Re: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv- I'm confused!

[Lee Evans]

Thanks for your insight, Hideyo.  I'm so sorry about the passing over of your sweet little Dharma.  I'm a member of the FIV group and read your posts and cried.  Take care of yourself and don't you dare blame yourself.  The fault lies with people who toss out these poor mama cats and never even think twice about the babies that are going to be born.   Blessings to you, Lee ----- Original Message ----- From: Hideyo Yamamoto To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 5:44 PM Subject: RE: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv- I'm confused! Unfortunately, I think the time will tell for sure – I think you will have to wait and retest it if you really want to be sure --- if he is tested negative on IFA, which means that the virus has not reached to bone marrow – and there is a good chance that he will shake off the virus completely in time, anyway—but again, if you really want to be sure, you need to wait as the same token, virus could go in to the bone marrow – however, stress free environment is most critical for him so that if there is any chance for him to shake off the virus, he could use every bit of stress free environment – thank you for taking good care of this kitty..   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Leslie Lawther Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:10 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv- I'm confused!   Every time I click on this link it won't connect.  Is the link okay? Leslie =^..^=   On 11/14/06, Marylyn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: UC Davis does this test and it is very inexpensive (relatively).    I think this is the link.   http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/Homesite%20Images/Diagnostic%20PCR%20Price%20Schedule.doc                                                              If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures                                                  from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who                                                  will deal likewise with their fellow man.                                                                   St. Francis ----- Original Message ----- From: Lee Evans To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:40 PM Subject: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv- I'm confused!   We recently rescued a tame "feral" cat from an apartment complex where people move out and leave their cats to fend for themselves.  I named him Moses.  Since he comes from an area where all the feral cats tested negative on their combo test, I wasn't very worried.  I took him in for his free spay and vaccine and because he was tame, I had him combo tested because I was going to foster him at my house until I could get him adopted or into another foster situation.  Unfortunately he tested positive for FeLv.  I really couldn't believe it and the clinic where he was neutered has been known to make awful mistakes so I took him to the vet I use for my own housecats and he again tested positive on the ELISA test.  I boarded him at the clinic while I discussed the situation with my rescue partner who had been the one to catch him in a cat carrier.  We decided to do the IFA test immediately rather than wait 3 months and test again with the ELISA.  Three months in a cage in a clinic is not the way to make a cat happy and it's expensive.  We do NOT kill cats who test positive for FIV or FeLv.  So the IFA test was done and it came back NEGATIVE. We were happy.  My vet called Texas A&M.  They told him that if the IFA was negative, we should consider the cat negative.  Just to be sure though, they said, keep him isolated for another month or two and then test again with the ELISA.  At this point I wanted to scream.  After that, my vet mentioned a test called the PCR.  A friend googled it and found that it tests for FeLv that might not show up on either the ELISA or the IFA.  Unfortunately, Cornell University Laboratory doesn't do the PCR.  It's popular in the UK but apparently hasn't taken hold here in the USA.  Does anyone have any experience with this test and also, what am I supposed to do with Moses?  Should I consider him FeLv+ or negative?  I took him home and isolated him in a spare bathroom.  I only have one bathroom left now.  If I get another cat in to recover for TNR, I'll have to build an outhouse for myself.  Sigh.  Any answers will be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, Moses is a healthy, shiny-furred black cat with an excellent appetite.  He's about 2 years old.  I have his "wife" and son who both tested negative in the ELISA.   Lee -- Leslie     =^..^= To leave the world a better place - whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or an improved social condition - that is to have succeeded.  That only one life breathed easier because you lived - that is success. ---Ralph Waldo Emerson