Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program Director Dr. Julie Levy is coordinating a national survey to collect test results from animal shelters and veterinary clinics that perform feline testing with the SNAP Triple test for FeLV/FIV/HW. Please consider registering to send in your results so that shelter pets are well-represented.

This survey will be a follow-up for a similar study we published in 2006 (see abstract below) and will provide information on national prevalence of heartworm in cats for the first time.

Unfortunately, test kits cannot be provided, so we are hoping you will report results for tests that you plan to run anyway. IDEXX will provide some product credits proportional to the number of results submitted.

To request more information about study participation, please complete the enrollment form.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

2006 Feb 1;228(3):371-376

Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity.

Levy JK, Scott HM, Lachtara JL, Crawford PC.

Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0126, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine seroprevalence of FeLV and FIV infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity.

DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional survey.

ANIMALS: 18,038 cats tested at 345 veterinary clinics (n=9,970) and 145 animal shelters (8,068) between August and November 2004. PROCEDURE: Cats were tested with a point-of-care ELISA for FeLV antigen and FIV antibody. A multivariable random effects logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors significantly associated with seropositivity while accounting for clinic-to-clinic (or shelter) variability.

RESULTS: 409 (2.3%) cats were seropositive for FeLV antigen, and 446 (2.5%) cats were seropositive for FIV antibody; 58 (0.3%) cats were seropositive for infection with both viruses. Multivariable analysis indicated that age, sex, health status, and cat lifestyle and source were significantly associated with risk of seropositivity, with adults more likely to be seropositive than juveniles (adjusted odds ratios [ORs], 2.5 and 2.05 for FeLV and FIV seropositivity, respectively), sexually intact adult males more likely to be seropositive than sexually intact adult females (adjusted ORs, 2.4 and 4.66), and outdoor cats that were sick at the time of testing more likely to be seropositive than healthy indoor cats (adjusted ORs, 8.89 and 11.3).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that certain characteristics, such as age, sex, health status, and lifestyle, are associated with risk of FeLV and FIV seropositivity among cats in North America. However, cats in all categories were found to be at risk for infection, and current guidelines to test all cats at the time of acquisition and again during illness should be followed.