Feline Leukemia is the number one infectious disease killer of cats. Feline leukemia destroys the cat’s immune system, which can lead to anemia, cancer, and a compromised immune system. This can lower the ability to fight off other diseases. We recommend testing every new kitten or cat to your home before vaccinating for this disease. Also, we recommend retesting 6 months later or every year at their annual wellness appointment to be sure of a negative result.
FIV or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus is also known as the Feline AIDs Virus, is similar to the HIV virus that causes AIDS in people. This virus does damage by suppressing the cat’s immune system, making it much more susceptible to other common cat infectious diseases.
Felines can get heartworms too, even cats living indoors can be diagnosed. Cats get heartworms the same way as dogs do, mosquitoes transmit the disease by biting an already infected animal then pass onto other animals by biting. Even one heartworm can be fatal in a feline. We recommend Revolution for felines, which prevents Heartworms.
We recommend running this quick in-house snap test for every new feline in your home. It takes less than 10 minutes to run and we can perform it at your first visit with us.