Have a kitten who hasn't had vaccinations yet..?

Hi there,

FeLV is a virus that is spread by cats sharing litter boxes, mutual grooming, and from bites. It is also spread from mothers nursing kittens. The virus is also found in urine and feces.

This is a virus that "dies" within a few hours if exposed to air however. It is generally not carried on clothing. The virus needs a warm feline body in which to reside in order to survive. This being said, if your step-daughter comes over to visit, as long as she has showered, shampooed, and changed to clean, fresh clothing, any further risk should be minimized immeasurably. This is probably not necessary, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

You should talk to your vet about preventive vaccination for your kitten. The vaccine takes several weeks to take effect. While the vaccine can be effective, some cats do not develop immunity. Additionally, there is also a small risk for cats vaccinated for FeLV may develop a reaction to the vaccine which may cause Vaccine Associated Sarcoma.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine-associated_sa...

Here is a great article about FeLV, which contains all the information you need. You really do need to pass this article onto your step-daughter, since she already has a positive kitten with which to care for.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

Hope this helps and do discuss the benefits and risks with your vet about the vaccination. I have a friend who has a FeLV positive cat, and has vaccinated his other cat, and they are doing really well living together.

Troublesniffer

Owned by cats for over 40 years

Member: Cat Writer's Association

The FeLV virus is pretty fragile, and doesn't survive long outside the body. Even if you were to get the cat vaccinated now, he wouldn't be immune to anything by the weekend. And the vaccine is at best between only 70-80% effective in preventing the disease anyway (the manufacturer says 80%, studies show at best 70%).

If the mom cat had FeLV, you can just about guarantee that the kittens have it as well. While it's unlikely that the stepdaughter can bring the disease to your cat, I'd err on the side of caution and put the kitten in a bedroom while she was there. I wouldn't allow contact at all - she'd need to shower, change clothes, shoes, etc. in order to get rid of any kinds of germs that she could potentially be carrying. Kittens, due to their immature immune systems, are at most risk for catching FeLV - an adult cat tends to develop a basic immunity as their immune system matures.

Are they aware that the kittens from those litters will all have FeLV?

it will take longer than that to have the vaccination working. just have a pair of clothes that she can wear at your house