"unfortunately, it works the other way, too--a cat could test negative because it was just exposed and it's not showing up on the snap yet...."
Unfortunately, I believe this is what happened to my Tucson & only served to show me that out of all those cats that people get as kittens, there are probably a whole lot who really are pos--not to mention, how many people who have indoor-outdoor cats have them checked every year! Kind of makes it impossible to really adress 'life expectancy' questions for FELV+. Bottom line, this disease has been around forever & we have all had cats who we loved dearly without ever knowing if they were pos or not! Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of TenHouseCats Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 4:13 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: This is what the vet said... i don't think you "have" to wait 30 days, but unless you have some idea of when the cat was exposed, a positive test may mean nothing--just as a negative may not, for that matter--80% of healthy adults seem to throw off the virus, so knowing at what stage you're testing is the only way to know if a test is likely to be reliable... a cat could be positive on the snap, negative on the IFA--and in 3 months, test differently...... this just points up the need for retesting, which is an unrealistic thing for most rescues/shelters..... unfortunately, it works the other way, too--a cat could test negative because it was just exposed and it's not showing up on the snap yet.... -- MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892