Is my vaccinated cat at risk for panleukopenia from a false positive?

Panleukopenia is a feline parvovirus. They don't make a direct test for it but most clinics use the canine parvovirus test to get a result. False positives are very rare, occurring only in about 0-6% of tested samples. Vaccine induced positives are also rare with about only 1/64 recently vaccinated kittens testing positive. This is with the IDEXX brand test. Other brands had a higher rate of positive results following vaccination. So, without more information as to what test your vet used and how long ago she was vaccinated and with what vaccine (if she was even vaccinated) it is difficult for me to say much on the subject. If an IDEXX test was used I would trust the result. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Animals vaccinated with a live vaccine can develop mild symptoms and shedding for a short while in the minority of cases, but inactive vaccines would not have this effect. There are many possible causes of viral and bacterial diarrhea and i would recommend testing stools parvo in affected cases if you are concerned

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!

Oh goodness that is concerning. You said you had her checked out. Hopefully she was vaccinated at that time as well, if not then she should be vaccinated immediately . Panleukopenia is included in the core feline vaccines. She should be boostered 3-4 weeks after the first vaccine and then again until she is about 16 weeks old. I am glad you disinfected it, hopefully she was not exposed. There is not much else you can do. Best of luck and I hope she does well. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

I am so sorry that this has happened to you and your family! Feline parvovirus also called feline panleukopenia is a highly contagious and often fatal disease with kittens being the most susceptible. Diagnosis can sometimes be confirmed using a fecal antigen test kit. However, because this fecal antigen is detectable only for a short time after infection, false-negative results are common. It sounds like this might have been the case with your kitten. Supportive therapy is the main course of treatment and prognosis is guarded. Because the virus is very hardy, it can remain infectious in your home for years, unless the environment can be appropriately disinfected with bleach.

If Penelope is testing positive for FIV because she had the vaccine (and not the natural infection), then she does NOT actually have FIV. She is FIV negative in reality. So then getting another cat who is FIV negative is safe. Neither cat can spread FIV if they don't actually have the naturally occurring infection. Does that make sense?

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.