Feline leukemia can be spread by kitty kisses and other casual contact. Photo: SuziJane/Flickr
Missouri-based company ProLabs has recently launched a drug to fight these devastating infections. It's the first treatment for the diseases to have been granted a conditional license by the USDA.
Veterinarian and consultant for the Cornell Feline Health Center Christine Bellezza told Paw Nation that FeLV and FIV are related but distinct diseases. "They both affect the immune system, but in slightly different ways."
Both infections suppress a cat's immune response and impair the ability to fight off diseases. As a result, infected cats often pick up a parade of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Blood disorders, such as life-threatening anemia, are common in cats with FeLV or FIV, and the viruses can also cause various types of cancer. In fact, feline leukemia is the most common cause of cancer in cats.
FIV is spread from cat to cat mostly through bite wounds and intercourse (another reason to spay and neuter!). FeLV passes from cat to cat much more casually -- infected kitties can pass the virus to their playmates through grooming and by sharing a litter box or food dish. Kittens are especially susceptible to contracting the virus.
Although the two diseases share symptoms, they impact cats in different ways. Most notable, Bellezza told us, is the length of time a cat can survive after becoming infected. Cats infected with FIV can live many years without showing symptoms. In some cases, they can grow elderly and die of natural causes without ever showing outward signs of the disease. That's not the case for FeLV, which wreaks havoc on cats much more quickly.
Vets have said that cats typically don't live beyond three years after becoming infected with FeLV. That prognosis has improved a bit thanks to better management of the disease, but not much. "With good regular medical care, some of those cats do live longer, but it's still a poor prognosis," says Bellezza.
The new medication, called LTCI (Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator), purports to safely boost immune cells in infected cats. However, it's not yet clear how effective the treatment might be, says Bellezza. "The problem that I see is that there are no published long-term studies that show whether the drug is safe or effective." In other words, the jury is still out.
Besides that concern, the drug isn't cheap. The New York Post reports that the medication costs $75 to $100 per treatment and requires repeated doses: weekly or biweekly for the first two months, followed by repeated doses as frequently as once a month, indefinitely. That can add up to $1200 to $1600 for the first year of therapy alone.
Still, FeLV and FIV are devastating diseases, and for many cat parents this drug offers new hope and is worth every penny. But better than treating the diseases, of course, is preventing them altogether.
Vaccines for FIV and FeLV do exist, but they're not 100 percent effective. And there are some downsides to the shots. Cats vaccinated for FIV will always test positive for the disease, whether they have it or not. That means if a vaccinated cat gets sick in the future, you'd never know for sure if it was actually FIV. Adds Bellezza, if a vaccinated cat winds up in a shelter, the cat would probably be euthanized for testing positive (another reason to microchip your pet!).
As for FeLV, Bellezza recommends the vaccine be given only to cats at high risk of catching the virus: those that go outdoors and those that live in large groups. For indoor cats with low risk of contracting the disease, the vaccine may not be a great idea. "With any drug or vaccine, there's always a risk of side effects," Bellezza said. "Specifically with feline leukemia and rabies vaccines, there has been a link between vaccination and developing fibrosarcomas [cancers] at the vaccine site." However, Bellezza noted, newer vaccines on the market are thought to be much less likely to cause fibroscarcomas.
If your cat is infected with FIV or FeLV, there are things you can do to keep her as healthy as possible.
- Keep her inside, where she's less likely to be exposed to infectious agents (or infect other kitties).
- Visit the vet regularly to make sure the cat is not becoming anemic or developing subtle signs that the disease is getting worse.
- If the cat shows any hint that she's feeling under the weather, see a vet right away.
"If you wait too long, an infection could become untreatable," Bellezza said. "It's really important that cats who don't have good immune systems be treated right away when they're sick."
Sponsored Links
Advertisement
Can't Miss Galleries
Today's Popular Articles
Ask The AKC Animal Behaviorist: Why Does My Dog Eat Poop?- Stray Cat's Actions Alert Woman to Breast Cancer
- Is Your Dog's Pet Food Making Him Sick?
What an interesting article. I had a cat who lived to be 14 years old with FIV. He had no risk factors and had to have had it when he was born..he was an indoor only cat.He had some other health issues as well, but not all FIV cats do. I miss him terribly. He had been tested at the age of 12 years old because the vet suggested it to rule it out..I was shocked when told he had been positive for FIV. My vet assured me that it was not as bad as FeLV. It is not easily transmitted as the article states..none of my other cats tested positive..they groomed each other and also ate from the same dishes and used the same litter boxes.I just had to keep an eye on him for any signs of sickness to it could be treated. Feline leukemia is a more severe illness, but it is good there is a new treatment for cats with either FIV or FeLV. I lost a cat to FeLV when there was no vaccine to prevent it, and not treatments at all.
i am extremely disappointed to see this posted in such a forum. LCTI is NOT a drug, it is merely a, "treatment aid," and is not regulated by the FDA as a drug. it has provisional approval from the Department of Agriculture, which means it shows PROMISE of doing something.
further, as myrtle points out, it is known--and has been known for years--that neither FIV nor FeLV are easily transmitted, and that the actual percentage of both viruses in the general population of cats is very low. just because they are the major communicable, as opposed to contagious, diseases, doesn't mean they are common or prevalent.
even though textbooks and informational guidelines put out by feline specialists have long spoken about the need for follow-up tests to ensure that cats are actually infected with either virus, especially FeLV, for which the tests are specific only for antigens (ie, exposure), it's been too easy for too long to ignore these professional guidelines and simply kill the cats who test positive on a single test.
it's impossible to conduct adequate research when the population is routinely treated with unthinking, automatic euthanasia, yet that's exactly what continues to go on everywhere in the country.
articles full of inaccurate information don't help.
I had my cat die on New Years as a result of FelV. We only discovered he had it when we took to the vet because he was having extreme difficulty breathing. He was only 4 years old and was an indoor cat. We figured he probably got it from the vet as that was the only place he had ever been in contact with other cats.
When I got my new kitten, I automatically vaccinated her, just because you never know. It's a horrible disease and I would never want to watch her go through what my last cat did.