Pet Adoption Network does its best to screen for feline leukemia. It is impossible for any adoption organization to completely guarantee a cat will remain feline leukemia free, however. A single FeLeuk test is not a guarantee. Veterinarians recommend multiple testing for FeLeuk, with tests spaced 90 days apart in a series of 2 to 3 tests, in order to definitively determine a cat is leukemia free. No adoption organization can afford this, especially when kittens are adopted at 8 weeks of age. Please read through the following so that you will understand our policies and procedures:

Pet Adoption Network tests all adult cats once, upon admission.

Nursing mother cats are tested upon admission. A small sampling of this litter of kittens is tested at 8 weeks of age, but each individual kitten is not tested when the mom is present. High medical costs make testing each kitten prohibitive. Negative mothers are assumed to have a negative litter.

Each kitten is tested in litters where we do not have the mom.

Please understand, however, that a cat can harbor the virus for several weeks or months before the virus is detectable in the bloodstream. For this reason, Pet Adoption Network encourages anyone adopting a cat or kitten, whether or not it has already been tested, to have their own veterinarian follow-up with further testing.

There are many excellent websites available that can provide more information on this subject.

Links:

Winn Feline Foundation

Cornell University