Hello, I've been a member here for awhile now (I've posted my original intro below), but haven't really participated. My cat, McFluffins, hasn't really appeared to be ill at all and I am not knowledgeable enough on the topic to have anything to share. I was actually hoping to not have participate again, as awful as that sounds, since I was hoping that my kitty would be fine.
I am now no longer sure that he will be. McFluffins has always been a very energetic and cuddly cat. A few weeks ago he started to seem less cuddly and now he's a bit on the lethargic side. He's started to vomit this past week and has lost so much weight that his collar just hangs off of him. When he eats now he always sounds like he's going to vomit, but doesn't every time. Our family really cannot afford the treatment options that I read about on this list. Originally I thought that we would be comfortable in just giving McFluffins a comfy home for as long as he could stay with us. It was selfish perhaps because I knew we couldn't afford large vet bills, but I thought that it would be better than nothing. In addition to that, I was never able to find a placement for him that wouldn't just put him down. Now I am finding that it hurts to see him like this, but that doesn't make money magically appear, sadly. I suppose I am looking for any advice and support on how to care for McFluffins now at home. I am sorry for not having been more vocal in the group even though I have tried to keep up with reading all messages and my heart broke a little each time I read about another kitty who has passed on, even though I didn't share that. Thanks for listening. Nortina -------- (April 27, 2009)Hello, I have been a member of this list for a few days now since I found out that our new kitty tested postive for feline leukemia. We already have one cat, Jasper, who is about 7-8 years old. The animal shelter was unsure of his age when I got him, so we aren't quite sure now either. Jasper, as a rule, really dislikes other animals. Cats, dogs, he shows them all who is boss. However, since we have moved to our new house in mid-January, we've had a stray hanging around. Jasper, who gets out every now and then even though we try not to let him, actually didn't seem to hate this other cat. I saw them actually playing together which was a surprise to me. This other cat kept trying to sneak IN the house and was so loving anyway that we just decided to adopt him once we realized we might actually be able to have another cat in the same house as Jasper (we have tried twice previous with very bad results). We kept this new cat (my kids are bent on calling him McFluffins) in the bathroom overnight while waiting for his first vet appointment to see if he would even use a litter box. I was glad to see that he did, but noticed we had an issue with worms. While at the vet they tested for FIV and feline leukemia. This is when we found that he tested positive for feline leukemia. The vet that I spoke to that day didn't really try to encourage me in making any decision, but I have to admit that I thought about having him put down. I was not really willing to though because I have already found that he is a very loving and wonderful cat and is perfectly healthy at the moment. After asking some questions about how it can progress and the implications for Jasper, I decided that we would keep him. We had another vet visit the day after for Jasper and the vet that we spoke to that day was firm that there will be issues with the stray that we took in, it is just a matter of how long until they surface. She was much less hopeful than the previous vet, but nice and informative all the same. Currently Jasper and the new cat are seperated as Jasper was behind on his vaccinations and was never vaccinated again feline leuk. I was told that, based on Jasper's age, he wasn't likely to catch it anyway, but it would be worth giving anyhow. It was suggested that they be kept apart until his second booster shot in a month after this one. Does anyone else have an experience like this? Is it really necessary to keep them seperated? I have been reading all of the posts so far but feel a little lost since I am not very knowledgable on the subject, so hopefully I will catch up soon. Nortina _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
