Hey, Deb - I also mix my negatives and positives -- and don't isolate anyone
who is coughing, etc. I figure that everyone has been exposed anyhow and it is
probably viral -- and strict isolation isn't possible at my house. I've never
been sorry that I've done it this way.
Deb Stockbridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi Nina,
I Love to hear more and more experiences from all of you that mix negatives
and positives...it's building my confidence more each day. What I need to know
is do you still keep them together if one still has a persistent cough that
just won't clear even after treatment or if one sneezes here or there? My
situation as it is now is that I have 3 positives , the two boys that I might
have homes for , and my calico girl that I thought I had a home for but after
seeing her with symptoms of her cough which I had thought went away, I feel I
can't let her move and be more stressed out until I can get her completely
healthy and a little more weight on her. My boys seems healthy but may sneeze
here and there or have a little cough....nothing persistent or on a daily basis
so I was just wondering if it's still OK to mix them with my negative boys? My
Calico girl is back on antibiotics and while she was with us that night for
about 5 hours ,before she had that bad coughing spell
she was fine for the 5 hours. So can she still be with my negative boys while
I treat her. You said I should've seen her face when I had to confine
her......well I barely could see her face because I was crying my eyes out
myself:( She was not put by herself thank god , otherwise I would've grabbed a
sleeping bag and slept with her! She was put back with her two feline brothers
who are also positive so I hope she wasn't too distraught....I sure know I was
though!! I know my kits have all been exposed and I have now vaccinated the
negative ones. I just don't know the do's and don'ts of mixing them all
together again. I think I'm so scared because I had thought I had 6 healthy
cats, 3 had been tested for FELV and showed negative and lived healthy and
happily for over 2 years. I then brought in 3 more over the past year of which
one tested negative and I never tested the last two thinking they came from
parents that were tested. Then all of the sudden one gets sick
and I have 3 FELV+ cats, one is my oldest Bengal boy who tested negative
previously and then the two that were never tested. None are related. I was
told this is a rare situation and if FELV doesn't spread that easily then why
are 3 of mine infected? So I either have really bad luck and more than one
brought this in my home and the FELV tests I had done that were negative meant
nothing or the last 2 I brought in came here with it and spread it to my adult
cat. I will never know, but after having been hit with 3 of my 6 cats getting
this disease at one time with still one kit to test, to me that makes me think
this spreads like wildfire and that is why I'm so nervous about putting them
all back together. The first night we decided to bring up my calico girl was
after I had fed them all so they didn't share any food dishes and my other kits
didn't really even go near her as they were surprised to see her and she just
really followed me around the house all night and
then fell asleep with me while my boys seemed a bit mad that I was showering
attention on her all night and they slept with my Son so there wasn't much
contact in that 5 hours. I'm trying to my best to get used to doing this but
I'm still in panic mode here and just trying to learn all I can and make sure I
do right by all my cats. For now I'm trying to rehome the positive boys that I
know will take a move easier and the home I found for my 6 month old boy sounds
perfect as he will have a 7 month old FELV+ playmate. This home might take
both boys but I won't know until she comes to meet them. So this is where I'm
at right now and my mind is spinning every day with more info and seems to
change daily on how much I can handle so I'm just taking it all a day at a time
and giving them as much TLC as I can until I figure this all out:)
Thanks for your advice/input here.....it's much appreciated:)
Deb
From: Nina
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 1:19 PM
Subject: Re: New Member - Deb and mixing
Deb,
I'm pleased to hear you have potential adopters for your boys. I'm hoping that
someone will adopt them together. Tell those folks to come join us here!
Forgive me for responding without reading your previous posts, you may already
have addressed this, but... I am one of the people that have mixed negs and
pos together, (with the negs being vaccinated). I have done this for years
without any of my negs turning pos, but I understand what a difficult decision
it is to make. In my case, I had brought in a litter of felv bottle babies and
didn't find out they were pos until they had been mixing freely with the rest
of the household for months. It still gave me pause, (because the vets and the
literature suggested segregating, hell, they suggested euthanizing too), but it
would have been hard on everyone concerned to separate them at that point. One
of my cats at the time was a born-in-the-wild feral that had had no shots at
all and had mixed right into the litter as if it were her own. (She tested neg
later, boy did I sweat that one). I took a leap of faith and followed my heart
and kept everyone together. I felt fairly
safe in making this decision, (as far as the guilt/fear factor goes), because
everyone had already been exposed. Perhaps explaining it in that way might make
your son more receptive to the idea? For Heaven's sake, you've already
re-exposed your neg cats with last night's visiting. I mean no disrespect, but
it seems a little like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped,
(again).
Everyone loved our felv babies. I don't think there was an animal in the house
that hadn't spent very intimate time with them. I recently lost a
stray-turned-resident with both fiv and felv. During his last weeks I cringed
everytime he sneezed felv germs all over the house. I haven't had the others
tested since Spencer passed, (I will if anyone gets symptoms of illness), but
I'm confident that no one has contracted felv.
I would never judge anyone's decisions about mixing. We all understand both
sides of the argument too well. I can hear how dedicated you are to helping
these babies and I thank you for everything you are doing for them. I just
wanted to throw my two cents in because I can just picture that little girl's
face when she was closed off from the family again. None of the decisions we
are forced to make are easy, and all too few results of those decisions are
truly in our control.
Blessings to you and your family,
Nina
Deb Stockbridge wrote: OMG Phaewryn, YOU ARE A GODSEND!! You posted
my boys last night and already I have a home for Bruschi and possibly one for
Jadon as well! Someone very close by me saw them on Petfinder and fell in love
with both but thinks Bruschi will be the perfect match for her FELV+ female 7
month old kitten so that's who she chose and she might know of a friend who can
also take Jadon. I'm meeting with her on Friday and will know then if both
boys have a new home. I'm just crying over having to do this so soon as I
never expected this quick of a response but also crying for the joy of having
potential homes where my boys can have free roam of their new homes and
interact with people like they were used to here before I had to keep them
confined. I will let you know Friday how things go.....keep your fingers
crossed all goes well for me and my boys! I just can't thank you enough for
your help and it has made dealing with all this that much easier
to handle.....one step at a time:)
BTW....after reading a few of the emails from others about how they mix their
positives and negatives with pretty good luck I tried to do this last night
after finally talking my Son into letting us try it with one at a time. All
was well and boy was our girl happy and meowing up a storm for the first couple
hours and we were just all so happy to have her with us again UNTIL later that
night she had a coughing spell and it woke me up as well as my Son and my Son
started crying and asking where our two negative kits were and it freaked him
out more than I expected and I had to confine her with the two boys again:( I
have to admit it scared me as well and I know it would take some time to get
used to but I think with every sneeze or cough we would just think what it
could be doing to our healthy cats and I just don't think I can put my Son
through that again. I really commend all of you who can manage a positive and
negative household and if it was just me and my husband
I think I could eventually get used to the idea but just not right now with my
Son here with us. I love ALL my babies and it would be ideal to keep them all
if I could let them live together but for now it's best I find homes for these
special kits. You are all just wonderful people helping these animals with
health issues and though I can't foster them in my own home , if I can help in
any other way, with transporting or any other aspect of rescue please let me
know:)
Take Care,
Deb
