Feline Leukemia Virus Alert: Symptoms and Signs
The feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a highly dangerous and usually deadly virus that affects the immune system of your cat. Unfortunately, there is no known treatment that is consistently effective against this disease.
FeLV, being a retrovirus, is able to insert copies of its own genetic material into the cells of the cat it has infected. This disease has a variety of signs and symptoms, many of which may be common to other conditions or diseases.
Healthy felines are attacked by harmful organisms all the time. Most of the time, your cat can fight them off. When your cat’s immune system is compromised, however, diseases that would not normally cause a problem can become more severe. In some cases, they can become life threatening.
With a weakened immune system, your cat is more susceptible to secondary infections and diseases. It’s these secondary infections, conditions and diseases that make the symptom list for this disease so varied. FeLV infected cats have a difficult time fighting off infections of any kind.
Initial symptoms may include fever, blood disease, swollen lymph nodes, and general malaise. Some cats will experience no symptoms during the beginning stages of the disease.
FeLV infected cats are susceptible to developing leukemia as well as other forms of cancer. They often will develop anemia as well, and about 30 percent of infected cats will develop tumors. Some cats may exhibit excessive thirst and urination, which is also common to feline diabetes and other conditions.
Additional feline leukemia virus symptoms may also include depression, weight loss to the point of emaciation, and diarrhea. Cats may also experience blood in the stool, jaundice, constipation, and chronic recurring infections.
There are two stages of feline leukemia virus. It’s possible that an infected cat may halt the progression of the disease at the first stage, but others are not so lucky.
If your cat has FeLV that has reached the second stage, the only thing you can do is to treat the secondary diseases and infections, and attempt to strengthen the immune system of your cat. Unfortunately, the disease is usually fatal.
Fortunately, if your cat is not in a high risk group, chances are limited that she will contract the disease. In fact, it’s estimated that only about 2 to 3 percent of all cats are infected with FeLV. Infection rates are higher in high risk groups. The disease is transmitted through direct contact with an infected cat. As such, keeping your cat indoors and away from infected cats is a good precaution and preventive measure.
