The Feline Coronavirus

by Mewsette

You have probably heard of FECV, or Feline Enteric Coronavirus. This is a common and benign virus that can settle in cats' intestines. It's a specifically feline virus; no other species can get it. Cats infected with the virus seem just fine, and in most cases they are. But this is the virus that can mutate into a virulent form and cause a fatal disease known as FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis. FIP is mostly a problem in cats from shelters or purebred catteries.

FECV causes inflammation of the intestine, or enteritis. However, the disease is so mild that it rarely produces symptoms (such as fever and vomiting) or makes a cat sick. The virus is shed in the feces of an infected cat, usually for a few months and then it stops, but a few healthy cats are FECV carriers who never stop shedding it. You could be infected and not know it unless you were tested for the virus. There is a test called a PCR test, which is not the same as an FIP test. The test is expensive and difficult (requiring fecal tests 7 days in a row), often gives inaccurate results, and is rarely done. A blood test may also be done, and the result should show absolutely no antibodies to FECV if you are not a carrier of the virus. Antibodies in the blood indicate exposure to FECV or FIP, but there are no differences in them to indicate which.

The coronavirus is not only difficult to detect, it's difficult to manage, because it's so contagious. In a household of several cats, there's a good chance one or another is shedding the virus at any time. It may be getting passed around and cats getting reinfected because they don't develop immunity, with none of then getting sick! The virus travels between rooms on our fur, on clothes, shoes, even in dust and through the ventilation system. Controlling or eliminating it isn't possible in most homes; it's very hard to get rid of. If any cats are going outdoors, they could easily be exposed to FECV and nobody would know. There is less likelihood of this with fewer cats, and of course less if they stay indoors.

The current vaccine is about 50 percent effective at best and only when cats are at least 16 weeks old and have not previously been exposed to FECV. Since most cats at risk for FECV are from catteries and shelters, and all of these kittens are exposed to FECV before 16 weeks (some as early as 5 weeks old), the current vaccine just isn't going to help much.

When new cats comes into your home from a shelter or cattery, it may be worthwhile for them to have the PCR fecal test done for a few days or a blood test, to be as sure as you can that the newcomer is free of the coronavirus. Otherwise, you could be exposed without even knowing about it. But there is so little real protection, and so few cats that actually get sick from it, this may be why it's rarely done.

Should you worry about FECV, since there is little you can do about it? Well, we should know that FIP becomes a real possibility in a large group of cats. The statistics I found are: The FECV infection rate in homes with five or more cats is 100 percent, and about 2 to 5 percent of those kitties get FIP. In homes with four or fewer cats, there's a 20 to 50 percent infection rate, and FIP develops in less than 1 in 200 of these cats.

There are some suggestions for controlling the spread of the virus: In a large group of cats (five or more), you can keep FECV levels lower by keeping the cats' surroundings and possessions as clean as possible and even separating the cats into smaller, isolated groups. Wash litter boxes and food and water bowls frequently with soap and hot water, and periodically rinse them in a bleach solution. Hopefully this sort of vigilance will help, and I'm sure it is practiced in many shelters. It goes without saying that breeders should stop using any cat who sires or gives birth to a litter in which kittens develop FIP. Hopefully most of them do stop, but I also know some do not.

In closing, I think it's important for us to know these things about the coronavirus, but not much use for us to worry about it unless there is some good reason we should. I hope you never have a reason to worry at your house!