How long does panleukopenia virus survive in the home environment?

I'm so sorry that your last cat passed away from panleukopenia. This is a parvovirus that is passed through various secretions and can survive fairly readily in the environment. As a result, it's virtually impossible to fully disinfect all materials - particularly carpet, rugs, and upholstered furniture. Hard, nonporous surfaces are much easier to disinfect with bleach diluted with water 1:32 and left on the cleaned surface for at least 5 minutes. Since this parvovirus can survive for up to a year, I would not take the chance of bringing Rag home until he's completed his entire vaccine series. I hope that everything goes well! https://www.petcoach.co/cat/condition/panleukopenia/

It depends on where the future foster kittens would be. If they are confined to a certain room, then you can reasonably be able to clean all of the surfaces in the room. However, the surfaces need to be hard and flat in order to adequately clean them. If it's carpet, or there is other fabric that is possibly affected, then it cannot reasonably cleaned. The surfaces should be cleaned with soap and water first to remove all debris, then covered with a 10% bleach solution for 15 minutes to kill the virus. It is true that this virus is very resistant and can last years, so if it's not possible to keep the foster in a cleanable area, then I would advise against fostering for a while (6months to a year). I hope that helps.

Poor Tom. You can try to give him a chance with the vet, as cats who survive for five days with this have a much greater chance of recovery. In most cases, once a cat recovers from FP, it will not infect other cats through direct contact, but some recovered cats can shed the virus in their stool and urine for up to 6 weeks. Make sure your cat is vaccinated against it. If he does survive, no he may not always be a risk to other cats and he may not need long time treatment.

Given you weren't in the apartment where the cat lived, and if the cat had never visited that apartment, I would not worry about bringing the virus home on your shoes or feet. You are correct that this virus can survive in the environment; in fact, it can survive for up to a year in the environment, but I would only worry about it if you were in the apartment where the cat lived. Should you visit that apartment, be sure to disinfect your shoes before you enter your home.

At this point, it will not help to vaccinate the other cats because they've already been exposed to the virus - all it would do, would be to weaken their immune system. It won't provide protection quickly enough to be of any use. I agree that cleaning and disinfecting the house is a good idea, as well as keeping the infected cat isolated from the others. In 2-3 weeks, you could talk to your veterinarian about vaccinating the other cats if they still aren't showing any symptoms.

If Barney has already been infected with parvovirus (typically called panleukopenia in cats) by your unvaccinated kitten, then there's no need to separate them at this point. However, if you have any other cats in your home, then Barney and the unvaccinated kitten should be strictly isolated from the other cats. If you have other cats in your home, disinfecting with diluted bleach daily is important to prevent further spread. If you do not have other cats, then it's reasonable to wait until both kittens have recovered before thoroughly disinfecting with bleach. With a parvovirus, reinfection is not typically an issue, as it can be with other viruses. If either kitten becomes lethargic, experiences vomiting and/or diarrhea, refuses to eat, or develops any neurologic changes, they should be examined by your vet right away. I've attached a few links below for further reading. I hope that Barney and his friend both make speedy recoveries! https://www.petcoach.co/cat/condition/panleukopenia/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/panleukopenia-feline-distemper-in-cats-kittens/

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm glad everything tested negative for Kitty. We do not have an test for panleukopenia. And we do not test healthy cats for it. Cats with panleukopenia are sick: vomiting, diarrhea, low white blood cells. We sometimes use the dog Parvo snap tests to test cats who are sick that we think may have it but we usually diagnose it based on signs and blood work (CBC=complete blood count). I would keep her separate from your other cats for 2 weeks. I am assuming your vet started her vaccines and gave her the first FVRCP vaccine which has panleukopenia in it. She should have a second booster 3 weeks after the first one. If you want to be 100% safe, keep her separate until 2 weeks after the 2nd booster (5 weeks total, that is a long time!). But I would think that if she had no signs in 2 weeks she is likely fine. I usually see stray cats or new kittens pass upper respiratory viruses more often than panleukemia. I hope this helps!