Can my cat get feline leukemia from human touching saliva?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, FeLV can in fact be transferred by sharing the food and/or water bowl. In general, it can be transmitted by exchanging saliva, blood, urine and feces. Good luck and have a great day!

Feline leukemia is spread mostly by fighting and breeding and most mature cats have some natural immunity. There is always a risk if you haven’t had the kittens tested so I would request a Felv/Fiv test and if they are negative then your cat should be safe to play with them. I don’t wait until they are six months to test kittens. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Munchie.

It is obviously up to you about mixing the cats. I personally do not recommend mixing feline leukemia cats with negative cats. Even though they are vaccinated not all vaccines are 100%. The positive cat is still putting the negative cats at risk. They can spread leukemia by sharing water bowls, food bowls, litter boxes and standard grooming.

You have a little bit of a tricky situation. The only way your 8 year old cat can get Feline Leukemia is if the kitten is infected and shedding the virus. Since the kitten tested negative before you brought him home, you know he was not shedding the virus at that time. BUT since you know he was around another cat that could have have been shedding the virus, he could still become positive from that exposure (which can take a little while to test positive for). The safest thing to do for your 8 year old cat would be to keep him separated from the kitten for the next 90 days, then retest the kitten for Feline Leukemia. If he is negative at that time, then you can reintroduce them. Good luck! I hope everything is fine and that was helpful. Let us know if that doesn't make sense or if you have any other questions. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello, FeLV is transmitted through close, social contact generally via saliva, as in grooming each other or sharing food bowls. FIV is usually transmitted through bite wounds. Since your cat is leashed and not in contact with other cats, this shouldn't be a risk in theory. If she goes outdoors by herself, or there is a chance she could escape, I'd recommend getting her vaccinated just to be safe. Otherwise, keeping her core vaccines (FVRCP and Rabies) should prevent her from acquiring diseases on walks. :) I'm going to link you to a good site on more information about FeLV/FIV in case you want to learn more: https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951934 https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951815 I hope this helps. Thanks for using PetCoach.

FIV is primarily spread through cat bites, so that will not be passed to your cats via your clothes. Feline leukemia (FELV) is passed though cats grooming each other, sharing food and water bowls, and sharing litter boxes. FELV is a fragile virus, surviving only a few hours in a dry environment, but because of the potential that it could be on your clothes, I would wear something protective over your clothes when you are with the cat in your basement, and removing it before you come upstairs. To be absolutely safe, if you are going to continue to rescue cats, you should vaccinate your cats upstairs.

Felv is highly contagious just by the sharing of water bowls. The virus is spread through the saliva, so the chances are quite high for the 2nd cat unfortunately. You can ask your vet about doing annual bloodwork and potentially anti-viral medications to help. However anti-viral meds can be quite expensive, so most owners just try to keep their kitties on a high quality dog food (i.e. Royal Canin, Wellness, Merrick, etc) for overall health.