| FeLV
(Feline Immunodeficiency Virus)
Living
with FeLV
by Michelle
Bernard
Photo: Michelle Bernard
 When
two-month-old Lexus was tested for Feline
Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency
Virus (FIV), her caregiver was relieved
to learn the former stray was free of
disease. Lexus received two FVRCP-C shots,
a rabies shot, and was spayed two months
later. Shortly after her surgery, she
developed a high fever which was treated
with antibiotics. Lexus was subsequently
re-tested for FeLV — and the test
came back positive. Her guardian was dismayed.
What had happened to make Lexus ill?
What
is FeLV and who gets it?
Feline Leukemia (FeLV) is an immunosuppressive
virus and belongs to the family of retroviruses
that can cause tumors. It is associated
with other diseases such as anemia and
stomatitis and can also predispose cats
to FIV and Feline Infectious Peritonitis
(FIP).
You may have been told that FeLV is the
number one killer of cats and is very
contagious — so contagious that
even an indoor cat is at risk because
you could track the virus inside, or because
he touches noses with another cat through
a screen door.
Not so, according to Ronald Schultz, professor
and chair of pathobiological sciences
at the University of Wisconsin’s
Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.
FeLV is a dangerous virus and can cause
severe problems, but it takes intimate,
prolonged contact for an adult cat to
become infected. The virus is extremely
fragile and lives fewer than five minutes
outside a cat’s body. Transmission
usually occurs via saliva through biting,
grooming or sharing a feeding bowl. Even
then, an infected cat has a good chance
of not becoming ill. Adult cats most at
risk are young un-neutered males living
outside and fighting.
Kittens under six months of age are most
at risk, because their immune systems
are not fully developed. If a kitten spends
any time with a FeLV positive cat, he
may become infected and test positive,
although he may test negative again at
a later date. The best protection for
a kitten is to avoid exposure to cats
of unknown FeLV status, and to test any
new cats coming into your household. Do
not allow your kitten to roam outside
unsupervised. By the time cats reach a
year old, most are naturally immune to
FeLV.
How
can I protect my cat?
If your kitten is at risk, or the risk
is unknown, vaccination for FeLV at nine
weeks and again at 12 weeks will likely
provide adequate protection. Some kittens
contract FeLV from their mothers, however,
in which case the vaccine is useless.
Dr. Schultz recommends either the Fort
Dodge or Schering-Plough FeLV vaccines.
After this, no additional vaccinations
are necessary for the rest of your cat’s
life, because natural immunity is better
than vaccinated immunity.
No vaccination is 100 percent effective
and the FeLV vaccine is one of the least
effective. It’s also one of the
more dangerous because it has been linked
to vaccine-associated feline sarcomas
(VAFS).
“Vaccinating for FeLV is questionable
because it is more a chronic than acute
disease,” says Sidney Storozum,
a homeopathic veterinarian practicing
in Amherst, Virginia. “Even if your
cat is exposed, you may not see symptoms
for years, or ever. FeLV is more of a
disease influence as opposed to an acute
disease that comes on suddenly and may
overwhelm the immune system before it
has time to amass a defense.”
Preventing FeLV should therefore involve
strategies other than vaccination. Adult
cats with competent immune systems do
not become ill when exposed to most viruses,
including FeLV. From a holistic perspective,
it is not the virus itself but the cat’s
susceptibility to it that makes him sick.
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Published in
the February/March 2004 issue of Animal
Wellness
|
