IDEXX launches national cat wellness campaign; unveils feline disease prevalence maps

Westbrook, Maine

- IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. launched a campaign to promote feline wellness, including interactive feline disease prevalence maps for FeLV, FIV and feline heartworm.

The maps, available at www.kittytest.com, offer veterinarians and pet owners prevalence data on these common feline diseases based on geographic region by county, cat's age and living environment.

The campaign's goal, IDEXX officials report, is to increase awareness, testing, management and prevention for three leading infectious feline diseases that can be difficult to detect. Combined, these diseases affect hundreds of thousands of cats in the United States, the company adds.

"Kittytest.com is based on thousands of test results from veterinarian partners across the country. A tailored prevalence indicator based on rich data like this has never been done before,” says Jessica Lachtara, IDEXX marketing associate, in a prepared statement. "We are excited to launch a tool that will help cats across America live healthier lives.” The new Web-based tool gives veterinarians access to available prevalence data, which can help inform them about how many cases of each disease is confirmed in their region and test their patients accordingly, the company adds. The feline disease prevalence maps are supported by the American Heartworm Society and Marley Fund, among others.