Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Immunotherapy options for cats with feline leukemia virus infection
By McCaw, D L et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2001·Department of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Immunomodulation therapy for feline leukemia virus infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) received different treatments to see which helped their health the most. Some cats were treated with Staphylococcus protein A (SPA), while others received oral interferon alpha (IFN), or a saline solution as a control. Owners of cats treated with SPA noticed a significant improvement in their pets' health compared to those who received only saline. While the overall health measurements didn't show major differences, the subjective reports from owners suggest that SPA treatment made a positive impact on their cats' well-being.
People also search for: cat leukemia treatment · feline leukemia virus symptoms · Staphylococcus protein A for cats
Abstract
Clinically ill feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-infected cats, treated with Staphylococcus protein A (SPA) or oral interferon alpha (IFN), or both, were compared with cats treated with saline (SAL). Nine cats received SPA/SAL, nine received SPA/IFN, 10 received SAL/IFN, and eight received SAL/SAL. Twelve cats survived and completed the 100-week therapy. Significantly more owners of cats treated with SPA/SAL thought their cat's health improved during treatment compared to owners of cats treated with SAL/SAL (P=0.05, pair-wise comparison) or SPA/IFN (P=0.05, pair-wise comparison). No significant differences in body weight, temperature, hematocrit, red blood cell counts, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, reticulocyte counts, white blood cell or neutrophil numbers, lymphocyte concentrations, bone-marrow cytopathology, FeLV status, survival time, activity, or appetite scores were observed. No significant differences in the owners' subjective assessment of their cat's health following treatment with SAL/IFN, SPA/IFN, or SAL/SAL were seen. Therapy with SPA as a single agent results in the owners' subjective impression of improved health of their FeLV-infected cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11450836/