Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Diseases linked to feline leukemia virus in cats in southern Brazil
By Pandolfo, Gustavo Willian et al.·Published in Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases·2024·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases associated with feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) in cats in southern Brazil.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats in southern Brazil was found to have a high rate of diseases linked to feline leukemia virus (FeLV), with over half testing positive for the virus. The most common health issues in these FeLV-positive cats were types of cancer, specifically leukemia and lymphoma. Younger male mixed-breed cats were particularly affected. Understanding these associations is crucial for improving prevention and treatment strategies for FeLV in cats.
People also search for: cat leukemia symptoms · feline leukemia treatment · lymphoma in cats · FeLV positive cat care · cat cancer signs
Abstract
The objective of this study was to categorise diseases associated with FeLV infection in cats. A total of 154 cats were submitted to necropsy, histopathology exam and anti-FeLV immunohistochemistry (IHC), and 83 (50.9 %) were IHC FeLV-positive. The cats age means of 4.1 years, including 3.6 % kittens, 34.9 % junior, 37.4 % prime, 18.1 % mature, 2.4 % senior, 3.6 % unknown age. Neoplastic diseases were most prevalent with leukaemia and lymphoma being most predominant, followed by viral diseases, bacterial, trauma, degenerative, intoxications, parasitic, malformation and others. FeLV+ cats were 5.73 times more likely to be diagnosed with neoplasms than other diseases. The odds ratio (OR) of FeLV+ cats developing leukaemia (OR = 7.75) and lymphoma (OR = 6.75) was higher than other neoplasms. FeLV infection was more prevalent in the mixed breed, junior to prime, male, with neoplastic diseases, including leukaemia and lymphoma. Therefore, understanding the diseases associated with FeLV is of paramount importance in Brazil due to its high prevalence, and it may encourage the implementation of prophylactic measures to reduce its dissemination.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39151280/