(La Porte County, IN) - There’s a temporary ban on accepting kittens at the Jane Bernard Animal Adoption Center near the La Porte County Fairgrounds.

 

For three weeks, kittens beginning today are not being accepted because of problems with a potentially deadly virus.

 

Dr. Patrick Dorroh, one of the veterinarians working at the shelter, said the Feline Panleukopenia Virus is similar to the Parvo virus in dogs, but it affects mainly kittens and unvaccinated adult cats.

 

He said symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and even death.

 

“In kittens, it can be highly fatal,” he said.

 

FPV turned up sporadically in some of the kittens at the shelter over the past couple of months, and enough cases have surfaced recently to impose a temporary ban on accepting new kittens.

 

Dorroh said free adoptions for adult cats are also being offered to reduce the number of felines at the shelter as much as possible while undergoing an extensive cleaning.

 

The virus has not turned up in adult cats whose immunizations at the shelter are for medical-related things like FPV.

 

Dorroh says that adult cats at the shelter are safe to adopt. Unlike adult cats, FPV shots are not as effective in kittens because it can take up to 16 weeks for them to develop complete immunity after being given the vaccine.