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Feline Leukaemia 

Everyone is aware of the human medical condition called Leukaemia. In feline medicine there is a virus which can cause a type of leukaemia. It can also cause other problems like immune suppression and tumours. The virus is shed by infected cats in different body fluids. Any cat can become exposed to the virus but not all cats exposed to the virus will become sick. Some cats become immune to the virus, some will continually shed it and some will develop clinical disease. The percentage of cats that fall into these particular groups varies from study to study. Those that do get sick can suffer a wide variety of symptoms which may mimic other diseases. We will usually suspect it if our treatment for the symptoms doesn’t work or the problem keeps returning.

Testing for Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) involves a simple five minute blood test which is performed in the clinic. Unfortunately there is no definitive treatment for the virus we can only attempt to manage the symptoms. Certain types of cancers, in a high percentage of cases, are caused by the virus. For example most cats with a cancer called Lymphosarcoma are also infected with FeLV. Obviously prevention is best. A vaccine against FeLV has become available in the past few years. It is easily combined with the kitten course of vaccination. Older animals may require a blood test to make sure they are not carrying the FeLV virus before commencing the vaccination course.

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