Panleukopenia Question About Shelter Cat

Hello follow cat lovers,

I was hoping to get some advice from you all about a very unique situation, specifically from those of you who have shelter cats.

I moved into an apartment with a new roommate who had a 1 and 1/2 year old male cat. One of the requirements of the apartment was that I adopt a companion cat for my roommates' cat since he was a very social cat.

I went to a highly reputable cat shelter and adopted a 4 month old kitten who was vaccinated/ fixed/ and tested negative for all diseases just 2 weeks before I took her home.

When I brought her home everything was going great and the two cats got along swimmingly, until they began sharing the litter box.

Once they began sharing the box, my roommates cat began hiding and acting stand-offish, I saw him vomit and immediately told my roommate to take her cat into the vet. Her cat was diagnosed with Panlukopenia and died two days later. 

It's been 3 weeks since her cat passed away. At first I was terrified that my kitten would also die from Panlukopenia, but she has survived and so far has shown no symptoms. I had her tested by a vet and they found nothing but a small fever and swollen glands, that was 2 weeks ago. My vet also informed me that cats can get false negatives and false positives for panlukopenia so I decided it wasn't worth the cost of the test since my cat has survived on her own, probably because she was vaccinated. (As it turns out my roommate did not keep her cat up to date on his shots, which probably didn't help.)

I have a few questions I would love some advice on

1. What happens to cats who survive Panlukopenia? (there are not many articles on this since survival is rare) Are they contagious forever? Will my kitten have a short life?

2. My boyfriend has 2 adult vaccinated cats, we are considering moving in together soon, can my cat get his cats sick? Will I have to find her a new home if I do move in with him and his cats?

3. My current roommate is talking about adopting another cat, but I know we can't have a cat in our apartment for a while since it is contaminated, how long is an apartment contaminated with this disease for?

4. IS THERE A POSSIBILITY THAT MY ROOMMATES CAT WAS JUST WEAK AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO SICKNESS SINCE HE WAS NOT VACCINATED AND MY CAT IS TOTALLY FINE? 

I have been emailing the shelter all of these questions, but they are ignoring me as they don't want anything to do with this since there is liability on their part.

DISCLAIMER: I had no clue my roommate's cat was not vaccinated, it wasn't until her cat passed away and I started digging further that she admitted to me that her cat had only had a rabies vaccine. She told me she was very knowledgeable of cats and recommended the shelter, as a first time cat owner I was counting on her to guide me through cat ownership and this has all been a nightmare. Any info would be great!

I am so sorry to hear about your roommate's cat.   This entire situation must be very confusing and scary for you.

1. If your cat is well, I see no reason to assume any long-term danger from being exposed to the virus. She is fully vaccinated which in all probability saved her life. The exposure to the virus was just another booster to her immunity (not that she needed that).

2. Yes! Please have your boyfriend vaccinate his cats asap. You don't have to find her a new home but you need to get his cats vaccinated, and here's why. The panleukopenia virus is very hardy. It can survive for long periods of time in the environment and infect via fomites. Fomites, basically means everything. Every surface, clothes, your or your boyfriend's hands. Until he gets his cats vaccinated and for at least 2-3 weeks after that (it takes a while for the immunity to be generated) please make sure both of you change your clothes and wash your hands after visiting your apartment and before visiting his.

3.  Do not bring any unvaccinated cats into the apartment. You have to thoroughly disinfect, or better still, get rid of, anything the sick cat was in contact with. Food dishes, litterboxes, cat beds, all has to go. Then you have to keep disinfecting the apartment and even then, I would not bring any unvaccinated cat into the apartment for at least a year. Better safe than sorry, this virus can hang around in the environment for a very long time.

4. Feline distemper/panleukopenia is such an aggressive disease. The survival chances of kittens are low. A healthy 1.5 yo cat should fair better but even then many of these cats do not withstand the attack of the virus. This virus is a bit like the measles virus, in that it attacks the immune system directly and opens the door to nasty secondary infection. It can also just kill on its own. It's entirely possible that her cat was healthy to begin with but just got hit really bad by the virus. Not being vaccinated was definitely his weak point though   No vaccination is 100% effective but not being vaccinated leaves a cat entirely open for an attack by this awful disease. 

Thank you so much for all of your help!

I will make sure to remind all of my friends who have cats to vaccinate their cats and be cautious after visiting my apartment. 

We have vaccinated my boyfriends cats and are hoping for the best for my kitten as well.

My roommate was thinking of adopting again but I will advise her against that until a year has passed in the apartment. 

We are also doing weekly bleach cleanings of the apartment.

Thanks again!

If she gets a fully vaccinated adult cat it should be OK. But definitely no unvaccinated or partially vaccinated cats or kittens. This is the usual recommendation for people who have had a puppy die from parvo. . .and panleuk is a form of parvovirus. There's probably more info about parvo than panleuk, so you can look up tips for cleaning after parvovirus and how long the incubation period is, etc.

Panleuk is extremely hearty and can live on for 18 months, even up to 2 years. If an infected cat pees on grass, it gets down in to the seed and despite cold winter weather, comes back up in the spring again. VERY hearty.

What a tragedy that a vaccine could have prevented the cat's death! I just don't understand why so many irresponsible people in our world......

Clearly your kitten was vaccinated prior to exposure from the shelter, whew for that!

I wouldn't say your kitten is a survivor of panleuk, I'd say she never got it at all, only carried it on her fur from the shelter.

It's is very difficult to thoroughly clean a contaminated home, next to impossible in my opinion, the cats have been all over that house. Besides that bleach is not 100% effective against parvo and panleuk, only Accel and Trifectant, and a couple others that claim to be.

I use trifectant.

One tiny crumb of litter in a crack is enough to keep it active. Furniture, clothing, all fomites (fabric/absorbent items) can not be disinfected thoroughly.

The only real way of guaranteeing that no more get it, is to not allow ANY cats/kittens in your home for a full 2 years who are not vaccinated, this means 1 week after a kitten's 2nd vaccine and 1 week after an adult has had a recent vaccine.

Kittens actually get a series of 3, but UC Davis convinced me that a kitten is protected after it's 2nd vaccine has a chance to do it's job, about a week later.

The FVRCP vaccine is recommended for all cats because of the high likely hood of being exposed to the virus. Here's an excerpt from Purina's website:

"Panleukopenia  is also known as distemper and is easily spread from one cat to another. Distemper is so common that nearly all cats—regardless of breed or living conditions—will be exposed to it in their lifetime. It’s especially common in kittens who have not yet been vaccinated against it, and symptoms include fever, vomiting and bloody diarrhea. This disease progresses rapidly and requires immediate medical attention. Without intervention, a cat can die within 12 hours of contracting the disease."

Your roommate's cat's death was an unfortunate accident that could have been prevented had she paid the $20 for the shot... Very sad, but you are not responsible for how your roommate cares for their cat... 

Your boyfriend's cats will be fine since they are vaccinated. They already have antibodies for it. Just make sure all 3 cats continue to get their yearly boosters...

Whatever new kitty your roommate adopts, just make sure they are vaccinated and their immune system has had a bit of time to build up the antibodies. Depending on when the new cat was vaccinated, just ask at the time of adoption how long immunity takes to build up. You can explain the situation and express your concern that they will be exposed to the PanL virus and want to make sure this new cat will not suffer an ill fate. They should have a vet on staff that can confirm immunity periods. One week, like the others posted, sounds fair.

Yes, and just to add the reminder if it is a kitten, that he/she has had AT LEAST 2 consecutive (3-4 weeks apart) vaccines, at least a week prior to bringing it home.

Personally I'd go for at least a teenaged cat who's vaccinated.

Kittens are just SO susceptible.