My cat has FeLV. How to keep them healthy and protect other cats?

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.

While technically they are at risk, they are adults that have been vaccinated so it is less likely they will contract the virus. Cats at greatest risk of infection are those that may be exposed to infected cats, either via prolonged close contact or through bite wounds. Such cats include: 1) Cats living with infected cats or with cats of unknown infection status 2) Cats allowed outdoors unsupervised, where they may be bitten by an infected cat 3) Kittens born to infected mothers Kittens are much more susceptible to infection than are adult cats, and therefore are at the greatest risk of infection if exposed. The degree of virus exposure sufficient to infect 100% of young kittens will infect only 30% or fewer adults. Nonetheless, even healthy adult cats can become infected if sufficiently exposed. It is best to separate the cats. If it turns out that sister's cat has FeLv, it is not an immediate death sentence. Retrovirus-positive cats may live many years without related illness.

Hello. I am sorry for your concerns about Cookie. Her anemia can be caused by other things including blood parasites like Hemobartonella & intestinal parasites like hookworms & roundworms, not just by the Feline Leukemia virus. I think it is a good idea to do the Snap FeLv test, but even if the test is positive, there are still things that can be done to make her as comfortable as possible. I would also definitely test the other cat, because if she is negative then she can be vaccinated to prevent the virus ( I hope the vaccine is available in your country, it is used routinely here in the US). Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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.

Vaccines are protective but cannot offer 100% guarantee. I would not recommend very close contact, mutual grooming or sharing of food bowls etc. Rigorous flea prevention and keeping them in separate rooms may be the safest option

There is no cure or treatment for the virus. They will always have it and it is contagious to other cats only. It is spread through respiratory secretions and grooming. There is no medicine to give regularly. They can actually live a long full life with it as long they are kept indoors. Because they infected with a virus their immune system is weaker so if they catch a normal bug it may be harder for their system to overcome it. This scenario may require hospitalization if severe enough.

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.