Minnie, I am sorry for your recent discovery. I am not sure how many responses you got from the group as they usually have a great deal of insight and suggestions. I can give you mine.
First testing positive - you can get a false positive test but given that three of the five tested positive, it is likely real. You can also get false negatives so it is possible that your negative testing kittens are really positive. If it were me, I would operate on the assumption that all are positive. You could try separating the two negatives, but it is likely they will test positive in the near future - sometimes it takes awhile for the immune response to be picked up by the test. Here's the hardest part - the cats most often negatively affected by felv are cats under the age of one. Generally they do poorly and don't make it past two years. This is certainly not always the case, but often. Having said that, however, the flip side is that if you try treating now you may reverse the viral status and completely eradicate the virus. If you want to try this, now is the time. You will need a forward thinking vet that is open to alternative choices because conventional vet med utterly fails are treating this disease. These are your options: 1. interferon - used in conventional medicine - I wouldn't start here 2. LTCI - aka Imulan - I would do this, especially in the young and early infected - this is when the best results are seen. The thought is that the thymus (a gland that is developing in the young cats and is responsible for the production of lymphocytes that will kill the virus) starts to involute (shrink) because of the fel virus. Imulan has been shown to stimulate thymic activity and restore the normal immune response to fight the virus. I would start this as early as Imulan can be given - I do not currently recall when that is, but I believe within a few weeks of life. 3. Acemannan - a supplement known to help fight off the virus. I would get them on an oral dose of this daily. 4. Wei Qi Booster - a chinese supplement thought to help balance the immune response in this disease - I used it with my felv cat for awhile and she did well while on it, but I know little about how or whether it really works - this would require the aid of an alternative vet. 5. High dose IV Vitamin C- a woman by the name of Sally in this group is an absolutely excellent source of information pertaining to this and I would highly seek out her advice. If you want to eradicate the virus using this method - now would be the time. It is a daily IV drip for a matter of 1-2 weeks. If given in high enough dose and proper duration there is potential for eradication of the virus. 6. Colloidal silver - I don't know much about this, Sally also may have insight into this. So in the end you have options. How much it will cost and what path you choose is up to you. I can tell you this about the disease though. It is a virus that attacks the immune system (including the bone marrow) . If contracted early it nearly destroys their immune response and they can't fight it. As a result the virus gets into the cells of the bone marrow and causes them to behave oddly. This results in malignancy - like lymphomas, and lack of production of bone marrow elements including red blood cells (this leads to anemia). As a result these little ones usually die of anemia (they get weaker and weaker, stop eating and die) or a malignancy like lymphoma. The virus buries itself into the DNA of the cat's cells and cannot be pryed out. If you stop the virus early enough you may be able to keep this from happening. If you are too late, generally all you can do is support their failing immune system. So what I am saying is act now or forever hold your peace. Little things that add up are - good diet (I would go with raw or a good brand like evo or nature's variety instinct), low stress environment, stay away from vaccines, supplement with vitamin C, lysine, probiotics and acemannon orally. Hope this helps, if you have any other thoughts or questions just ask. Good luck and God bless. Jenny On 3/12/10, M C <mliciou...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hello, > > I'm joining this list serv with a heavy heart. We rescued a young Mom > cat and her 4 babies. They appeared healthy for all intents and > circumstances. > > Mom just tested positive for FeLV, 2 babies also did (one slight positive, > the other one was definitely positive), and 2 tested negative on the Elisa. > > I need some help in deciding what to do... > > I'd love some feedback, as the Internet only yields so much useful > information... > > 1. If the two kittens tested negative, are they likely negative? > > 2. Should the positive kitten be separated from the slightly positive one > as well? > > 3. If Momma is about 6 mos old, how likely is it that she has FeLV, > considering 2 of the babies also tested for it? Is there a chance she too > could fight off the infection? At what point should Mom be retested with the > PCR or IFA? > > 4. What supplements or foods should we feed these kitties, to help them > fight off the virus? > > 5. How long does Mom have to live, if she is confirmed to have FeLV? What > are the alternatives? We rescue a lot of kittens and cats, so she will end > up living in a cage alone unless we can find her a new home, which I doubt > is going to be very likely. We don't have the funds to send her to a > sanctuary, and we also have several FIV positive cats we are sanctuarying. > Space is also an issue, as that is one less cat or litter we can rescue > since she will be in that cage for a long, long time... > > I'd appreciate your insights and thoughts. > > Thanks, > > Minnie > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
