I'm not sure about this, but I *think* this might be what's called regressive infection. It's not as bad as it sounds. This is a "new" way of looking at cats we used to think threw off the virus. The paper "2008 AAFP Retrovirus Guidelines" puts it this way:
Regressive infection is accompanied by an effective immune response, and virus replication is contained prior to or at the time of bone marrow infection. Cats with regressive infection are at little risk of developing FeLV-associated diseases. FeLV is integrated into the cat’s genome, but viral shedding does not occur (Peder- sen et al 1977, Lutz et al 1983, Flynn et al 2000, 2002). It seems possible that the cats we always used to say "threw off" the virus were actually "infected", but that they don't shed virus and have a very low risk for getting sick. That paper is available online. Just Google for the title. All in all, while it might not be the best news, regressive infection would seem to indicate a normal life is ahead for your cats, and you shouldn't have to be concerned about them. Would you mind describing the exposure you think your cats might have undergone? Was it a short interaction with a FeLV+ or a long period of time spent with a positive cat or cats? Also, how is Cole doing? I know he didn't eat well one day recently, and you were concerned. Best wishes to you and the five negative kitties, Lance On Jun 12, 2013, at 12:33 PM, Karen Harshbarger <harshbargerka...@yahoo.com> wrote: > I had my 5 cats tested for feline leukemia when believed to be exposed. > First test 4 tested positive and yesterday (90 days later) all 5 tested > negative. my vet said retest in 45 days and see what we get. If two test > with same diagnosis then that is the results. Has anyone ever had this > and/or what do you have to say about what is going on with my guys? He used > the quick in house test---for get the name---not the send out lab test that > takes longer for results. Thanks Karen > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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