Re: Postive and Negative Cats?

[Allie Deaver]

Thanks everyone. Leo tested negative today and was vaccinated. Right now, he and Lola are separate, just because she's resting and he's trying to play with her and that's causing some problems. Being as how she might not have much time left and he's a 4 year old, very strong cat, I think I'll let them mix for Lola's remaining time on the planet. She's starting to lose a little weight (despite having a normal appetite) and the fluid in her lungs is...there...which is not a good sign. She's still acting quite happy and normal other than those two things.

Allie

On 11/26/05, Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi Allie,
Nice to meet you and welcome.  I haven't read your other emails to the group, but I thought I'd weigh in here with mo.
I mixed.  None of my negatives, (all adults, all vaccinated), turned up positive in the two years that my pos babies lived.  I never worried about separate feeding dishes, grooming, playing, or litterboxes, (they had already been mixed when I found out they were pos).  I did however stop taking in any young, older, sick cats, or kittens.  I still have one cat from my pos litter of bottle babies, (Tim).  He tested negative and has remained asymptomatic.  I haven't had him retested since, I figure if he ever gets sick, that will be time enough.  There is one other kitten from the litter, Lucky, (litter of 6 I found at the back door of a spay/neuter clinic when they were only 2 1/2 weeks old), that was adopted out before we learned about their status.  He too is doing wonderfully well, but lives alone and is an inside only cat.  Lucky has never been tested.  It's a tough decision about mixing, I don't want to live in a separated household, but I worried for a very long time about subjecting my negs to the possibility of contracting this terrible disease.  Usually when faced with these hard choices, I go with quality of life over quantity.
Nina

Chris wrote:

Four of my cats lived together for several years before I found out my Tucson was pos.  They had not been felv vaccinated and two had come in as kittens.  None of the other three tested pos and I vaccinate them every year.  I did not even consider separating as they had all lived together for those years and no one had contracted felv.  They eat together, use the same litter box, play with the same toys, groom each other, and on and on.  I brought in a stray I had been feeding last year and it turned out he was pos but totally asymptomatic...  So, I now have 5--2 pos, 3 neg and my biggest problem is that Tuscon hates the latest addition.

 

 

Chris

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Allie Deaver
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 8:17 PM
To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Postive and Negative Cats?

Hey everyone-

I was wondering...my other cat hasn't been tested yet, but will be tomorrow. However, whether he is positive or negative, we have a problem. He either has to live with a positive cat or, when my FeLV+ kitty crosses teh bridge, or if he's positive and can't go into remission (he shows no symptoms of anything, he's a very healthy cat overall, except for the usual occassional kitty eye goobers and hairballs), he'll need a companion, since he does NOT do well alone. I've been looking for someone with FeLV+ cats for adoption in my area (Chicago), with no avail. That, and the cats I take in tend to be needy, homeless strays that choose me (who are then taken immediately to the vet to be tested, have inital rabies and FVRCP vacs and an exam before they ever meet the other resident cat, since I can only have 2 at a time). And anyway, if he's a neg, I have no plans to cast off my kitten just because she has this diagnosis.

So how do you guys do it? Everything I've ever read says "remove all positive cats from the household" or "elect euthanasia if you have a multi-cat household" as if it were that easy.

I'm aware that some of you keep both positives and negatives together...so I have some questions and I would really love it if you guys would share some of your experiences with me:
-How do you do it? Are they separated in any way within your home?
-How do you control the virus in terms of cleaning and separation of LB's and dishes?
-CAN the virus be contained? What other precautions do you take?
-Does this mean I have to stop bringing treated/vaccinated rescued negs into my house as long as I have a positive cat, should Leo test positive?
-In your experience, how quickly and readily does the virus spread? Everything I've read basically says that if you have one positive, you can count on having more if you're in a multi-cat household.
-In a household with both negs and positive cats, do you vaccinate the negs? Why or why not?

I've already gotten some input from Belinda (thank you!) but I just kind of want to take a survey to see the various outcomes and know all of my options. If anyone can spare some good vibes that Leo is negative and Lola's symtoms remain under control at least until we can seek further treatment options, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks guy! You are a terrific group!

Allie