Iva, I don't know what to say about quarantining Becca. My positives were dumpster kittens when I rescued them and were kept separate from the rest until they were tamed. By that time my house kitties had received the FeLV vaccine and booster.
To reduce stress on Becca you could alternate who is in the bedroom. Haven't they all been together for a long time already? If so I really don't see the need to segregate them now. Sort of like closing the barn door after the cows have already gotten out. Finally life is a crap shoot. There really is no 100% guarantees on any of this when dealing with FeLV or any health issue. We do what we can and love our beloved companions for as long as we have them. For some of us that has been months and for some that has been years. Sharyl --- On Tue, 8/4/09, Iva Lark Emily Seaberg <melleph...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > From: Iva Lark Emily Seaberg <melleph...@sbcglobal.net> > Subject: [Felvtalk] How to long to separate negative/positive kitties? > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 1:29 AM > Thank you everyone for the warm > welcome! It was very reassuring to read all of your posts, > especially those with multi-cat mixed households. I spoke to > the vet this morning and she was actually ok with my > decision, but she wants me to keep my positive kitty > isolated for now. She didn't say how long, though I know she > is hoping for indefinitely. We are putting Becca on > antibiotics for her oral inflammation and then steroids, > which I know will temporarily decrease her immune system > more but could be worth it in helping her fight the virus > back? > > Anyway, here is my dilemna. Currently, Becca is isolated in > my master bedroom/bath. All the cats are unhappy about this. > The two negative kitties sit outside the door and reach > their paws under to her. They meow at me with a clear "Umm, > Mom we want our sister back." and they try and sneak in > there. She in turn tries to sneak out and is seeming a bit > down. She's exceptionally affectionate when we go in there, > more so than usual, but she's not eating as much and seems > almost a bit depressed. She kept me up all night trying to > love on me. I also know it is a small space and can get > lonely. Now, I've read what everyone said about stressing > her and I don't want to do that, so here's my dilemna. How > long should she be quarantined for? The negative kitties > JUST got their first vaccine on Friday and won't be at full > protection until they get their boosters in 2.5 weeks. > Should I keep her in there until at least then? Should I > just let her out now? I really > really want to minimize the negative's risk of exposure > because I don't want them to be infected. > > I did read the articles everyone mentioned and it was still > unclear to me where in the articles it says that it is safe > to expose a negative to a positive. It still said they could > infect, but no odds were mentioned, so therefore they should > be separated. See below: > > "Uninfected cats in a household with infected cats should > be vaccinated; however, other means of protecting uninfected > cats (eg, physical separation) should also be used. Constant > exposure to FeLV-infected cats is likely to result in viral > transmission regardless of vaccination status." > > "In ~70% of adult cats, viremia and virus shedding are > transient, lasting only 1-16 wk. A few cats continue to shed > virus in secretions for several weeks to months after they > cease to be viremic. Virus may persist in bone marrow for a > longer period, but even this latent, or sequestered, > infection usually disappears within 6 mo. Some FeLV-exposed > cats (~30%) do not mount an adequate immune response and go > on to become persistently (ie, permanently) viremic. > Persistently viremic cats develop fatal diseases after a > variable time period" > > What if she's just now in the shedding stage? Is she > considered persisently viremic at this point as she's had > gum issues for a few months? Does that mean she is currently > shedding the virus? > > I almost wonder if the positives that aren't infecting the > negatives aren't at the viral shedding stage. Is it > really safe to expose the other kitties? Should I keep her > quarantined for the next 2.5 weeks or does it really matter? > I'm torn. On one hand I don't want to stress her > unnecessarily, especially when I'm about to have to give her > antibiotics twice a day and steroids twice a day. She is > going to hate that. I don't want her to lose weight either, > she's always been a tiny, dainty thing and she doesn't have > any weight to lose! On the other hand I don't want to > infect my other babies and I can't help but worry that to > let her out now, before they have full vaccine protection at > least, much less before the steroids have a chance to calm > her virus down would be to stack the odds against them. > > I need advice! > > Iva > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
