Can Cats Get Parvo
Can cats get parvo? Unfortunately they can. Parvo is short for parvovirus - one of the most feared viruses that impacts cats and dogs. However, cats and dogs are vulnerable to different types of parvo: feline and canine parvovirus correspondingly. Todays’ topic is the feline panleukopenia virus: the nature, cause, symptoms and treatment.
Introduction
Cat parvo or feline panleukopenia virus, shortly FPV has many names: infectious enteritis, parvoviral enteritis, ataxia, feline distemper or cat plague. This viral infection affects wild and domestic cats. FPV is similar to type 2 canine parvo and mink enteritis. This virus is highly contagious and can be deadly for the cat exposed to it. “Panleukopenia” comes from low white blood concentration that all affected animals show.
Affected cats loose much water, experience severe dehydration. The virus moves from place to another on contaminated objects and substances. Hands, shoes, bearing saliva or pieces of stool are among the most common means of transfer. But routinely, any virus contacts cat’s fur, the cat grooms itself, ingests contaminated fur and gets infected. Most cats under the age of twelve weeks have protection against the parvo due to temporary
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Viruses that provide immunity during the whole lifetime do not “reside” in the body for long time. This is why it is hard to tell that carrier cats exist. It is more likely that a cat without apparent symptoms transfers the virus just like a cat that has recently recovered from the virus. A recovering cat may release the pathogen for about six weeks before it eventually sops. However, any cat if such kind cannot be called a carrier as it recovers and the virus leaves the body completely. Some veterinarians believe that the panleukopenia virus may remain dormant inside the cells of cats that survived parvo. Once cat recovered from parvo, it is no longer susceptible to the