Re: Samantha has feline leukemia

[Tad Burnett]

Nancy   An average cat needs to eat about one 5.5 oz can of food each day.. If she is eating much less than that than that explains the weight loss...    FeLV is spread in the saliva so it is possible to spread by grooming or food and water... It dies as soon as it dries out but if it is kept moist ... If the neg. cats are healthy and a year old or older they have a good resistance to FeLV... It spreads among strays that are in run down condition and under the stress of being homeless... It is very unpredictable and you have to be happy knowing that you gave them all the good life that you could within your means... It may be a good long while and they may be happy right up to the end and pass in their sleep or it can be a long illness and you may have to make the decision that you will have to help them to the Rainbow Bridge... This is a great group and we are all here to help each other with much experience and to be with you during the sad times when we are loosing one of our babies... Tad Nancy Schneider wrote: Hopefully you are right about the mixing. The vet stated that the virus can be transmitted via food bowls. I don't see evidence of it in my household. I really hope and pray that your feelings about the difficult transmission of the disease to other cats is accurate. I feel that it is hard to transmit , because of the fact that the virus is very sensitive outside the body. I have read this fact before. Nancy Schneider Management Analyst Dept of Transportation 12544 Saticoy St N Hollywood 91605 Voice(818) 756-9558 Fax (818) 756-9245 wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 10/25/06 1:32 PM >>> Hey Nancy, I want to clarify that although many of us feel that we are fairly safe mixing (especially since most of us had already exposed the other cats beforehand), there is not enough research on FeLV, so we don't really know how it is exactly transmitted, or how easily it is transmitted. Most of us here though have seen patterns, and we don't believe it is easily passed via food, water, or litter boxes. We do however feel that bites are a form of transmission. The virus can only live seconds outside the body, exposed to air, so that's why we think it's really difficult to pass. And even those that are exposed, in ways other than biting, usually throw off the virus if they are adults. I just wanted to clarify so that you don't think we said it was ok to mix, and you come up with a positive test on one of your others later on. We have just seen that it's very rare, unless there is biting. :) Wendy P.S. I have family in LA (Studio City and Hollywood). __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com