Expert: Ali - 9/8/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi Ali,

I recently got a kitten from the Humane's Society.  He was acting weird (depressed and lethargic) so I brought him to the vet.  He ended up having a fever and they did blood work.  The result came back with an infection and so he's on antibiotic right now to clear up the infection.  However, my other cat has come into contact with him before I discovered the infection.  Also, I'm trying to keep them separated until a couple days have gone by with the antibiotics, but my other cat keeps opening the bathroom door or playing with him under the door.  Is it always 100% that the infection will pass to my other cat???  The vet did not give me a straight answer and was just curious on how to continue with this.  Any help would be great!

ANSWER: Erin,

Ultimately I recommend that new cats be isolated from resident cats for a minimum of 2-3 weeks and that's when they don't have any visible signs of illness. I can't really answer your question properly and accurately without knowing a few things. For instance,has your new cat been tested for feline leukemia? FIV? What sort of infection does he have? I would highly recommend that you keep the two cats apart for now even if it means changing the room that the new guy is isolated in because there is always a chance that your cat can have an infection or serious illness passed on to him by a new cat. You need to be aware that there is some risk that your cat may acquire deadly viral infections like feline leukemia and FIV as well as any secondary viral/bacterial infections that come along with those issues. It's always best to play it safe, and I speak from personal experience of having a resident cat contract feline leukemia and having his immune system shut down as a result of me not properly isolating a new foster cat and preventing contact between the two cats. Hopefully with more details I can offer some better information, but your vet may not be able to give a "straight answer" if he/she isn't entirely sure what kind of infection your new friend has, how the infection originated or whether it was as a result of serious viral infections like feline leukemia and FIV which act similarly to HIV/AIDS in people.

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QUESTION: Thank you for the quick reply.  The new kitty has been tested for leukemia and FIV at the Humane's Society and it came out negative.  The vet I belive is unsure of what kind of infection it is, but I think it might be a good idea to bring my other cat in for blood work to ensure nothing passed onto him during their interaction.

Answer
Erin,

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to have your new kitty re-tested for feline leukemia and FIV as it doesn't always show up right away..I would also suggest that you check out the feline leukemia/FIV status of your resident cat as well. If the cats are both negative for the two viruses it's a good idea to speak with your vet and determine if the benefits outweigh the risks when it comes to vaccinating your two cats against feline leukemia. Another good thing to know regarding vaccines is that the University of Guelph has done some very interesting research regarding cycling of vaccines as they have managed to determine that annual vaccinations may actually play a part in cats ending up with auto-immune issues and kidney failure later in life...It's worth checking into on your own and then discussing the whole idea of cycling vaccines for your cats with your vet once you are up to date on the latest research as not all vets make it their business to keep themselves up to date on the latest research.