I'm so sorry to hear that, Megan. I haven't read all your other
replies, but will try to keep this short. This is what I would do.
First, these cats are siblings and have been together a while with
plenty of opportunity to share diseases, so why separate them now?
I'd keep the cats together.
Second, I'm a proponent of daily oral interferon, and with cats under
a certain age (3-4), I'd give the FELV cat anywhere from half a cc or
1cc daily of interferon alpha.
Note this is squirted into their MOUTH, not an injection.The price
varies - one vet charged me $75 for a small bottle, but I found
another who charged $15 for a
large bottle (like bigger than a quart). You can freeze it in small
containers and get it out as you need to. Oral Interferon used in
this way boosts the immune system.
BTW, Some people also use temporary interferon orally for cats with
the sneezes - upper respiratory - and other situations.
Not sure what the injections are about - I'd just do the oral
interferon apha.
Best of luck - and this list is the right place to be! You'll get
lots of alternatives and lots of support.
Gloria
in Arkansas
On Aug 28, 2007, at 5:05 PM, Megan Heikkinen wrote:
Hello everyone,
My name is Megan. I'm a college student with three sibling cats,
one of which
was recently found to be FeLV-positive. We discovered this after
Olive had a
severe anemic episode last week all of the sudden and almost died. Her
brother's blood was able to restore her, but how long this will
last, we don't
know. She has seemed happy and feeling well since the blood
transfusion, but
there's a feeling in my gut that tells me it's only a matter of
time before
she gets sick again, and I don't know what to do about that. Like I
said, I'm
a college student, and independent from my parents, which by
default means I'm
poor.
My vet doesn't know much about treatment, but he is going to talk
to the
university's vet school. We are considering interferon, although to
be honest,
I don't know if I'd be able to give Olive shots everyday. I'm in
quite a
dilemma, because I want to do what I can for Olive. She is the
sweetest,
friendliest cat I have ever met. All of my friends love her and
some of them
are also pretty upset about her condition.
Part of the dilemma is what to do about interaction with her
siblings. I just
had them tested (and vaccinated) today, and won't know the results
until
Thursday. I would assume that they are very likely to be infected
as well, yet
part of me thinks that they aren't, and the vet thought this, too.
I had
thought that maybe my boyfriend's cat had transmitted it to Olive,
because he
has some health problems, and therefore maybe only she was
infected. But he
tested negative today on the in-home test, so now I'm scared that
Olive has
had this since she was little, and therefore my other two probably
have it as
well. Unless, of course, they've developed immunity to it.
So, there are my two problems: What to do with Olive, and what to
do if my
other two turn out negative. If they are all positive, then leaving
them
together isn't an issue; although then I'm also left with the horrible
situation of having three FeLV-positive cats. If they turn out to
be negative,
I don't know how to separate them. I don't want to risk their lives
by having
them interact, yet I can't bear to give up Olive. I live in an
apartment, so
keeping them separate in my home isn't a great solution.
If anyone has any suggestions, words of advice, etc., please let me
know. I am
completely distraught over this. Last night I could not sleep, and
I'm already
not caring about school, which just started.
Thank you for reading this. Sorry it's so long...
-Megan
