Feline Leukemia - Signs, Symptoms and Treatment    • Font size:
• A   • A   • A  Tess Thompson  Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is
a retrovirus, meaning that it can transcribe its RNA into a
c-DNA provirus and incorporate the same into the cells it has
infected. It is a virus that affects only cats and is a threat
to all cats worldwide. It is possible that an infected cat may
halt the disease in its first stage by itself, but once it
progresses to the second stage, the disease it is often fatal.
It is common for many cats not to show any symptoms in the early
stage of the disease. If some symptoms do manifest themselves,
these are usually blood disorders, low fever, enlarged lymph
nodes and general sickness. Anemia, tumors, leukemia and other
forms of feline cancer usually develop in the second stage.
Leukemia is a malignant neoplasm of blood-forming tissues
characterized by abnormal proliferation of white blood cells to
the extent that it hampers their normal immune functions. The
second stage of infection