Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

psharlene · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 91 Location: Subang Jaya

My vet recommended that I get my cats (all 3 of them!) tested for leukimia and take the yearly anti-leukemia shots. Is leukemia common among cats? I take them for their yearly Vaccin. Now I am considering taking my cats for leukemia as well.

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Yes, FeLV (Feline Leukemia virus) are pretty common here. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this viral disease. All we can do, is to give supportive treatment and hope for the best. Therefore, in this case, prevention is always better than cure.

However, the vaccine is not necessarily 100% effective. And there is a chance that the vaccine might turn cancerous in the cat (chances are about 1 in 1000). But there is a way to overcome that - vaccinate in the leg area, and when cancer forms, amputate the leg. Sounds harsh, but better than letting the cat succumb to the cancer.

The best thing to do see if your cat is at risk first. You can get all your cats tested and then discuss with your vet on the risks of them getting this disease. If the risk is high, you might want to consider vaccinations.

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

Dr Nat wrote:
And there is a chance that the vaccine might turn cancerous in the cat (chances are about 1 in 1000).
Where do you get this figure? I think Vaccine Induced Sarcoma is much less than that.

Quote:
But there is a way to overcome that - vaccinate in the leg area, and when cancer forms, amputate the leg. Sounds harsh, but better than letting the cat succumb to the cancer.

If I am no mistaken, it only works when you give deep intramuscular injection of the Leukaemia vaccine. If SQ, forget about amputation because metastasis along the muscle fascia and subcutaneous tisse is so damn fast until you can be sure if you have remove enough tissue.

Paging for Dr Loh... May be he can give a good explanation on this.