Hi Everyone,
I hope I'm doing this right. I've not belonged to a group like this before so
I'm hoping this message is going to the right place. My husband and I have some
experience with FeLV kitties as we took in a feral cat several years ago who
tested positive. We were very lucky with Scampi in that he didn't have any
problems from his disease until he was 13 years old when it got the better of
him and we had to euthanize him. We now have another kitty who has tested
positive for FeLV and has recently started having some problems so I would love
to get some opinions on her from some of the more experienced members. Eden was
a stray who came up to us in a field where we run our 5 dogs at night. We heard
a cat meowing and as we got closer the meowing got louder. My husband
pinpointed the sound and then suddenly this very skinny cat came walking out of
the brush towards my husband. She was sweet as can be and starving nearly to
death. We picked her up and brought her home and at her first vet check she
tested positive for FeLV. She has been retested since then and has again come
up with what the vet called a "strong positive". Eden is about 9 or 10 months
old and had been doing well for the couple of months that we've had her. She
recently stopped eating and just sort of looked like she wasn't feeling well so
we took her to the vet. My regular vet was off so another vet cared for Eden.
She did some blood work and found that Eden had a low WBC and neutrophil count,
which as we know, is not that unusual for a FeLV kitty. But Eden also had a
high temp so she got some IV fluids and antibiotics. She was able to come home
after spending the night at the clinic but then a few days later she had the
same symptoms. This time her temp was a bit higher then it had been the first
time. She stayed again at the clinic, got some IV fluids and rebounded again.
She came home this past Saturday and has been doing pretty well. She eats small
meals several times a day and takes her antibiotics in a pill pocket without
any trouble at all. She sleeps alot though and is not back to her normal self
yet. The vet who took care of Eden thought that she was in the end stages of
her FeLV and wasn't sure Eden would recover. But she has and we hope she
continues to get better. Eden seems young to be in the end stage of her
disease, although her system overall seems quite sensitive so maybe she's just
more affected by the virus then other cats tend to be. The vet did not mention
any of the treatments that are currently being used for FeLV and I'm wondering
if there is anything that would be of benefit to Eden. She is so young and so
precious and clearly didn't have a great start in life so we are so hoping to
be able to give her a good life for however many years she has. Any thoughts or
advice for our sweet girl would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brenda
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