{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T19:44:50Z","timestamp":1789847090132,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]],"date-time":"2023-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1674000000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005232","name":"Maddie's Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005232","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Approximately 5% of cats in animal shelters in the United States test positive for either feline leukemia virus (FeLV) or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which translates to more than 100,000 positive cats managed by shelters each year. Little is known about the current status of retroviral management in animal shelters, particularly in regions burdened by chronic pet overpopulation and high shelter admissions, such as the southern United States. The purpose of this study was to describe feline retroviral management in Florida shelters. Shelters were surveyed on practices including selection of cats for testing, diagnostic techniques, and outcome options for cats with positive test results. Responses were received from 139 of 153 animal shelters known to admit cats, including 55 municipal shelters (40%), 70 private shelters (50%), and 14 private shelters with municipal contracts (10%). A total of 115 shelters (83%) performed at least some testing, most using combination point-of-care devices for simultaneous FeLV antigen and FIV antibody screening. Of shelters that performed any testing, 56 (49%) tested all cats for FeLV and 52 (45%) tested all cats for both FeLV and FIV. The most common reason for testing was screening adoptable cats (108 shelters; 94%) and cats available for transfer to other organizations (78; 68%). Testing cats in trap-neuter-return\/return-to-field programs was least common (21; 18%). Most common outcome options for positive cats included adoption (74; 64%), transfer (62; 54%), and euthanasia (49; 43%). Euthanasia following a positive test result was more common for cats with FeLV (49; 43%) than for cats with FIV (29; 25%) and was more common in municipal shelters, rural shelters, shelters taking in &amp;lt;500 cats a year, and shelters with overall live outcome rates for cats &amp;lt;70%. Although Florida shelter compliance with national guidelines for identification and management of FeLV and FIV positive cats was variable, most had live outcome options for at least some of their cats with positive test results. Increased access to training and practical programmatic tools may help more shelters implement cost-effective testing protocols, reduce risk for transmission to other cats, and support the best outcomes for this vulnerable population of cats.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2022.1003388","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]],"date-time":"2023-01-18T07:29:45Z","timestamp":1674026985000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Animal shelter management of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infections in cats"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Paola","family":"Dezubiria","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"E. Susan","family":"Amirian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keegan","family":"Spera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"P. Cynda","family":"Crawford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie K.","family":"Levy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"546","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119294382.ch23","article-title":"Feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency viruses","volume-title":"Infectious Disease Management in Animal Shelters","author":"Levy","year":"2021"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"302","DOI":"10.3390\/v13020302","article-title":"Feline leukemia virus p27 antigen concentration and proviral DNA load are associated with survival in naturally infected cats","volume":"13","author":"Beall","year":"2021","journal-title":"Viruses."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X19895940","article-title":"2020 AAFP feline retrovirus testing and management guidelines","volume":"22","author":"Little","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Fel Med Surg"},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"FeLV and FIV Testing and Management in Animal Shelters2020"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tvjl.2014.02.030","article-title":"Transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) among co-habiting cats in two cat rescue shelters","volume":"201","author":"Litster","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet J."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.2460\/javma.251.2.187","article-title":"Seroprevalences of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection in cats in the United States and Canada and risk factors for seropositivity","volume":"251","author":"Burling","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Am Vet Med Assoc."},{"key":"B7","unstructured":"The State of Animal Sheltering, 20192020"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1160","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X20913359","article-title":"Outcome of cats referred to a specialized adoption program for feline leukemia virus-positive cats","volume":"22","author":"Lockhart","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Feline Med Surg."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"798","DOI":"10.1111\/jvim.12120","article-title":"Clinical findings and survival in cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus","volume":"27","author":"Liem","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Vet Intern Med."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/j.prevetmed.2017.12.001","article-title":"Survival time and effect of selected predictor variables on survival in owned pet cats seropositive for feline immunodeficiency and leukemia virus attending a referral clinic in northern Italy","volume":"150","author":"Spada","year":"2018","journal-title":"Prev Vet Med."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2014.12.023","article-title":"Contrasting clinical outcomes in two cohorts of cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)","volume":"176","author":"Beczkowski","year":"2015","journal-title":"Vet Microbiol."},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"Intake to Placement2020"},{"key":"B13","unstructured":"NACA Guideline on Appointment-Based Pet Intake Into Shelters2021"},{"key":"B14","unstructured":"Supported Self-Rehoming2020"},{"key":"B15","unstructured":"What To Do With All These Cats2019"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tvjl.2014.05.020","article-title":"Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations","volume":"201","author":"Polak","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet J."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"503","DOI":"10.3390\/v11060503","article-title":"The diagnosis of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infection in owned and group-housed rescue cats in Australia","volume":"11","author":"Westman","year":"2019","journal-title":"Viruses."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"791134","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2021.791134","article-title":"\u201cState of the mewnion\u201d: practices of feral cat care and advocacy organizations in the United States","volume":"8","author":"Aeluro","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Vet Sci."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X211055685","article-title":"Guidance for management of free-roaming community cats: a bioeconomic analysis","author":"Benka","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Fel Med Surg"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2019.00238","article-title":"A long-term lens: cumulative impacts of free-roaming cat management strategy and intensity on preventable cat mortalities","volume":"6","author":"Boone","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front Vet Sci."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2119000119","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2119000119","article-title":"Reduction of free-roaming cat population requires high-intensity neutering in spatial contiguity to mitigate compensatory effects","volume":"119","author":"Gunther","year":"2022","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci USA."},{"key":"B22","unstructured":"2019"},{"key":"B23","unstructured":"FrendenM\n          Study: 95% of Adopters with FeLV Cats Have a Positive Experience2019"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Veterinary Science"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fvets.2022.1003388\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]],"date-time":"2023-01-18T07:29:50Z","timestamp":1674026990000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fvets.2022.1003388\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]]},"references-count":23,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fvets.2022.1003388"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fvets.2022.1003388","relation":{},"ISSN":["2297-1769"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2297-1769","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]]},"article-number":"1003388"}}