Cat health question Coronavirus

kaikrishna1111

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Hi everyone. A woman in town is giving away her bengals because they are too energetic for her small apartment. One of the cats have had coronavirus and it ran it's course. It is my understanding that once a cat has coronavirus they are always a carrier, is that right? How much of a concern is this to my other cats? My cats have been vaccinated but my kitten is not through his series for another month, and we have ferals on the land that cannot be vaccinated.
 

gardenandcats

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Feline coronavirus (FoCV) is a virus that causes mild symptoms in most cats. In rare instances (1%) it can lead to a condition called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Not all cats with feline corona virus get FIP, but for those who do, it is a devastating condition and the leading infectious cause of cat death. FIP is almost always fatal. The virus works by infecting the white blood cells. The infection is spread from cat to cat who are in close contact.

The virus appears at least 2 weeks after infection. Most cats when exposed to not contract the disease. If your cat has a mild form of the virus they will exhibit symptoms such as runny nose or discharge from the eyes and then recover.

Even if your cat recovers they could still be a carrier that could possibly infect other cats. The virus can survive up to 7 weeks in dried up cat feces and is mostly seen in multicat households.
 

ldg

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To put it another way, the coronavirus is one of the leading cause of colds.

In very few cats, it can mutate and cause FIP, but this is rare.
 
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