T-Cyte Treatment for FeLV and FIV Cats? Does it Work?

T-Cyte Treatment is treating cats who have FeLV and/or FIV with Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator. T-Cyte Therapeutics is the name of the manufacturer who supply vets with this expensive treatment. They are not very open about its success rate and cost etc.. It is difficult to find information on whether it works and whether the high cost is worthwhile. It is a USDA-approved treatment and it is also called: LTCI. The drug is designed to help to restore a cat’s ability to fight infection.

FeLV positive rescue cat "Pasquale". Photo: Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue
FeLV positive rescue cat “Pasquale”. Photo: Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue

Some time ago Elisa wrote about modern treatments for these nasty and major feline diseases. She included T-Cyte. This is a quick follow up to see if the internet could throw up indications that it has proved effective.

Regrettably, as far as I can tell, it is still unclear whether it works consistently or at all. There is some anecdotal evidence from cat owners that it has worked or at least their cat’s health appears to have improved:

“I was skeptical at first, especially since T-Cyte has a very firm grip on their PR, it’s difficult to find information that is not provided by the company itself, but I’d say if you are running out of options, it is worth a try. We started seeing significant improvement in her health after about 3 shots.” (EECBrooklyn — Catsite.com)

This person’s comment reflects my feelings about this treatment. These diseases are the sort in which options can run out.

The Yahoo Group on FeLV positive cats state this:

There are immune system treatments that change 44% of feline leukemia positive cases negative!! — I don’t know whether they are referring to T-Cyte treatment but they give hope.

Another group felineleukemia.org do mention T-Cyte treatment but do not comment on how good it is. They refer to a company other than T-Cyte Therapeutics, which is called IMULAN BioTherapeutics, LLC who also produce a drug that appears to be similar or the same as T-Cyte. They describe it as:

“T-Cell Receptor (TCR) peptide immune modulators, for veterinary medicine.”

The science is baffling to the public and there is little information about effectiveness of this drug. On their website under a heading “Feline Studies”, the company states: “Coming soon”. Ah, well, we don’t know as yet how good it is. The company is based in Arizona, USA.

My personal conclusion is that the jury is out on the effectiveness of this treatment for FeLV. If you are desperate and feel you have to try it as a last resort, it is probably worth a go. One veterinary customer states that he paid $90 per shot (Catsite.com).

21 thoughts on “T-Cyte Treatment for FeLV and FIV Cats? Does it Work?”

  1. Dee – so you wouldn’t suggest using it? I have an FIV cat under my extended care. It’s looking to be hard to get here anyway.

    Would you try and get it if it was your cat?

  2. Michael I have an FIV cat under my extended care – and I was looking into getting LTCI here i Switzerland but the vets don’t recommend it.

    I just want him to live as long as possible. As happily as possible.

    Do you think I should try to get hold of this LTCI – or should I not bother.

    He is young and healthy – just positive – so it will eventually make him sick. I assume LTCI slows down the onset of the symptoms.

    Do you think I should push hard to track this stuff down?

  3. USDA approved doesn’t always mean that a drug is effective. Most of the time, it means that there’s an assumption that it’s safe. Well, that’s to be seen down the road.
    I hate hype and hate when people, like desperate cat lovers, pour there hard earned money into something “ify” that may give them false hope. It’s heartbreaking.
    Pharmaceutical companies are as devious as the AMA and the AVMA.

  4. It’s hard to say what the effectiveness of this treatment will be and it’s probably far too expensive for many cat caretakers and do we know what side effects there may be?
    I think anyone would need to do a lot of research before trying it on their cat, but then again it will be the only way to find out if it works or not.

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