Hi Lori,
Thanks so much for posting your story about Nebs. Thank goodness you
were strong enough to follow your heart and not take the advice of your
vet! Hopefully your story will help educate your vet, (is this your
ex-vet now?), and save more lives in the future. I would suggest that
you have Nebs tested using an IFA next time. You could run an in house
ELISA again, but an IFA would be better confirmation of his status at
this point. How long has it been since he was last tested? I would
wait at least 90 days before the re-test to give him the chance to clear
the virus, (if that's indeed what was going on). Please keep us
informed and welcome to the group,
Nina
Lori S wrote:
I have seen a lot of you post that your cats posted negative,
positive, negative. Is this common? Do some cats get over it or are
the tests errored?
My beloved Nebs was diagnosed two weeks ago just after his fourth
birthday. I took him to the vet with a very bad case of the runs and
no appetite. The vet, one I had not been to before, told me Nebs was
felv positive and would be dead in a matter of days. He told me his
kidneys were huge and the virus had destroyed them. He recommended
that I put him down right away. I couldn't do it. He was too special
and deserved a chance. He told me nothing would help. I asked him to
do what another vet had done for another cat once, an injection of
fluids for dehydration. He gave him that, but refused any medication,
saying it wouldn't do any good. The next day, I begged him for some
antibiotics and he gave me them but told me not to get my hopes up. I
gave Nebs the medicine, and some Pet-tonic. The next day he was eating
again. In two days, he was eating like a hog. In 3 days, his runs were
gone.
It's now been 2 weeks, and instead of being dead as the doctor
predicted, he's practically back to normal! He's gained almost all his
weight back and has his swagger again. His third eyelid, present for
almost a year, is also gone. His stools are more normal than they've
been in ages. I am wondering if maybe he'd had a severe kidney and
intestional infection, and when that was cleared up, he was all right.
I don't know if he's really felv positive or not, I'll get him
retested at another vet soon, but even if he has it, his immune system
was not as 'shot' as the vet said it was.
So my questions are, are the tests sometimes wrong, and can a cat go
in and out of good health while being infected? I had always heard the
first sickness would basically be the last.
I also want to say, please do not give up on your kitty if the vet
says to put him down, he's going to die. You know your pet better than
anyone, and if you feel he isn't at his end, don't do it. I am so glad
I gave Nebs another chance when the vet didn't.
- Re: False positive and negative? Nina
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