Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 8/29/2011

Question
QUESTION: We have taken in stray kittens and we have just found out that one of our cats has lymphoma. The kittens are in the garage and our cat is in the house. What type of precautions should we take in addition to throwing all clothing that we wear around the kittens immediately into the washing machine and removing our shoes before coming into the house? The kittens will be picked up by a local feral animal group to be fostered within the next couple of days. We have cleaned the shoes with a bleach disinfectant cleaner before bringing them into the house and will bleach the area where they have been in the garage when they leave. Is there any other precautions that we can take?

ANSWER: Lymphoma is usually found in older cats. It is a manifestation of leukemia. These kittens probably have leukemia, which is still a virus and still contagious.

However, it is a pretty friable virus (fragile) and is easily killed in the environment. Cats pass it on to each other from mutual grooming, drinking out of community water bowls, bites, breeding and as these kittens probably have it, from the infected mother at birth.

Any kittens with leukemia should be tested twice and if the second, later test still shows positive they should be euthanized. It is not feasible and I feel cruel to adopt a kitten out with a fatal disease. It's not even ethical!

As long as your cat is current on his/hers leukemia vaccinations, is kept inside away from these kittens and is generally healthy, he/she should be protected. Just remember that no vaccine is ever 100% effective due to many factors.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't very clear. The stray kittens are fine - it's our 13.5 year old cat who has the lymphoma.

The kittens should be picked up in a few days to be fostered elsewhere and get their shots and spaying/neutering done.

We're trying to find out what we should be doing in addition to changing/immediately washing our clothes and showering as soon as we come in from tending to the kittens. We have cleaned the bottoms of our shoes with a bleach solution and as soon as the kittens have gone, we will be spraying the areas where they were with bleach.

Is there anything else we can be doing to keep our older cat from catching anything that the kittens may have? There seems to be no indication that they have an upper respiratory infection or anything else, but since they don't have their shots yet, we just don't know.

We want to make sure our kitty lives as long as he possibly can with a good quality of life. When the time comes, as our vet has assured us that this is terminal, we will then have to make that difficult decision, but certainly want to protect him as much as we can right now and not make him sicker.

Answer
Ah! Well that makes a lot more sense now!

You are doing everything you can and they will probably be fine. But you should be more worried about carrying the virus from HIM to them.

If they are not sick now they are probably not harboring anything that he will catch, but they can get his virus. So do it both ways, the bleaching etc.

Like I said, it's not a very hardy virus outside of the body, (unlike parvo) and has been found to die rather fast in the air.

So just use caution, wash your hands well both ways and wear gloves if you can when you handle the babies.

I hope that your cat lives a long time. It sounds to me like you are already giving him the best life that you can. Good for you. :-)