How to test a new cat to protect my resident cat from cat flu?

I'm glad you are doing your homework before bringing new fur babies into the situation. Most shelters will routinely deworm their pets and test for leukemia and FIV. So you definitely want to make sure these treatments/tests are run prior to adopting the new kittens. Its not unusual for new cats and kittens to break with upper respiratory infections within the first 2 weeks of being adopted. Herpes virus is very common in cats (some estimate 80% of cats carry the virus) and it comes out in the stress related to being in a shelter and being rehomed. Now, this is not going to happen to every cat/kitten but its not unusual. Therefore, your best chance to avoid this would be to get a cat/kitten that has been kept in a foster home. It will likely still have herpes but the environment should be less stressful, therefore less risk of the virus becoming active. Keep the new pet separated for 2 weeks. That way if it does have an outbreak, you will at least have it contained. You could also put your cats on 500mg of lysine twice daily to help booster their immune system. Kittens get 250mg twice daily. Please post again if you have any further questions!

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This is an undesirable situation to be in when adopting a new kitten. You did the right thing by leaving kitty there becuase upper respiratory infections are highly contagious. However, if your cats are up to date on their FVRCP vaccine, this greatly reduces the chances of them getting ill also. There is a small chance that the virus can survive on fomite objects, but typically it is spread through direct contact or through aerosolized droplets from oral secretions, similar to the flu or common cold. You can change your clothing just to be safe, before coming in contact with your cats and home and just wash your clothing as you normally would, and monitor your cats for any symptoms. However, like I said, there is a low chance of transmission this way. Upper respiratory infections are very common in cats, so once the kitty is free of illness, wait about 10 days before considering adopting him. He also should be up to date on his vaccinations. Once a cat gets infected, they are likely to get re-infected in the future and have upper airway issues as an adult. I hope this helps and best wishes with your prospect kitty. Take care.

Yes there is a chance that you can carry the disease back home. If your cats are vaccinated against Calicivirus, Herpesvirus and Panleucopenia virus (and eventually Leukemia virus as well), the risk of infection should be basically none. To minimize the risk I would recommend to wash your hands/arms and clothes before getting in contact with your cats again when you are back home. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation (where you can post pictures ) if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Cat Flu is a general term that refers to an upper respiratory infection. In kittens, the biggest causes are usual one of a couple of different viruses that will go away with the infection. One of the viruses (herpes virus) will stay latent in the body and may come out again during times of stress. However, most cats have this virus already, so it's not standard for us to recommend isolation for the rest of kittenhood based on a history of cat flu. I would double-check the reason for the recommendation. I suspect there was something else going on with that case. The kitten should not be contagious if there were no signs of infection when you got her. Outside cats pose a risk of transmitting FIV and FeLV, which both affect the immune system and can be quite severe in kittens. I'm assuming that's why they recommended her not to go outside. From what you've described, I don't think you have much to worry about. Shelters commonly adopt out kittens with a history of cat flu and it's rarely a problem. Again, I think it's worth talking to the Vet at the SPCA. Sometimes the staff do not fully understand the situation and may have not explained this well enough. I hope that helps and you enjoy the new kitten. It's always great to see people adopting, so good on you.

I'm very sorry Mitzi isn't working out! Calicivirus typically lasts a week to 14 days in the environment, chlamydophila felis doesn't survive well in the environment and is easily killed, and microplasma felis does not survive long in the environment as well. You can get a new cat, but I would wait a couple of weeks to be sure. Be sure to thoroughly disinfect and clean all the cat items you have to prevent any chance of transmission of cat flu to your new cat.

I'm assuming that your cat has an upper respiratory virus like herpesvirus or calicivirus. It is fine to vaccinate cats who have been already infected, especially since this is typically a combination vaccine that covers other viruses as well. There is some evidence that the intranasal vaccine could lessen the severity of signs in a cat who is having an outbreak, but if your cat is already infected the vaccine will not cure him. If you introduced another cat and Frank became symptomatic again (i.e. sneezing, watery eyes or nasal discharge) the new cat could catch the disease. That being said, these viruses are extremely common and many kittens have been exposed even before they are vaccinated. If you are concerned you could always consider adopting an older cat who already has been vaccinated.

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!