I have 5 cats: the first came in as a 5 month old; the next three came in as very young kittens found all alone outside. All were tested at their first vet visit. Four years later one of the ones that came in as a 2 month old tested positive. She'd never been outside in four years. Two vets told me that you can get a false neg on the tests depending at what stage its in. Also, you can get a pos that then becomes neg if cat throws off the virus.
Bottom line, I became convinced that it's a gamble either way. Now all the cats all lived together, sharing bowls, litter boxes, grooming, etc. The other 3 all tested negative! So chances of spread--not as high as everybody says it is. By the way, my 5th cat came in as an adult stray who I had been feeding daily for two years. He'd never been sick in all that time and when I got him tested--he was pos. I just think that there are a whole more cats who do test pos for FELV--we just don't know about it.... Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 11:55 PM To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: test results As a lifelong cat lover and owner of seven, I was just wondering how we can ever know when we are truly adopting a negative kitten. Years ago I wouldn't think twice about finding a homeless cat, falling in love with it, and bringing it straight home with me. Now, after having experience with finding positive kittens(strays from the neighborhood), i've found myself becoming overly afraid of this disease and accidentally bringing it to my negatives. I'm not trying to adopt a cat at this time, but for future reference, I was wondering if the test that they send out to the lab(always forget the name of it) is a pretty accurate indicator. I was browing a petsmart adoption event and saw young cats and was wondering if they had the lab test done, at what age can it ever be considered accurate. I've read enough on this web site to know that it seems no test is really 100%, but was wondering if the sent to the lab test was negative on a young cat if it would then be about as safe as it gets. I know this sounds silly, but as much as I love cats, I know in the future I will find a kitty needing a home and I was just looking for reassurance in a more comprehensive lab test. Thanks for listening.
