Feline panleukopenia

[missyscove]

I was volunteering at the animal shelter and went to "wake up" a kitten so some people could see it only to discover it was actually really sick. Long story short, the kitten was euthanized and they made sure that I disinfected myself because the rvt believed the kitten had panleukopenia.
I tried to look this up and only found that dogs can't contract the disease. Does anyone know if rabbits can in any way? I would assume they can't if dog's can't, but I want to be safe.

I always shower and wash my clothes before touching my own pets after coming back from the shelter, but I don't usually come into contact with animals who are that sick.

 

[seniorcats]

The feline panleukopenia virus causes cat distemper and is only caused in cats. It can be prevented by vaccine. Canine distemper comes from a virus of the Candidae family and again dogs must be vaccinated against it to prevent it. The feline variety cannot be transmitted to dogs or rabbits. The dog variety caannot be transmitted to cats or rabbits.


Here is some other interesting information since so many people keep their rabbits outside where they may be exposed to raccoons. Rabbits can't get distemper from raccoons either.

Raccoons are susceptible to infection by both canine and feline distemper. Although they both can cause acute illness and death, they are caused by two completely different viruses. Canine Distemper is a a highly contagious disease of carnivores caused by a virus that affects animals in the families Canidae, Mustelidae and Procyonidae. Canine distemper is common when raccoon populations are large. The virus is widespread and mortality in juveniles is higher than in adults. Feline distemper, also called feline panleukopenia, catplague, cat fever, feline agranulocytosis, and feline infectious enteritis, is an acute, highly infectious viral disease affecting members of the Felidae (cat), Mustelidae (weasel)and Procyonidae (coati and raccoon).

 

[missyscove]

Thanks. I did find something that mentioned raccoons and minks could get it.

It was the saddest thing to see, especially because the people I was helping basically wanted to look at every male kitten we had (we have a lot as it's "kitten season") and I saw the card said it was a male and thought to myself, ooh, look at this cute one, then when I touched it I honestly thought it was dead at first, then it moved just a bit. I think I might have been able to deal with it if I were alone or with other volunteers, but with members of the public in there I pretty much would have freaked out if it had already passed.
We used to have a cat, but my parents had him before they had kids and were always his caretakers, so I never really learned a lot about cat diseases.

RIP little one.