Will Kitten Get Parvo

Symptoms range from fever severe dehydration diarrhea and vomiting.

Will kitten get parvo. Feline parvovirus is a virus that can cause severe disease in cats particularly kittens. It is actually a virus called panleukopenia but is sometimes called feline parvo because the symptoms are similar to the symptoms of canine parvo virus. You might have heard of feline parvovirus parvo referred to as panleukopenia or feline distemper fpv. It is highly contagious and cats should be vaccinated as kittens and have booster shots every year.

Kittens are more susceptible to parvo especially if exposed to an infected animal such as their mother. The parvo virus is tough. Cats can get parvo directly from contact with another cat who has it. Parvovirus can even affect unborn kittens while they are still in the womb.

While in dogs treatment of parvo consists of boosting the immune system until it can fight the infection in cats intravenous fluids and antibiotics are necessary even to give the cat a chance to survive. It can be fatal. Parvo in dogs and cats are different in the strain of virus with dogs having the potential to be exposed to two separate strains cpv 1 and cpv 2. People who handle an infected cat or an infected cat s bedding food or water dish can carry the virus to the next cat they handle.

The virus is extremely resilient and can survive in the environment for long periods of time. Cats are most susceptible as kittens from 4 to 12 weeks of age or even as unvaccinated adults. But parvo can also be transmitted by fleas that have fed off of an infected cat which is why it s very difficult to prevent your kitten from being exposed to this deadly disease. For example if a parvo outbreak in an animal shelter takes place there is the possibility of cross contamination.

Parvo in cats is different than the parvo virus that dogs get. They can also get it from contact with an infected cat s urine feces and nose secretions. While not the same as canine parvovirus it is referred to as parvo due to the similar symptoms. Cats can be infected by canine parvovirus cpv but the infection is subclinical i e not an issue so she should be fine to get a kitten.

So while it is uncommon yes cats can get parvovirus from dogs. The disease is also known as feline infectious enteritis fie and feline panleukopenia. Yes parvo in cats is transmissible to other unvaccinated cats. It is one of the deadliest viruses to cats.

Cats get feline distemper via the parvovirus. Cats get panleukopaenia virus fpv which is the feline version of parvo and is generally just as nasty.