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Well, first off, find a vet that isn't so uneducated. The in house ELISA
test has a very high rates of inaccurate results. Next, take another look at the
food you are feeding, read the ingredients, it should have meat as the first
ingredient, preferably the first two ingredients, and there should be NO corn in
it at all. Good nutrition is the best thing you can do. Next, once you find a
better vet, make sure they run a second IFA, because if your first vet did such
a poor job running the ELISA, he could have messed up the sample being sent
off for the IFA you had done through his office (good bedside manner
dictates that you DON'T say "Oh it looks like he might be ok" TWO minutes before
the test is complete, just to say "Oh, nevermind, he's infected" That's HORRIBLE
bedside manner, it's just terrible)! Then, wait 3 months, and retest again. In
the meantime, read about all the possible treatments on our main website, and
consider trying one, or more, of them, in a hope that he can "throw" the virus.
That does happen, cats can test positive, and then later become negative, if
they mount an effective immune response to the initial infection. You also might
consider a vitamin C supplement, to boost his immune system, and a good
multi-vitamin supplement in general.
Now, about your not testing prior to adding another cat, well, mistakes
happen, All you can do is learn from it, and try to do better next time. Don't
blame yourself for things you didn't know, and can't change now, that's
pointless, and doesn't help anyone. Besides, FELV is not like FIV, it's not as
contagious, it depends really very much on a cat's immune system, unlike FIV,
which is almost always spread by a bite wound. Was Crackers ever tested in the
past, before you adopted Pokemon? He might have had it all along. You didn't
specifically say he tested positive for FELV, you said they did a combo test and
he came up positive (and the doctor only knew that by looking in a book?), so I
assume since this is a FELV group, he has felv, but does he have FIV too? I
worry also, because if the vet had to look up how to read a combo test in a
book, how many of these tests has he actually run? How OLD is the batch of test
kits he is using? Has he been using the same pack of kits for the past 5 years?
Are they expired? How could he possibly know ANYTHING about FELV if he doesn't
even know HOW to run the test without reading the book? Scary, all put
together.
Phaewryn Please adopt a cat from Little Cheetah Cat Rescue!!! http://ucat.us/adopt.html
Low cost Spay&Neuter services in VT, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html The Sofa Poem: http://ucat.us/sofapoem.html Please shop online through i-give and support the Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program: http://www.igive.com/FVEAP Shop at GREAT stores, like Drs. Foster & Smith, Pet Food Direct, Musician's Friend, and LOTS more! It doesn't cost you a single penny more, and it makes so much difference to a sick cat in need! |
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