Chest symptoms include enlarged chest lymph nodes, compressed windpipe and esophagus, fluid accumulation in the chest, breathing difficulties, coughing, and gagging. In abdominal leukemia, malignant cells may be present in the intestine, lymph nodes, liver, spleen, or kidney. There may be a decrease in appetite, depression, weight loss, dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, anemia, and jaundice. Multicentric leukemia causes greatly enlarged lymph nodes under the skin and tumor formation in many organs. The cat may or may not have a fever.
Feline leukemia begins with infection of the mouth tissues.
It spreads from the mouth by blood cells and infects the lymph glands. At this stage, most cats are able to block the infection. If it invades the bone marrow, the cat is infected for life. It then spreads through the blood through the circulation. Tissues such as the tear glands, salivary glands, and urinary bladder become infected.