Kitten falls victim to latest vaccination crisis

05 September 2019

A tiny eight-month-old kitten, named Mr Meowgi, is one heart-breaking example of a pet who fell victim to a deadly disease that could have been prevented by a simple vaccine.

Owner Alice Jackson from South Belfast, noticed her excitable kitten wasn’t his usual self after he came back from a spell of going missing for a few days. He ate very little and didn’t seem himself. In just a matter of hours, Mr Meowgi deteriorated rapidly, becoming extremely weak.

Alice rushed him to our Belfast PDSA Pet Hospital where a vet nurse rapidly assessed him and immediately alerted the vets to start treatment, as he was so unwell. His bloods were taken, revealing he was severely anaemic. Further tests diagnosed a disease that his owner hadn’t known existed: he was suffering from Feline Leukaemia virus (FeLV) – an incurable, fatal disease.

Tragically, despite the best efforts of our veterinary team, Mr Meowgi was so ill that he couldn’t be saved, leaving his loving owner and her son distraught.

PDSA Vet Julie Dauncey explained, “Mr Meowgi’s anaemia was one of the worst we’ve seen at the hospital. Unfortunately, FeLV is incurable and once they are infected it leads to serious conditions like anaemia, blood cancer or immune problems. The virus can strike quickly or sometimes lies dormant in their system for some time before causing these conditions. Even with treatment, cats usually die of complications associated with the virus within three years of first contracting it. Sometimes, with serious symptoms, like those shown by Mr Meowgi, cats succumb to FeLV much quicker.”

Owner Alice said: “It’s been incredibly distressing and one of the hardest things I’ve experienced.

“He was an indoor cat and never usually went outside, but one day he escaped and went missing, even though we’re always careful not to let him get out. We can’t say how he caught it, but there are lots of other cats around our area and I’ve since learned it can be picked up from any close contact with other cats.

“If I’d have known a vaccination course would have saved his life I would have had this sorted immediately. Seeing him deteriorate so quickly so traumatic. My son is autistic and had developed a close bond with him, and having to say goodbye to him has broken all of our hearts.

“I want to tell his story to urge everyone to get their pets vaccinated and ensure they are kept up-to-date with their boosters, so other families don’t have to go through what we have.”