I think the standard snap test which just looks for FIV & FeLV is probably more reliable than the triple test. Not sure though.
The IFA that Natalie mentioned looks to see if the virus has gotten into the white blood cells, and if so then the cat will not get rid of the virus and you can say for sure he's FeLV positive. But if it is just in his bloodstream, which is what the snap test checks, then the cat still has a chance of getting rid of the virus. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. So you have a couple of options - You can do another snap test to make sure the first one was right, or you can go ahead and do the IFA test. If you do another snap test and it comes out negative then you don't need to do anything else. But if the second snap test is positive then you'll need to do more testing. If you skip the snap test and go ahead and do an IFA test right now to see if the virus is in his white blood cells, and it's positive then you know for sure that he will not be able to get rid of the virus. However if it is negative, then you will need to do another test in a few months to see if the virus is present then because it could be in his blood stream now but not go to his white blood cells for another few months. Basically, you need two tests that match. sent from my AT&T Smartphone by HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "Ana Gutierrez" <ana...@gmail.com> Date: Mon, Aug 1, 2011 6:30 pm Subject: [Felvtalk] doubts on two FeLV positive kitties To: "molvey...@hotmail.com" <molvey...@hotmail.com> Cc: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> Hi! Thanks for your answer.... Yes, I can retest them... my doubt is, which test should I use? Which one is the most reliable? Thanks! Ana On Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 5:28 PM, molvey...@hotmail.com <molvey...@hotmail.com > wrote: > Can you afford to re-test them right now? I'm just wondering if one or > maybe both of the tests on the kitties were wrong. I've heard those triple > snap test are a little less reliable. > > Are these adults or kittens? > > > sent from my AT&T Smartphone by HTC > > > ----- Reply message ----- > From: "Ana Gutierrez" <ana...@gmail.com> > Date: Mon, Aug 1, 2011 5:49 pm > Subject: [Felvtalk] doubts on two FeLV positive kitties > To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> > > Dear all, > > It's been a while since I haven't posted to the list. Since my Beltza > passed > away, last year.... > I am still in debt with you guys for all the support you gave me with her.. > > I cannot remember if I told you that I run a very small cat shelter in > Cuernavaca, México, where I live. > > Recently, we rescued two kitties which turned out to be FeLV positive (on a > triple SNAP test, FeLV, FIV and HW, Idexx brand). These two cats are not > siblings, they come from different litters from different parts of México > City. > We are aware that they need to be retested in 3 months in order to be > completely sure that they are FeLV positive. > > However, I have a lot of doubts and this is the reason of why I am posting > again... > We want to find nice and responsible families for these two kitties. Does > these kitties need to be adopted as the only cat in the house? Can they > share their lives with other cats? FeLV negative as long as they have their > vaccines up-to-date? Can we give them together in adoption? Can they share > their lives with other FeLV positive cats? > We are also aware of the huge responsibility that is in our hands at the _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org