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Overcoming Panleukopenia

Panleukopenia, also known as feline distemper, is a life-threatening and highly contagious virus. While preventable through vaccination, it commonly impacts young kittens who are unvaccinated or undervaccinated. Left untreated, more than 90% of affected kittens sadly lose their lives.

This virus is particularly dangerous because it can linger in the environment for up to a year, continuing to infect future litters of kittens. For this reason, many foster parents choose to take a break from fostering after experiencing an outbreak. However, with proper quarantine measures and thorough disinfection, it’s entirely possible to continue fostering safely!

Here’s everything you need to know about kittens with panleukopenia, how to care for them them, and how to disinfect your space to keep future fosters safe.

Learn Everything You Need to Know in my 30 minute Tutorial on Panleukopenia:

What is Panleukopenia?

Panleukopenia targets rapidly dividing cells, making a kitten’s white blood cells particularly vulnerable. White blood cells are critical for the immune system’s ability to fight off infections, so when the virus attacks these cells, the kitten’s immune system becomes severely compromised—and kittens are much more susceptible to secondary bacterial infections that can be fatal.

In addition to compromising the immune system, the panleukopenia virus wreaks havoc on the digestive system by attacking the lining of the intestines. This results in inflammation and damage to the gastrointestinal tract, leading to symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, which cause rapid fluid loss and severe dehydration that can threaten their lives.

Symptoms of Panleukopenia

Kitten caregivers should assess the kittens’ physical health daily, and intervene right away if symptoms of panleukopenia are noted.

Lethargy is marked by a sudden change in energy and demeanor; the kitten may appear low-energy, exhausted, tired, or listless, and may be laying down and unwilling to play, eat, or engage in normal activities.

Diarrhea may be liquid, soft-formed, or mucousy, sometimes with blood. Diarrhea is extremely dehydrating for kittens.

Vomiting and nausea may be clear liquid, stomach bile, or food. This, along with diarrhea, can cause life-threatening dehydration.

Loss of Appetite is very common, and kittens with panleukopenia may refuse food, causing rapid loss of weight and body mass.

Fever or Low Body Temperature are both common, as kittens may initially spike a fever, then develop hypothermia as the virus progresses.

Dehydration sets in quickly for kittens with panleukopenia, and must be managed right away.

Neurological symptoms such as wobbling, seizures and tremors are less common, but possible.

Diagnosing Panleukopenia

Panleukopenia is often diagnosed using a parvo SNAP test, but results can be inconclusive or even show false negatives. A more accurate way to diagnose is a PCR test, though results take several days and can also be affected by recent vaccinations. Because of the seriousness of this virus, there should be no delay in care while you await test results; if kittens are symptomatic, begin your isolation and supportive care measures immediately.

Ensure that Resident Animals are Vaccinated

It’s always a good idea to ensure that your resident cats are up-to-date on their FVRCP vaccines, which provide protection against rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia. Of course, timely vaccination is especially important when fostering kittens, as these diseases are much more likely to enter your home when working with sickly little kittens.

If your cat is up-to-date on her FVRCP vaccines, that’s great! Don’t stress—but do keep them away from the kittens regardless.

Supporting Kittens with Panleukopenia

There is no single treatment for panleukopenia—rather, treatment generally involves symptom management. Talk to your veterinarian or foster coordinator for guidance, as treatment protocol will vary by case and by organization.

In general, treatment tends to include some combination of the following:

• Subcutaneous Fluids: Because of the fluid loss inherent with this virus, subcutaneous fluids are essential to keep the kittens hydrated. In severe cases, kittens may need to be hospitalized and placed on an IV.

• Anti-nausea Medication: Cerenia is commonly prescribed to control nausea and vomiting, helping kittens retain fluids and food.

• Antibiotics: A broad-spectrum antibiotic, such as Clavamox, is often recommended to prevent or treat secondary infections that kittens with compromised immune systems are susceptible to. Metronidazole is another antibiotic that may be recommended to help control diarrhea.

• Antihelmintics: Because parasites can significantly worsen in kittens with compromised immune systems, anti-parasitic drugs like Pyrantel and Fenbendazole are often included in their care.

• Acid Reducer: Protocol may include an acid reducer such as famotidine to help prevent stomach ulcers and manage the gastrointestinal symptoms caused by the virus.

• Pain Management: Some veterinarians may recommend medication to reduce pain associated with panleukopenia symptoms.

• Appetite Stimulants: Many panleukopenia kittens stop eating, which can further complicate their recovery. Appetite stimulants like Mirataz can help encourage them to eat again.

• Antivirals and Immune Support: In some cases, medications like Tamiflu (an antiviral) or Neupogen (which stimulates the production of white blood cells) may be recommended to boost the kitten’s immune system and fight the virus.

• Supplements: Kittens may benefit from B12 shots, probiotics, and high-calorie supplements during this time.

• Special Food: Because kittens often refuse regular food, you may need to offer highly palatable options like chicken baby food. While not a complete diet, it can sustain them through the worst of their illness.

The critical period for panleukopenia typically lasts 3-7 days, during which kittens require constant care and monitoring. Kittens will have the greatest likelihood of survival if supportive care measures begin quickly—as soon as symptoms are noticed.

Quarantine Your Kittens

Panleukopenia is not only deadly, but it’s also a highly contagious and extremely hardy virus that can survive in the environment for up to a year. The virus is present in the kittens’ secretions and excretions during illness, and can be spread not only through direct contact with infected kittens, but also through contaminated surfaces, known as fomites. Objects like bedding, litter boxes, food bowls, and even your hands, clothes, and resident animals can carry the virus to other areas of your home, where viral particles can live for a year and continue to threaten future kittens.

All new foster kittens should undergo a minimum 2 week quarantine period regardless of their health status, as panleukopenia can incubate for 3-14 days. This means that even if they seem healthy, they can develop symptoms days later if they were exposed to the virus before entering your home. To avoid problems, keep all new-to-you kittens confined to a designated space and maintain strict hygiene practices for at least 14 days. Do not allow them to roam freely in your home, especially not on porous surfaces like carpets that are hard to disinfect.

If a kitten shows symptoms of panleukopenia, isolate them immediately and increase your isolation protocol.

To isolate your kittens during a panleukopenia outbreak:

• Keep kittens contained to one space, such as a bathroom or playpen.

• If your flooring is porous (ie: wood, carpet), use a tarp or plastic sheet under your playpen to completely protect the floor from contamination.

• Keep kittens completely separate from resident animals and kittens who haven’t been exposed.

• Only expose kittens to toys and enrichment items that are able to be easily disinfected, or that can be thrown away. For disposable enrichment, try cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, or even some fun DIY cat toys.

• Use disposable litter boxes and clean or toss them as often as possible to reduce the amount of fecal particles in your space.

• Use gloves, booties, and a designated smock or outfit while interacting with the kittens and their items.

• Tie up your hair and avoid dangling jewelry and accessories.

• Minimize contact with other items such as your phone, glasses, keys.

• Wash hands thoroughly after touching kittens or their contaminated space/items.

• Vigilantly clean and disinfect all areas and items that are contaminated.

Continue to isolate kittens for at least 14-21 from the time of diagnosis, as they can continue to shed the virus in their stool even after they are feeling better.

Cleaning and Disinfecting After Panleukopenia

After dealing with panleukopenia, proper cleaning and disinfection are critical to ensure your space is safe for future kittens. Once the kittens are at least 14-21 days from their initial diagnosis, it’s time to do your big deep disinfection!

Prepare the Space

• Remove the kittens, placing them in a secure area like a playpen or bathtub, while you disinfect.

• Open windows, turn on fans, and consider wearing a mask to avoid inhaling disinfectant fumes.

Gather Supplies

You’ll need:

• Broom and mop (with tossable heads)

• Spray bottle and/or garden sprayer

• Scrubbing tools such as a sponge, scrub brush, toothbrush and paint scraper

• Gloves

• Booties

• A protective smock (or special outfit you’ll thoroughly launder and disinfect immediately after)

• Dish soap and hot water

• Disinfectant proven to kill panleukopenia, such as Rescue Disinfectant (1:16 dilution) or liquid bleach (1:32 dilution)

Note that there are three kinds of Rescue Disinfectant, each with their own instructions:

Throw Away Contaminated Porous Items

Porous items like throw rugs, upholstery, cat beds, fluffy blankets, cat trees, cloth playpens, scratchers, plastic litter boxes, and certain toys can be challenging or impossible to decontaminate if exposed to panleukopenia. Unfortuantely, you will likely want to toss these items.

If a porous item is contaminated and cannot be removed, such as your carpet, you will need to take extreme precaution to thoroughly clean and disinfect it by vacuuming, renting a high quality carpet cleaner, and steam cleaning with disinfectant before introducing more kittens to the space.

Important: if you cannot ensure that you’ve properly disinfected your kitten area, please do not introduce a kitten to the space for at least 1 year.

Clean First

Cleaning must take place before disinfecting. Cleaning refers to the process of physically removing dirt, debris, and organic material (like food, waste, or bodily fluids) from surfaces. This step doesn’t kill all viral particles, but it reduces the number of contaminants on a surface, making it easier for disinfectants to do their job effectively.

To clean:

• Remove visible debris from the contaminated items, floor, playpen, walls, tables, and other surfaces using your broom, scrub brushes, and mop. Be especially cautious about areas where particles can hide, such as in corners, on the sides of the wall, in the seams of playpens, between bars on kennels, etc.

• Once no visible material remains, scrub all items and areas thoroughly with hot, soapy water.

Disinfect Second

Now that your physical area and items look sparkly and new, it’s time to kill the virus once and for all.

To disinfect:

• Check that your disinfectant is labeled to kill parvoviruses like panleukopenia—such as Rescue Disinfectant or liquid bleach.

• Mix your disinfectant according to the instructions (for Rescue concentrate: mix at 1:16)

• Fully saturate all surfaces and items using your garden sprayer or spray bottle.

• Allow the disinfectant to sit for the minimum contact time indicated on the bottle.

• After the contact time, you may wipe surfaces clean.

• Repeat the process to ensure thorough disinfection.

Note that high heat can have an added benefit in your disinfection journey. Items that can be placed into the dishwasher on high heat, boiled, steam sanitized, run through a sanitizing cycle in your dryer, or steam cleaned will benefit from this additional step.

Bathe the Kittens

Once your space is disinfected, bathe the kittens with warm soapy water to remove lingering viral particles before placing them back inside. Congratulations—you’ve disinfected your space and your isolation protocol is complete!

After adoption day, it’s recommended to do one more disinfection cycle before bringing home new kittens. That’s always a good idea, regardless!

After Panleukopenia

Once your home is fully disinfected, it’s safe to continue fostering—just be sure to follow great biosecurity protocols moving forward so that if (and when!) this happens again, it’s as easy as possible to handle. Quarantine new kittens for at least two weeks, avoid introducing porous items during quarantine, disinfect regularly, and monitor and assess all future kittens closely.

In Summary…

• Follow veterinary guidance for treatment and supportive care.

• Isolate kittens showing symptoms immediately.

• Reduce transmission via fomite by limiting contact.

• Toss porous items.

• Clean your space thoroughly.

• Disinfect completely—times two.

• Continue fostering with confidence!

Dealing with panleukopenia is tough, but with knowledge and careful practice, you can continue fostering and saving lives. Every case teaches us something new, and with every recovery, you’re making a difference for these vulnerable kittens.

You’ve got this!

Prefer to watch a video? Click the timestamp to Skip to the Section:

00:00 Intro

00:50 Video Summary

1:19 Do You Have to Stop Fostering?

2:58 What is Panleukopenia?

3:46 Diagnosing Panleukopenia

4:29 Panleukopenia Vaccination

5:03 Supporting Sickly Kittens

8:19 How Panleukopenia Spreads

9:03 Fomite Roleplay!

13:37 Why Panleuk is So Hard to Disinfect

14:33 Why to Quarantine All Kittens

15:26 Isolation Protocol for Panleuk Kittens

17:53 How Long to Isolate

19:18 Cleaning & Disinfecting After Panleukopenia

27:51 Hooray--All Better!

29:06 Final Thoughts

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