WhitneyFeline Leukemia
November 14th 2008 19:35
Feline leukemia is one of the scariest and more common types of cancer for cats. Although, it is completely preventable, many people are not aware of the illness and never prevent it from the beginning.
Although there are different scenarios that may occur when your cat "gets" feline leukemia, for the more part the prognosis isn't a nice one. You'll find that your cat's immune system can become severly weakened leading to death, or that the virus sits dormant within the bone marrow and your cat never really experiences the illness.
Either way, prevention is the key with feline leukemia.
Your vet can perform a simple test to determine whether or not your cat has feline leukemia virus, and if the test comes back positive there's not much that you can do except keep your cat away from other cats so that the virus isn't spread.
Most people do not have the test performed and just end up bringing home a new cute kitten and introducing it to the already established and feline leukemia free older cat. This is probably the biggest no-no that you can ever do.
But, luckily, for the most part vets automatically test for feline leukemia when you bring the cat in for the initial phyiscal and shots. That does not mean that you shouldn't ask for the test if your vet doesn't say anything. You want to ask your vet to make sure that he performs the test. It's really a quick and simple test that will give you results in minutes.
The more common symptoms of feline leukemia include general illness, swollen lymph nodes, and mild fever. There are many other signs and symptoms that you may notice, and if you think that there is any chance that your cat may have feline leukemia, you want to take it to the vet to get tested.
There are at home feline leukemia tests that you can try out, but I wouldn't recommend only using the at home tests. You vet is alway a best option.
Although there are different scenarios that may occur when your cat "gets" feline leukemia, for the more part the prognosis isn't a nice one. You'll find that your cat's immune system can become severly weakened leading to death, or that the virus sits dormant within the bone marrow and your cat never really experiences the illness.
Either way, prevention is the key with feline leukemia.
Your vet can perform a simple test to determine whether or not your cat has feline leukemia virus, and if the test comes back positive there's not much that you can do except keep your cat away from other cats so that the virus isn't spread.
Most people do not have the test performed and just end up bringing home a new cute kitten and introducing it to the already established and feline leukemia free older cat. This is probably the biggest no-no that you can ever do.
But, luckily, for the most part vets automatically test for feline leukemia when you bring the cat in for the initial phyiscal and shots. That does not mean that you shouldn't ask for the test if your vet doesn't say anything. You want to ask your vet to make sure that he performs the test. It's really a quick and simple test that will give you results in minutes.
The more common symptoms of feline leukemia include general illness, swollen lymph nodes, and mild fever. There are many other signs and symptoms that you may notice, and if you think that there is any chance that your cat may have feline leukemia, you want to take it to the vet to get tested.
There are at home feline leukemia tests that you can try out, but I wouldn't recommend only using the at home tests. You vet is alway a best option.
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Comment by katyzzz
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I take it this is not a common illness?
Comment by Whitney
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Actually feline leukemia is the more popular cat illness. It's the second top killer next to car accidents.