It depends on which virus the cat has. With calicivirus, they can elmininate it completely and are not then infectious to other cats (although they can still get infected again at a later date, as there are many different strains of the virus) With herpes, they become infected for life, however they may never actually shed the virus again and so would never infect other cats. OTOH some herpes infected cats can shed virus when stressed. e.g. when a queen has kittens. There's no way to tell between these 2 groups
it's about 50-50 as to whether a herpes cat ever sheds virus again after initial infection.
vaccination for calici and herpes is not 100% effective, only around 60%, so vaccinated cats can still be infected although it should only be a mild infection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spid
If a young kitten is diagnosed with cat flu and then gets better and is consequently vaccinated against it every year do they or are they then able to pass the virus on to other cats or are they safe?  |