Re: new to FeLV

[kandbz_ mom]

Hello!

 

I was in your position not too long ago.  I adopted a beautiful siamese kitten who ended up testing postive for FeLV.  The vet wanted me to euthanize her, but I couldn't. I have two other cats at home who are negative.  As soon as I found out Angel was pos. I had them all eat and drink from seperate bowls.  Angel ended up getting a cancerous tumor at only 5 mos. of age and she died last month.  Although she was only with us for a short time, I don't regret anything about letting her have the run of the house.  She was happy because she was able to be out with us.  My other two cats are still fine and have not become positive. 

 

I'm sorry I can't be of much help, but I wanted to share with you a situation where mixing a positive with negatives turned out fine.

 

Good luck to you....you have made the right choice by not letting the vet PTS.

 

Karen

Peggy Ankney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi All,

 

I too am a new subscriber looking for advice.  I’ve learned much about this virus in the past 12 hours because the stray cat (Scooter) that my husband and I are in the process of adopting (well, he’s adopted us really) is FeLV+.  The vet called me today after I dropped him off for neutering and shots to tell me the test was positive (she repeated the test to confirm) and recommended Scooter be PTS.  We can’t do that – but we have two negative (but vaccinated) cats already.  We are very torn between putting our cats at risk and saving Scooter.  So after a very difficult day of unsuccessfully trying to find a home for Scooter, we’ve decided to keep him.  All the web sites say you have to keep the pos cats isolated from the neg, but I don’t see how I can do that without locking Scooter in a room for the rest of his life.   Montana and Karma are indoor/outdoor cats (we have a door with magnetic-activated lock).  We can turn the door around so Scooter can’t get out but ours can still come and go as they please but we’re going to give Scooter the run of the house, which isn’t a big house by today’s standards.  I don’t know if we can keep their food separate – Montana is older and underweight so I don’t want to take away the gravity feed bowl and limit his eating.  Also, Montana and Karma rarely use the litter pan, as they prefer the great outdoors, but in rainy or cold weather they use it.  Scooter will have to use it, as he’s got to stay indoors for the rest of his life.  From what I’ve read online, these aren’t the main ways that the virus is transmitted.  I know grooming is a big one, but we don’t’ have a clear picture of whether they will eventually become friendly enough for that (no chance of it just yet).  So my question is – what has been the experience of others in similar situations, and do you have any good advice for a couple of scared cat lovers?  Something I might have missed on the other web sites that will help me keep all three cats happy and healthy as possible?  Montana is about 12 years, Karma maybe 8, and Scooter probably 6 months.  (Thanks everyone!  I’ve enjoyed reading your posts.)                               -peggy

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