Amanda -- Chris is absolutely right. I don't think there is anything you can do to prevent lymphoma. You can beef up the cat's system so it can withstand a lot of things like colds and other sicknesses that aren't harmful to healthy cats but can be dangerous to FeLV+'s, but they ARE very susceptible to lymphoma and if there were a way to prevent that through food or care, humans would be doing it too! Seven is a pretty good age for Silver chan to have lived, but of course he was way too young to die (and of course we all know that ANY age is way too young when you love them so much). It sounds like you did a great job taking care of him, and I certainly don't think that your cat food "treats" had anything at all to do with him getting sick. Many of our kitties have cat food as their regular diet (though of course "better" ones are recommended) and raw or natural meat as a treat.
As for your other FeLV+ kitty, of course the recommendations are good food, as little stress as possible, lots of love. You can add certain vitamins and supplements, like natural L-lysine, to the food, to keep their resistance to illnesses strong, and you can use flower essences like Bach Rescue Remedy in their water to help the stress level. I'm sure there will be other good suggestions coming along as well. Diane R. -----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Chris Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 6:31 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] my cat died age 7, have anorther FeLV cat,please advise, (long) I'm so sorry that you lost Silver chan. I lost my Romeo to lymphoma in much the same way not too long ago. It just seems to take them so fast--one day Romeo seemed fine and within two weeks he died. I don't think giving him the cat food 'treats' contributed to his developing lymphoma--I understand that FELV cats are more susceptible to this type of cancer and its one of those conditions we all dread in our positives. It sure sounds like Silver chan had a wonderful life and you shouldn't feel that there was anything you could have done. You did the very best for him--he knew it, I'm sure--and he lived a full happy life. That's what matters most... Christiane Biagi -----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of amanda Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 7:18 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] my cat died age 7, have anorther FeLV cat, please advise, (long) Hi all, I'm Amanda I live in Japan, I don't know if I was a member here before or not, I keep going from group to group, but I need advice please. I just lost last week my beloved cat he was minus 4 months almost 7 years old! He was diagnosed when he was about 1 1/2 years old along with his sister. He also had a heart murmur that developed into a full heart problem when he was 3 years old. Besides taking the interferon when first had FeLV he never took any other medications, he was treated holistically and was on a raw diet, he would have cat food as a treat. He was very well sometimes had diarrea if ate too many bugs outside or ate a rat! He was an outside cat, but since just over 2 years ago I decided to have him on a harness and kept him inside as one of our cats got into a fight and had a heart attack ! He was healthy even. My cat (Sorry his name was Silver chan), at first cried to go outside, I had an outside cage for him too, and he soon ajusted to life on the leash, I'd take him for many walks aday as I could. Sometimes we'd be attacked by the neighbours tom cat (my cats are all neutered) and twice my cat got stressed out and bit me instead as a result! But other wise he was good natured. Since last fall 2007, I noticed that he didn't put on weight on, I even forgot about that it could be related to having FeLV , I thought maybe because he's on the leash and can't catch prey much now, sometimes he still did! Those days I was spoiling him with extra cat food with added rice, my husbands suggestion, I thought it was o.k since he did have abit of rice maybe once a week with fish, but he soon started getting stomach aches, so I stopped it, but would still sometimes give a teaspoon of cat food as a treat, mostly I'd try natural ones with no or low salt. I tried to keep him as stress free as possible knowing he had a heart problem. He was also on DMG, CoQ10, natto, and probiotics, for his heart. This year suddenly his voice changed abit, so off to the vets and they thought it maybe stress related, though I had gave him some chicken cat food that I never gave before, so I stopped that and soon his voice became normal again, that time was May and we had all the tests and x rays, and nothing was found. During the summer sometimes he would vomit and he always ate grass and maybe more lately, once or twice he vomitted a little blood, I thought he just had a delicate stomach, so took care not to give him too much food, ( he ate 3 small meals aday) He always had some stress from stray cats passing on garden /land, taht May he growled at one, so not sure if it was related. Anyway we adopted 3 more cats this summer, he's very good with other cats, but he would get annoyed if they followed us on our walks, but we soon left them and went alone which he loved but he didn't mind sharing the house with them. Well just over 3 weeks ago I noticed him breathing fast, I thought his heart had worsened but it was lymphoma cancer in his chest and fluid arround his lungs, we tried chemo but made him worst and he lost alot of weight, so he was just made comfortable for the last weeks, he died on the 22nd. Of course I'm going through the self blame phrase, I wish I hadn't given him cat food as snacks! and many other things, I have anorther cat who has it now, he had interferon and is now better and is on a raw diet and lactoferrin and digestive enzymes, is there anything else I can do for him? And do you think my cat Silver chan could have lived longer? I mean when he first lost weight last year, maybe he should have had interferon again? I'm sure it was all FeLV related but what could I or should I have done? I really thought he didn't have FeLV anymore, and was just concerned about his heart! Please also tell me your stories, what age did your cats live to , what treatments, diet ect? I really don't want to make any more mistakes, I feel like I killed my cat giving him cat food that may have caused him to go downhill, or ..... I really don't know, but some people say living to be almost 7 with FeLV isn't so bad, his sister died age 3. Please advice, I'm making myself sick from this self guilt!!! please advice and help me through this and help me to help my new FeLV kitty!! Much love and hugs to you all, Amanda and Tabby ,Tora(FeLV) Nora and Angel Silver chan. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
