Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi,

I was interested in other orgs experiences with testing cats for panleukopenia using snap tests.  We have had a higher number of false positives than the research suggests when using the parvo snap tests.

Our protocol is to test again with a snap test when we get a first positive snap test.  The cat/kitten is then euthanised if they come back positive on both tests, and then a sample is then taken post mortem to send to IDEXX for further testing.  We have had quite a few cases then come back from IDEXX as negative for panleuk.

Obviously this is quite upsetting after the cat had been PTS, especially for carers.

Has anyone else had similar outcomes from SNAP tests?  Are there other (similar costed) and more reliable tests that other shelters are using?

Hoping someone else has found an answer and we can save a few more lives.

Thanks,

Des

Are you testing animals who are not showing signs of illness?

We are testing if they are showing signs: vomitting, suspicious diarrhoea that tests negative for giardia.

Only test if symptomatic. Otherwise it is a waste of money and has more chance for false positives.