Visiting a FeLV positive cat?

Got a friend who just got a FeLV positive cat, and want to confirm the
precautions I think I should take to keep our FeLV negative cats safe.

If I visit him and play with his cat, I figure I should be able to wash my
hands (or whatever other body parts/clothes he touches) when I get back
home in order to not spread the virus to our cats. I did some googling
and saw that the virus doesn't live long outside the cat (in a dry-ish
environment), so I just wanted to make sure that I was doing the right
thing - I don't want to go overboard and take a bleach shower :-), nor do
too little. Thanks for answers....

brian
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"Brian Beuchaw" wrote in message
...
Got a friend who just got a FeLV positive cat, and want to confirm the
precautions I think I should take to keep our FeLV negative cats safe.

If I visit him and play with his cat, I figure I should be able to wash my
hands (or whatever other body parts/clothes he touches) when I get back
home in order to not spread the virus to our cats. I did some googling
and saw that the virus doesn't live long outside the cat (in a dry-ish
environment), so I just wanted to make sure that I was doing the right
thing - I don't want to go overboard and take a bleach shower :-), nor do
too little. Thanks for answers....

brian

The risks of your cats becoming infected with FeLV carried into your home by
you is less than their risk of getting hit by a B-52 in the Lincoln Tunnel.

FeLV is a fragile virus and doesn't survive for very long outside the body.
Also, it takes a lot of FeLV to overcome the cat's natural immune system.
Thus effective transmission of the virus from cat to cat requires prolonged,
moist, intimate contact or a bite wound - when a large dose of virus is
injected directly into the body.

I've worked with FeLV+ cats on almost a daily basis for more than 20 years
and I can say with absolute certainty, none of my cats have ever become
infected - the only preventative hygiene I usually practice before comming
home is simply washing my hands - and that's only because I also clean about
45 litter boxes!

You might want to ask your friend to adopt another FeLV+ cat to keep his cat
company.

Phil

Brian Beuchaw wrote:
Got a friend who just got a FeLV positive cat, and want to confirm
the
precautions I think I should take to keep our FeLV negative cats
safe.

If I visit him and play with his cat, I figure I should be able to
wash my
hands (or whatever other body parts/clothes he touches) when I get
back
home in order to not spread the virus to our cats. I did some
googling
and saw that the virus doesn't live long outside the cat (in a
dry-ish
environment), so I just wanted to make sure that I was doing the
right
thing - I don't want to go overboard and take a bleach shower :-),
nor do
too little. Thanks for answers....

brian

FWIW, I don't think there is much risk to your kitties from third-party
transmission. I used to remove my clothing after working at the vet,
and wash my hands and arms well, if I was unable to shower for some
reason. But I worked with all sorts of nasties. FeLV is pretty hard
to transmit.

-L.

Just wanted to say thanks to both of y'all for answering. I figured that
I really didn't have to go to extraordinary lengths to keep our cats safe,
but was just thinking of a worst possible case (FeLV cat gets saliva on my
shirt or hands, I don't notice, it stays wet, our cats get stupid and lick
my hands/shirt, ....). Definitely a "wash my hands" situation, but it
doesn't sound like it needs much more than that....

brian
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