuk diagnosis is not an automatic death sentence by any means. It's possible that your kitty is doomed, but it's also possible that it could turn out to be a non-issue and kitty will live its normal lifespan.

It could also be a false positive on the test. the FeLeuk test can produce false positives. Also, since most adult cats have developed a natural immunity to the virus, it's possible that the test detected the virus, but that kitty's immune system will eliminate it before it does any harm.

You have reason to be concerned, but things may very well turn out OK in the end. I hope so!

Answer 3

Sorry to here about your cat. There are vaccines for feline leukemia. If everyone vaccinated their pets the problem would decrease dramatically.

Note to all cat owners: Getting a kitten?? make sure it has all its vacs at the right time and a booster each year. These really do save lives and stop the spread of diseases

Answer 4

Sorry to hear about your cat. Yur vet was on the money when he said it varies from cat to cat. Our cat was stricken very suddenly and unfortunately did not last long. However a littlemate also stricken lived for years. It is important not be bring any other cats into household now and to wait at least 6 months for the virus to be inactive after an infected animal has passed away. Hope this helps and you have a long time to go with your pet.

Answer 5

Very good information here. And it is not always an immediate death sentence for your cat. They need to have the best possible diet (and that is a raw meat diet ), have the protection of an indoor home and an emotionally balanced and loving environment.

Go to www:littlebigcat.com. Jean Hofve, DVM does a monthly newsletter and I am sure she has covered this topic. Go into the archives. It may take a little work to pull it up (unfortunately you can't do a search on a particular subject at her site) and I am sure you will find her information informative, reassuring and helpful

Answer 6

treatments are available but they can be very expensive ( I know a girl who took her cat twice a week for blood transfusions) and all kinds of stuff but it was worth it her kitty lived for about 10 years with it (the transfusions just kept him comfortable and she did it over the course of about a year till he got to bad then she had to have him put to sleep...good luck do lots of research on it you can go to the vet and ask them to reccommend reading and articles about it and also give you the answers, some kittkys live for a long time with it and some dont (it is more like hiv in humans then leukemia in humans although there is fiv also but fe-leuk is just as bad)

Answer 7

Try this site from Cornell Veterinary University, it has some great information. Check out the part about "Primary viremia"

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resources/brochure/felv.html

Answer 8

your vet was right...it differs from cat to cat, make sure you keep your cat healthy, anything happens that is unusual, take him to the vet. i know a cat that lived to be 18 and contracted the disease when she was 3.

Answer 9

I had a kitty with it, and he lived with it but had terrible lesions start to form. Eventually he vanished. The best way to learn about it is to talk more to your vet and to research online about it...

Answer 10

I'm sorry to hear that.

here are some sites to look at...

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=feline+leukemia&fr=FP-tab-web-t400&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8