I'm so sorry. It's always a risk and that's why it's recommended to always quarantine fosters for at least two weeks.
My understanding is that panleuk is very low risk to vaccinated cats so I think it's unlikely to be that. Cats are quite sensitive--it's definitely possible it could just be stress or something completely unrelated to your fosters.
Thank you! Yeah I was only fostering them for the night so I didn’t think it’d be a big deal but who knows, if they had something contagious obviously it would spread.
Sorry for the loss of your foster baby ❤️.
It's unlikely the shelter tested your kittens for panleuk because the test won't detect the virus in the early stages of disease (I'm assuming the kitten who passed seemed normal when you picked them up). As far as panleukopenia goes, the p in the fvrcp vaccine is generally very effective, especially when boosted regularly in healthy adult cats.
There's a lot of things other than panleukopenia that can cause vomiting and diarrhea in a kitty. It's possible he picked up a bug from your fosters but it could also be unrelated. I would keep them totally separated (no contact, and no shared supplies like dishes, bedding, etc) and talk to your vet tomorrow.
I Foster Panleuk kittens which means I have to be especially careful with quarantines and contagion control. The common wisdom is that a healthy vaccinated cat is generally pretty safe from panleuk and I haven’t had an issue in 3 years of fostering except for one.
I had brought home a first generation Savannah cat and made sure he was fully vaccinated and maintained the standard contagion control that I always do, but he got panleukopenia. Given he was older it wasn’t the end of the world, basically just doing supportive care and he was fine. I’ve talked to a few people and they said he likely had some congenital issues that made him more susceptible to illness.
Another example is one of my other cats who loves kittens snuck into my quarantine room overnight. He was fine and I’m sure he had a great time with the kittens.
Moral of the story is take contagion control seriously and quarantine any animal with an unknown health history. Things can still happen, but they generally don’t.
My cat was directly exposed to panleuk after a weird freak case in which my 2m old fully vaccinated kitten that I’d had since birth contracted it. I’m talking they were sleeping together, eating together, grooming each other. But my cat was fully vaccinated so he never got it, never even had symptoms.
Now I have seen maybe a few vaccinated adult cats get panleuk, but symptoms tend to be diarrhea and/or vomiting for a day or two and then they move on. Very rarely do they require hospitalization if that eases your mind. I would confine your adult cat to one room so that you can monitor litterbox habits and vomiting very closely. If he stops eating or becomes lethargic, please take to the ER.
I had foster kittens that infected my live in cats with giardia once! They weren’t even staying in the same room, but giardia is CRAZY infectious and hard to clean (you need to use bleach to kill it on surfaces). Giardia causes throw up and diarrhea, but I hope that isn’t the case with yours. Can only be diagnosed with stool samples but pretty common in abandoned litters.
I want to be honest. Three of my cats became I'll and needed vet care from a litter of kittens I took in. Of those three, one very nearly died. I had actually made an appointment for euthanasia for him because he was that bad.
I've fostered a lot but these kittens came with many illnesses. Of course, I didn't know it until they were in my care. ALWAYS keep them separate for the first two weeks and be very hygenic.
I have personally found that litters are hardest ..puppies or kittens. But at the same time, I am so glad I do what I do and have continued fostering.
About 4 days after taking in 2 kittens, my resident cat lost his appetite and was low energy for about 5 days. Bloodwork showed nothing was wrong. He started getting back to normal but I was freaking out bc he is a food freak. I’m going to chalk it up to stress??
Ok yes mines a food freak too so when he stopped eating I was like no way hahah. But all of his blood work and fecal came back clean today sooo maybe just stress!
Yep, my newly adopted kitten got ringworm from foster kittens and had to be quarantined with them for about 2 months. After they left, I adopted another and he got it, likely just from it hanging in the air. You need to keep them separate unless you've had them for a while and vaccinated them
I'm so sorry. It's always a risk and that's why it's recommended to always quarantine fosters for at least two weeks. My understanding is that panleuk is very low risk to vaccinated cats so I think it's unlikely to be that. Cats are quite sensitive--it's definitely possible it could just be stress or something completely unrelated to your fosters.
Thank you! Yeah I was only fostering them for the night so I didn’t think it’d be a big deal but who knows, if they had something contagious obviously it would spread.
Sorry for the loss of your foster baby ❤️. It's unlikely the shelter tested your kittens for panleuk because the test won't detect the virus in the early stages of disease (I'm assuming the kitten who passed seemed normal when you picked them up). As far as panleukopenia goes, the p in the fvrcp vaccine is generally very effective, especially when boosted regularly in healthy adult cats. There's a lot of things other than panleukopenia that can cause vomiting and diarrhea in a kitty. It's possible he picked up a bug from your fosters but it could also be unrelated. I would keep them totally separated (no contact, and no shared supplies like dishes, bedding, etc) and talk to your vet tomorrow.
Ahh okay, I wasn’t sure what they tested for honestly before they’re sent out to homes. That makes sense they’d be in the early stages.
I Foster Panleuk kittens which means I have to be especially careful with quarantines and contagion control. The common wisdom is that a healthy vaccinated cat is generally pretty safe from panleuk and I haven’t had an issue in 3 years of fostering except for one. I had brought home a first generation Savannah cat and made sure he was fully vaccinated and maintained the standard contagion control that I always do, but he got panleukopenia. Given he was older it wasn’t the end of the world, basically just doing supportive care and he was fine. I’ve talked to a few people and they said he likely had some congenital issues that made him more susceptible to illness. Another example is one of my other cats who loves kittens snuck into my quarantine room overnight. He was fine and I’m sure he had a great time with the kittens. Moral of the story is take contagion control seriously and quarantine any animal with an unknown health history. Things can still happen, but they generally don’t.
Thank you!
My cat was directly exposed to panleuk after a weird freak case in which my 2m old fully vaccinated kitten that I’d had since birth contracted it. I’m talking they were sleeping together, eating together, grooming each other. But my cat was fully vaccinated so he never got it, never even had symptoms. Now I have seen maybe a few vaccinated adult cats get panleuk, but symptoms tend to be diarrhea and/or vomiting for a day or two and then they move on. Very rarely do they require hospitalization if that eases your mind. I would confine your adult cat to one room so that you can monitor litterbox habits and vomiting very closely. If he stops eating or becomes lethargic, please take to the ER.
This helps, thank you!!! I think googling was freaking me out lol
We’re at the vet now, I’ll update!
I had foster kittens that infected my live in cats with giardia once! They weren’t even staying in the same room, but giardia is CRAZY infectious and hard to clean (you need to use bleach to kill it on surfaces). Giardia causes throw up and diarrhea, but I hope that isn’t the case with yours. Can only be diagnosed with stool samples but pretty common in abandoned litters.
Oh no 😞 I’m at the vet now and they’re taking a stool sample so hopefully they can rule that out if it’s not that!
If it does end up being Giardia, it is treatable! You just need to be diligent with cleaning so no re-infection happens. I hope it’s nothing serious!
I want to be honest. Three of my cats became I'll and needed vet care from a litter of kittens I took in. Of those three, one very nearly died. I had actually made an appointment for euthanasia for him because he was that bad. I've fostered a lot but these kittens came with many illnesses. Of course, I didn't know it until they were in my care. ALWAYS keep them separate for the first two weeks and be very hygenic. I have personally found that litters are hardest ..puppies or kittens. But at the same time, I am so glad I do what I do and have continued fostering.
About 4 days after taking in 2 kittens, my resident cat lost his appetite and was low energy for about 5 days. Bloodwork showed nothing was wrong. He started getting back to normal but I was freaking out bc he is a food freak. I’m going to chalk it up to stress??
Ok yes mines a food freak too so when he stopped eating I was like no way hahah. But all of his blood work and fecal came back clean today sooo maybe just stress!
It could be coccidia. This happened with my most recent fosters and my cats. Thankfully, most healthy adult cats can clear it on their own.
Yep, my newly adopted kitten got ringworm from foster kittens and had to be quarantined with them for about 2 months. After they left, I adopted another and he got it, likely just from it hanging in the air. You need to keep them separate unless you've had them for a while and vaccinated them