Feline Leukemiain the UK

March 2, 2009 4:46 AM

Feline leukemia in The UK?

I used to feed stay cats in The East End. There were several living in abandoned buildings that I'd feed, but a few strays would wander into my garden, hop on my window sill and meow until I let them in. I'd feed them, pet them, they'd inspect things in the flat, perhaps spend the night and leave. No big deal.

I'd wanted to adopt one of the cats, but back then I was spending lots of time working on the ground in Africa, and frequently wouldn't know when I left England when I'd be back.

I stopped doing that work, got married and about a year ago Mrs Mutant & I adopted two kittens. Everything is fine there, they've had all the necessary shots as indoor cats and are very happy and healthy.

About a week ago one of my strays returned. I suspect he's been around before, I just noticed one morning that he was on the window sill playing pawsie against the glass with one of our kittens. He came back again this AM, and even though I gave him some food outside, really wants to come inside.

I recall that FLV was epidemic in New York, and that cats either had to be vaccinated to isolated from infected cats to prevent the spread.

Even if I don't let him inside with the warmer weather our windows will be open. I've made screens to keep the kitten inside but constructed them out of chicken wire; an inquisitive paw will easily fit through the 1" or so holes.

So is there FLV in the UK? And if so what is the geographical spread? We're living in London's East End, postal code E1. I've googled about and can't find a definitive answer or even a dataset that would help me understand how pervasive this virus is.

I'd like to have as much information as possible before calling The Vet as this particular practice likes to sell (hard sell sometimes), and I'm sure if I ask if this vaccination is needed the answer will be a resounding yes!

posted by Mutant to pets & animals (4 comments total)

Oh I should have added, we're very happy with The Vet, the practice is very well organised, efficient and they seem to care a great deal for the animals.

That being said, I appreciate the need for any business to move merchandise. So I didn't mean to imply they'd sell something solely to make money.

That being said, they do engage in some serious attempts at cross selling sometimes, clearly the staff has had sales training, so I need to eliminate any informational asymmetry before I speak with them.
posted by Mutant at 4:54 AM on March 2

I'm in the U.S., so can't answer your question specifically, and your vet is the one to talk to, of course.

Why am I replying at all then, the hive mind will ask? The answer is that there is a small risk of vaccine-associated sarcoma that has been linked to vaccination for feline leukemia. To my mind, this small risk would not preclude vaccinating your cats, if they are indeed at risk (this is where your vet comes in), but you might find of interest the current US recommendations that vaccines containing feline leukemia virus antigen (with or without other antigens, except rabies virus antigen) should be administered in the left hind leg as distally as practical, according to manufacturer's recommendation.

I mention this not to scare you, and not to say you should not vaccinate your cats (I'm a strong believer in vaccination in general), but just as another thing that you might want to discuss with your vet - i.e. where will they administer the shot, if they recommend that your cats need it.

See the Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force Vaccine Site Recommendations.
posted by gudrun at 7:36 AM on March 2

According to their Vaccination and Healthcare booklet they have been vaccinated with Fevaxyn Pentofel. Just received the 1 year booster. So it looks like they have received protection for FLV. What else except flees should we be aware of if we would let a stray in?
posted by Mrs Mutant at 10:50 AM on March 2 [1 favorite]

D'oh! - should have asked my wife before I asked Metafilter. Chat later.
posted by Mutant at 11:03 AM on March 2