Hi Everyone,
I had Peek-a-Boo at the vet last week because it was time for her annual senior bloodwork and I had also felt a small mass low in her belly; near the pevic region.
Thankfully, the mass seems to be a miss-shapen fat pocket, although we will watch it closely. Her bloodwork also looks pretty good for an old gal (we think she is somewhere between 14-16).
Since my Encore came up FeLV+ after having tested negative more than once in her life, I now re-do the FeLV testing on anyone I have in at the vet. Surprisingly, the vets were telling me about a new protocol that recommends adding this re-test to the annual visit for ALL cats.
They had a representative of the company who makes testing kits in the office for an interview and presentation and, granted, it's in the company's best interest to sell lots of kits, but they also had some rather compelling evidence (I'm told) that latent infection may be much more widespread than ever thought. Most vets test once and if the cat is negative, assume they are always negative and never re-test, no matter what symptoms the cat is presenting. The company recommends re-testing ANY sick cat. I know this to be true in my own case; I was literally dumbstruck when Encore became so suddenly ill and tested positive for FeLV; Kim wasn't even going to test her because she had previous negative tests, but did it on a whim. There is one estimate that as many as 25% of cats may be latently infected.
Just FYI, but it might be worth thinking about at annual visit time.
Julie
"I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is
to protection by man from the cruelty of man. "
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Paws Come WITH Claws - If you're thinking about de-clawing your cat, you need to re-think your decision to acquire a pet.
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