Sarah Donner, the Ask a Cat Lady personality, shares feline distemper facts, including a song she composed and performs on video. Sometimes known as ataxia or the cat plague, FPV spreads through fluid or fecal contact, in utero or via fleas. This virus can survive years in a stable environment, and it can be devastating when it breaks out.
Source: Catster, October 26, 2017.
FPV is mostly fatal in very young kittens or cats with suppressed immune systems, even when treated aggressively, which is why vaccination is so unbelievably important. Healthy cats who are infected can survive, but not without a host of treatments and vet visits.