Feline panleucopenia (Feline infectious enteritis)

Your questions answered
What is panleucopenia?
Panleucopenia is a serious disease in cats. It is caused by a virus very similar to the one that causes 'parvo' infections in dogs. However, there is no risk of the disease spreading from cats to dogs, from dogs to cats, or to people.
How is the disease spread?
What are the signs of panleucopenia?
How do vets diagnose panleucopenia?
The disease can be difficult to detect in early cases. Your vet will probably suspect the disease from the clinical signs and the fact that your cat has not been vaccinated. Blood tests may show that the numbers of white blood cells have dropped to dangerously low levels. It is possible to identify the virus in the diarrhoea from affected cats but this is rarely done unless a lot of cats are at risk, (for example if the affected cat comes from a cattery). Measuring the level of antibodies in your cat's blood may also show that they have been infected.
Can panleucopenia be treated?
Can the disease cause long-term effects?
If a cat recovers from panleucopenia they are highly unlikely to catch the disease again. However, in some cases the gut is so badly damaged by the infection that it can never recover properly. Cats may occasionally have problems absorbing all the nutrition from their food after a severe infection, and may not put on weight or have persistent diarrhoea.
Can panleucopenia be prevented?
There is a vaccine that can prevent your cat catching panleucopenia. This vaccination is included in the annual injections given by your vet. If their mother is fully vaccinated, kittens will get some immunity from her in the milk. This immunity begins to wear off around 6-12 weeks of age. Unfortunately, the vaccine is not normally given until a kitten is 9 weeks old, and the kitten is not fully protected until after the second vaccination at around 12 weeks. There is a critical period where your kitten is very vulnerable to infection and, during this period, it is essential that your kitten does not come into contact with the virus. She should be kept in the house and away from other cats although if you have cats living in the house who are fully vaccinated and have had a recent booster vaccination, they should not pose too much of a risk.
Annual boosters are required to maintain protection and cats should have booster vaccinations before they get pregnant. Pregnant cats should not be given vaccines as this can cause defects in the kittens.