I'm looking for a link to the article...
Gloria
On Feb 10, 2010, at 9:33 AM, Laurieskatz wrote:
If anyone is so inclined, might be good for them to hear from others.
Laurie
From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:38 PM
To: Laurieskatz
Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus
Dear Laurie,
I have emailed Dr. Mike about your concerns and he does not feel
that the
article is inaccurate. Although brief, it does not give the
impression that
FeLeuk is an automatic death sentence nor does it in any way
encourage folks
to euthanize upon diagnosis. She does encourage folks to provide good
nutrition, maintain a low stress environment, and keep in touch with
the vet
at any sign of illness.
Perhaps at some point in the future Best Friends will do a more
lengthy
article on Feline Leukemia. Thank you so much for your input. We
appreciate
that your experience has been dramatically different to what Dr
Clemans
described and are genuinely delighted for you and your cats. Our
experience
and statistics we have seen show that what Dr Clemans wrote is
unfortunately
more common.
Best Wishes,
Estelle Munro
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com]
Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 7:22 AM
To: Estelle Munro
Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus
Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article
scaring
people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats diagnosed with
this
disease.
Will you consider printing my letter to present the other side and
my own
experience, please?
Thank-you,
Laurie Crawford Stone
From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org]
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00 PM
To: Laurieskatz
Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus
Dear Laurie,
There is a new article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Best Friends
magazine on
FIV. I think you'll find it more in line with your thinking.
Best Wishes,
Estelle Munro
Assistant Editor
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com]
Sent: Tue 1/26/2010 7:21 PM
To: Estelle Munro
Subject: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus
Dear Editor:
The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is
inconsistent
with my experience and, I believe, does a great injustice to cats
diagnosed
with this virus. Certainly not all cats diagnosed with FeLV have the
health
issues Clemans reports. I lived with two cats who were diagnosed
with feline
leukemia after I adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years.
Squeaky lived
to age 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15
years.
They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what big boys
they
were. They were playful and fully engaged in life.
Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved.
Squeaky
was never sick a day in his life until his final three weeks.
Squeaky died
from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' cause of death. My
vets did
not treat these cats any differently than other cats I have had.
There was
no alarm sounded when their tests came back positive. The
information was
given to me as part of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought
this was
a big deal. Certainly my vets did not think so.
I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived
to an old
age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the time he was
rescued.
Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of love. She was rescued 3
years
ago and was an adult cat at that time. She was anemic and had a high
fever
when rescued but these situations quickly resolved with medication
treatment
by an internal medicine specialist.
Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties
who test
positive should be retested as there can be false positives (and false
negatives). Their owners can find information and support groups on
the
internet (yahoo offers several groups for FeLV cat owners). In this
group
format they can talk to other people who live or have lived with
cats with
FeLV. They can get questions answered. They can learn about feeding a
quality food, keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and
treatments in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test
positive will
be as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to
this
disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive with this
disease.
Sincerely,
Laurie Crawford Stone
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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