Feline Leukemia Virus: Symptoms of FeLV
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.
This disease comes with a diverse symptom list. FeLV is a retrovirus, which means that it is able to insert copies of its own genetic material into the cells it has infected. This illness shares many symptoms in common with other diseases and conditions.
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.
Secondary infections and diseases will cause problems with FeLV infected cats. These secondary infections and diseases make the symptom list for this illness quite varied. FeLV infected cats have a difficult time fighting off invaders, even common bacteria.
Some cats will experience no outward symptoms during the initial stages of the disease. Early FeLV symptoms may include general malaise, blood conditions, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.
FeLV infected cats often will develop anemia. About 30 percent of infected cats will develop tumors. Leukemia and other forms of cancer are possible outcomes. Some cats may exhibit excessive urination and thirst, which is also common to other illnesses such as feline diabetes.
As the disease progresses, sick cats may present with more and varied symptoms. Blood in the stool, constipation, jaundice, and recurring infections may be present. Feline leukemia virus symptoms may also include and diarrhea, severe weight loss, and depression.
There are two stages to this disease. Upon initial infection, some cats will fight off the illness and it will not progress to the second stage. Other cats will not be so fortunate and the disease will progress.
Ultimately, for cats who reach the second stage of this disease, it is usually fatal. If your cat has FeLV, the only thing you can do is to treat the secondary diseases and infections, and attempt to strengthen the immune system of your cat.
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. Keeping your cat indoors and away from infected cats is a good precaution. Fortunately, if your cat is not in a high risk group, chances are limited that she will contract the disease.
