Shelley......
I lost a cat to FL in the 90's. After that I panicked and faithfully
vaccinated my next five cats every year. Then I rescued another FL cat.
Separated him from the others while he was symptomatic. He threw off the
virus. As fate would have it, other rescues came to my door. I couldn't
afford to have them all tested and vaccinated. (13). All my cats mingle
together and non gets sick. I don't even bother to have my rescues
tested because I know that I would never put them down anyway. I was
encouraged by a women I met years ago who mixed negatives and positves
with good results. When my one FL cat has had symptoms (only twice in 4
years) I isolate and treat him until he gets better. I am fastidious
about clean bowls and water. God is taking care of them and me. If you
have the money and you have only a few, get what ever treatment/tests
are available. But I wouldn't stress over the testing. My Pookie will
always test positive because he carries the disease in his system. But
he is healthy as can be otherwise. I finally decided when my Lucy was 13
(she's 17 now). to stop vaccinating her. If they don't have enough
antibodies built up by then, they never will! Maybe I am lucky, or just
stupid, but I couldn't let an animal die form a lack of a home.
On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 1:03 PM, Shelley Theye wrote:
Hi Lee,
Thanks for explaining. Not sure if there is hope for Leo to still
turn negative. He tested positive last July, when trapped and
neutered, and then again in Nov. I haven't retested yet, and am
thinking of doing the IFA too. Does the woman who has Taffy have all
of her other cats vaccinated for FeLV?
Do most people on this list who mix positive and negatives have their
negatives vaccinated for FeLV?
Shelley
On Sep 24, 2013, at 1:00 PM, Lee Evans wrote:
Hi Shelley - I'm not sure as to when they were exposed. These were
cats rescued from different places at different times. One, a male
who I have had not for about 6 to 7 years, was rescued when he was
not neutered, around age 2, street cat, but tame. Since I was going
to get him adopted after neutering, I had him tested before I took
him into my own house. He tested negative for FIV but positive for
FeLv. I tested again at another vet. Still positive, but that vet
suggested that I keep him for two months and then re-test. This guy
was on top of the latest literature in vet medicine. So I did so,
took Moses (cats name) back and he had turned negative. Not to say
that I did not believe the test but too, Moses for yet another test
and he was again negative. He's still with me.
Bunny (Buns for short) is a female, abandoned at an apartment complex
(notorious for abandoned, feral and stray cats). She was less than a
year old when she was brought to me on Easter Morning. Thus her name,
Bunny. I put her in a separate room, then took to vet to be tested.
She tested positive for FeLv. Kept her isolated, did not spay,
re-tested in about 3 months, she tested negative. Tested again to be
sure. Negative again so got her spayed.
However, my luck did not hold very well. Recently had a rescued
kitten brought to me. I took Taffy to a local Humane Society in
Bulverde Texas. They tested her prior to putting her up for adoption.
When they tested her, she tested positive for FeLv. I took her back,
found her a foster home with a wonderful foster mom, who kept her
isolated for 3 months but Taffy still tested positive at the end of
the isolation period. Fortunately, Foster mom loves her and although
Taffy doesn't mix in to the community of 7 cats that Foster Mom has,
Taffy lives with Foster Mom's dog in a spare bedroom and gets to
socialize with the cats except during feeding time. Taffy is
perfectly happy with the arrangement. So is the dog.
The adults probably contracted FeLv during mating behavior. I suspect
that Taffy got it from her birth mother but was not able to fight off
the virus as a kitten because she did not have very good care and
ended up as a little street stray.
From: Shelley Theye <ve...@bellsouth.net>
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013
10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Question about FeLV/FIV testing
Lee,
Can you explain more about the 2 month period for the adults that you
have that threw off the virus?
Do you know when they were first exposed, in other words could they
have had the FeLV virus for more than 2 months
before they ever were tested?
Shelley
On Sep 24, 2013, at 11:15 AM, Lee Evans wrote:
I have had a lot of success with adult cats who threw off the virus
in about 2 months and tested negative from then on. For kittens,
they may or may not have been actually positive. Since their immune
system is not fully developed, they might not throw off the virus as
soon as adults. Too bad about the idiot vet who gave the adopters
such ridiculously incorrect advice. Keep the kittens for another 4
weeks, then re-test. You really should find them a home with a
person who understands that a positive test does not mean the kitten
should be killed. If they are still looking and feeling well, let
them live. A home with no other cats or with cat-friendly dog is the
best for this type of kitten.
From: Betheny Laubenthal <bailleyspetc...@gmail.com>
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013
7:04 PM
Subject: [Felvtalk] Question about FeLV/FIV testing
What's the earliest that testing using a SNAP test for FeLV/FIV can
be done so that it is accurate? I know that if it is done early on,
it can be inaccurate.
The reason I asked is that we adopted out a 10 week old kitten July
16. We did not test. I don't like testing before 16 weeks. We
pulled the kitten and her sister from another state. Mom was in a
high kill shelter. She was PTS before we could rescue her. The
rest of the litter was PTS. Miles and Journey were the only ones
left.
Today, the kitten (Miles) tested positive for leukemia and was PTS
(the ill informed vet used scare tactics on the owner and made the
owner think that her dogs could get it). I was called after the
fact.
What is proper testing protocol? Vaccination protcol? I use a 4
way with feline leukemia, killed virus.
--Beth
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