Is my cat's viral liver failure contagious to other pets or baby?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I will assume when you say feline hepatitis that these cats are being treated for non specific inflammation of the liver (or cholangiohepatitis). As many things can cause this it is a little challenging to know how to completely answer this question. With that being said, most cats with this syndrome have inflammation that may or may not be associated with a bacterial infection. And often there is no infectious agent that has been diagnosed. I am assuming your kitty is not staying in the same home. If so, the risk of you giving anything to your kitty is low, especially if you are washing your hands after handling the affected kittys/litterbox waste. For yourself, i would just either wear gloves when handling the litterbox waste or do not directly handle with bare hands, and then wash your hands after handling waste and the kitties. It is a little challenging to know fully about risk so i think what would make you feel better is to get a little more information from the pet owner about the diagnosis. I hope this helps!

Hello. There are many diseases that cause High liver values, but they are not technically contagious to other pets or people. That being said, Leptospirosis can be transmitted from an infected pet to others through urine contamination. Hepatitis, & some of the tick-born diseases possibly can be spread through contaminated blood products, but not through casual contact. Severe bacterial infections in the GI tract like salmonella or E coli, if someone would ingest contaminated fecal material, could also set up a septicemia that affected the liver. So there are no specifically contagious diseases that would cause elevated liver values. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hepatitis is inflammation to the liver, and it can be caused by a number of different things. It's generally not transmissible to other cats unless it is caused by one of the infectious viruses such as feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, or feline infectious peritonitis. That means the answer to your question depends on the cause of Lou's hepatitis. I would speak with the vet who diagnosed her hepatitis to find out the cause of it, and if it can be transmitted to her kittens. Best of luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Kidney failure isn't contagious and is relatively easy to diagnose on blood work based on elevated BUN, creatinine and sometimes phosphorus. I doubt it was diagnosed by mistake. Your other cat sounds like she has an upper respiratory tract infection. It tends to be viral usually in cats but we worry about secondary bacterial infections. It usually runs it's course but if she isn't eating then she should see your Vet. i wish you the best with both cats!

That is a great question. Upper respiratory infections in cats are highly contagious. If one of your friends has a sick cat at their home, they can spread the infection to your cat if they have any contamination on their hands or clothes. Your cat can also contract an infection if they are in close enough contact to any outdoor cats that are sick, such as a sick cat sneezing near your open window, etc. You can picture children on a school setting and how easy it is to spread a virus...it is the same with cats.

Hello, several viruses such as panleukopenia and FIP can cause this. Parasitic infections such as coccidia and giardia may also cause this. Testing with a parvo test and checking a stool sample may help you rule some of these diseases out. Hope this helps and best of luck!

I'm so sorry Kitty is quite ill! It sounds like you have done all the right things by having her seen by the vet, but if she is in liver failure, that is extremely serious and is typically fatal. You can have her seen by another vet, who may be able to help you with her, and I would recommend having Kitty seen right away if you decide to do that. It may make you, and her, feel better to have her under the care of a vet in a hospital.