Feline Leukemia Virus, Panleukopenia (feline distemper), Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Chlamydia, and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus are some of the diseases that may affect your feline feline.
 
Feline Leukemia Virus suppresses the cat's immune system, leaving it unable to fight off otherinfections, such as pneumonia.  FeLV can also cause cancer in a small proportion of cats.  A few cats recover from a brief FeLV infection and rid themselves of the virus.  But if permanent infection occurs, death always results.  Since there is no cure for this disease and vaccinating a cat that already has the virus will not help, we always recommend testing the cat before giving the vaccine.  The test only takes a few minutes to run and requires only a few drops of blood.  This disease is also highly contagious to other cats.

Panleukopenia or feline distemper is common and can affect cats of any age.  It's almost impossible to prevent exposure, so all cats should be vaccinated.  This disease can cause fever, appetite loss, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weakness, tremors, and loss of coordination.  Death can occur within a week.  3/4 of the kittens that get FPL die; about half of older infected cats die.

Rhinotracheitis is a widespread and severe upper respiratory virus that poses a serious threat to cats of all ages.  Once exposed, the virus can cause symptoms on and off for the cat's lifetime.  These symptoms include loss of appetite, moderate fever, tearing, discharges from the eyes and nose, open-mouth breathing, coughing, and salivation.

Prevention assures the best quality of life for your pet, and it costs less than treatment.  Without a vaccination program, many cats will contract a serious or even fatal disease.

At www.kittytest.com, you can find additional information on Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), and Feline Heartworm. This link also includes a database, started in January of ’09, to report incidences of the disease by county in the US. Please contact us with any questions concerning vaccinations and the health of your pet. A healthy pet is a happy pet.