I tried this..
From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 8:23 AM To: 'Estelle Munro' Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article scaring people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats diagnosed with this disease. Will you consider printing my letter to present the other side and my own experience, please? Thank-you, Laurie Crawford Stone From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, There is a new article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Best Friends magazine on FIV. I think you'll find it more in line with your thinking. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro Assistant Editor -----Original Message----- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Tue 1/26/2010 7:21 PM To: Estelle Munro Subject: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Editor: The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is inconsistent with my experience and, I believe, does a great injustice to cats diagnosed with this virus. Certainly not all cats diagnosed with FeLV have the health issues Clemans reports. I lived with two cats who were diagnosed with feline leukemia after I adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years. Squeaky lived to age 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15 years. They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what big boys they were. They were playful and fully engaged in life. Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved. Squeaky was never sick a day in his life until his final three weeks. Squeaky died from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' cause of death. My vets did not treat these cats any differently than other cats I have had. There was no alarm sounded when their tests came back positive. The information was given to me as part of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought this was a big deal. Certainly my vets did not think so. I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived to an old age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the time he was rescued. Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of love. She was rescued 3 years ago and was an adult cat at that time. She was anemic and had a high fever when rescued but these situations quickly resolved with medication treatment by an internal medicine specialist. Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties who test positive should be retested as there can be false positives (and false negatives). Their owners can find information and support groups on the internet (yahoo offers several groups for FeLV cat owners). In this group format they can talk to other people who live or have lived with cats with FeLV. They can get questions answered. They can learn about feeding a quality food, keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and treatments in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test positive will be as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to this disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive with this disease. Sincerely, Laurie Crawford Stone Cedar Rapids, Iowa _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
