Is cat parvo on rise?

There’s been talk where we live in the north of England of an upsurge of cases of a virus disease in cats called parvo. I thought this was a dog disease. Is this anything to worry about? Our two fiveyear-old cats were fully vaccinated as kittens but not since.

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Three national animal charities, the Blue Cross, Cats Protection and the RSPCA have just recently advised vets that they have seen an increase in feline panleukopenia cases across the Midlands and north of England.

Panleukopenia means low white cell blood count, which isa characteristic of the virus. With inadequate white cells the immune system cannot fight infections.

The disease was originally called feline infectious enteritis, and now more commonly feline parvovirus.

The virus is closely related to parvovirus in dogs, and there is also a variant in dogs called canine parvovirus type 2 which can infect cats.

It is a particularly unpleasant, highly fatal disease. The cases I have seen were profoundly depressed, with gastrointestinal signs, a high temperature, dehydration, and in kittens, sudden death.