2018 Volume 71 Issue 10 Pages 577-580
We examined the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) antibodies, feline leukemia virus (FeLV) antigens, and feline coronavirus (FCoV) antibodies in 140 ownerless kittens at 3‐4 weeks of age (first test) and at 4‐31 weeks later (second test). Thirty-one (91.2%) of the 34 cats that were FIV positive in the first test were negative in the second test, while of 94 that tested FIV negative in the first test were also negative in the second test. These results suggest that the risk of FIV infection is low during the juvenile period. As for FCoV infection, 18 (14.0%) of the 129 cats that were found to be negative in the first test were positive in the second test, demonstrating that FCoV infection is possible during the juvenile period. Meanwhile, 9 (81.8%) of the 11 cats that were found to be FCoV-positive in the first test were negative in the second test. These results indicate that some early weaned cats may have had maternal antibodies to FCoV in the first test, which may have decreased below a detectable level in the second test. For FeLV, all cats were negative in both the first and second tests. To understand the epidemiology of feline viral infectious diseases in more detail, the targets of the survey should be expanded to a variety of cat groups.
