Is feline distemper always fatal in 2 month old kittens?

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rred_@yahoo.com - 11 Nov 2006 22:42 GMT

Last week I got a 2 month old kitten from the Animal Welfare shelter. I
brought her in today with a stool sample because she was vomiting and
didn't seem to be eating much.

They told me she had feline distemper and that it's fatal. Long story
short they took her from me, I'm assuming to be euthanised. I resigned
myself to bad luck, but now in reading up on the disease it seems it's
only 75% fatal in kittens. If this is true I find it hard to accept
that the shelter is just killing her off. Does anyone know if her age
or perhaps some other circumstance could be the reason it's definitely
fatal for her? I had a crying 4 year old all the way home with me, and
I really hope we didn't go through this horrible experience
unnecessarily.

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Phil P. - 12 Nov 2006 00:19 GMT

> Last week I got a 2 month old kitten from the Animal Welfare shelter. I
> brought her in today with a stool sample because she was vomiting and
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> or perhaps some other circumstance could be the reason it's definitely
> fatal for her?

Panleukopenia is *not* definitely fatal. If its detected early and and the
kitten is put on fluid therapy and broad spectrum antibiotics for 5 to 7
days- just until the kitten's natural defenses kick in-- i.e., a rebound in
white blood cells and the kitten begins to develop virus neutalizing
antibodies, most kittens recover and go on to develop life-long immunity.

The reason why so many kittens die from this treachous virus is because many
shelters don't watch the kittens close enough or monitor their temperature
until the kittens start to look and act sick.

I had a crying 4 year old all the way home with me, and

> I really hope we didn't go through this horrible experience
> unnecessarily.

If its not too late- try to get your kitten back and take her to an
emergency clinic without any delay. A whole-blood transfusion from a cat
with a high titer to feline parvovirus might pull her through. Transfusions
has saved many a cat for me.

Good luck,

Phil

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