How often are feline leukemia tests positive?
- hobbitfoot20
as often as the felines have leukemia.
- Alissha
It's estimated that the infection rate for cats is around 2-3% in the US. Rates rise depending on the age of the cat, vaccine status, access to the outdoors and a compromised immune system due to illness. These rates for at risk cats are thought to be around 13%
- super_goofychick
it depends on the situation. outdoor kittens born to an outdoor mother that wasn't vaccinated there's about 75% chance of them having FLV. indoor cats that have ALWAYS lived inside the chances are low.... 10% or less. have your kitten tested if you're unsure of where it came from, but if you plan to keep in inside ONLY it DOES NOT NEED A VACCINE!! feline leukemia vaccines cause injection site sarcoma (cancer) and are only recommended for outdoor cats or cats living with another FLV positive cat if that cat tests neg. once you give the vaccine your cat will always test positive because of the vaccine antibodies. this is a death sentence if it ever ends up in a shelter. they don't know the difference between a vaccine and the disease and will euthanize any positive cat or kitten.
*** that 3% percent is from the TOTAL cat population.. including indoor cats that are never exposed.... those percentages don't reflect accurate ideas about feline leukemia. the disease is very common in outdoor cats, especially unaltered toms.
- cgmcalli
It depends on how often you take your cat to the vet! If you have taken them for their first shots and then followed up with the boster shot they should be fine for a year. It also depends on whether your cat is indoor or outdoor. With indoor cats you do not need the feline leukemia shot. Outdoor cats I would recommend at least once a year!
- Johanna J
As Alissha correctly said, it's estimated that 2-3% of cats in the US have FeLV. This rate is a lot higher for outdoor cats. I thought I should also mention that if you're getting your kitty tested keep in mind that there is a small rate of false-positives on the SNAP tests.
It is not true, however, that once a cat is vaccinated it will always test positive for FeLV. It is also not true that any cat positive for FeLV will be immeiately euthanised if it ends up at a shelter. While this is true SOME places, the majority that I know of will adopt them out as 'special needs' pets.
If your cat has ever been outside, or is showing related symptoms it would be a good idea to have them tested. If they're ever going to go outside please get them vaccinated, although keep in mind that the vaccine is only about 70-80% effective (a very low percentage compared to most vaccines). Good luck!
Leukemia — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, risk factors, treatment of this blood-related cancer.
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