Treatment
Antiretroviral Agents
- Long-lasting benefits have not been demonstrated.
- Long-term use is costly with mild to severe toxic side effects.
- Zidovudine (AZT) may be beneficial in reducing retroviral load, particularly in cats with stomatitis or neurologic signs.
- Consider these in cases where clinical illness is thought to be attributable to retroviral infection.
- AZT: 5-10 mg/kg PO q12h
- A higher dose should be used in caution with FeLV patients due to risk of non-regenerative anemia.
Immunomodulatory Antiviral Drugs
- Well-designed trials are lacking or have failed to show benefit.
- Parenteral feline interferon omega may provide some clinical improvement.
- No controlled studies using oral feline interferons exist to date.
© American Association of Feline Practitioners, 2020
