RE: OT: help: a danger of FIV

[Hideyo Yamamoto]

Title: AOL Email

Thank you very much for your helpful information, Patti – what you told me is very interesting – I had one boy whose name was Rikki who was tested back and forth as FIV positive and negative –again, from what I read, FIV virus tends to stay in the body once it is infected, so I did not understand the logic, when the positive result changes to negative (which what happened to Rikki) on asymptomatic cats – I just don’t know what I should do – since Squeekie is very feral, I needed to anesthetize her to draw samples from her last two times, and I hate to do that again.   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 12:30 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: OT: help: a danger of FIV     Hideyo, Go to yahoo groups.... they have several FIV support groups.   As far as FIV+ cats, in the years I have worked w/ them at the shelter, it always seemed that our FIV+'s were among the healthiest there. And 90% of them were big, tattered toms that tested positive when brought in for S/N clinics, usually from TNR groups. (We do not release any positives)  The majority have gone on to lead long, healthy lives.   As far as their passing, most have succombed to a secondary illness, probably as a result of their compromised immune systems.  We did notice however a high rate of "heart related" conditions. I do not know if there is any connection there.   I have to add, the majority have been very healthy and  we do have many geriatric FIV+'s. But, since we don't know their history, it's hard to say when they were exposed to the virus.   In the litters of kittens that have tested positive, we have never had a entire litter test positive, strangely enough. And remarkably, we have had MANY kittens that would test negative/positive back & forth..... Very frustrating. But we always felt it was well worth the effort to keep them isolated until we had what we considered a definitive result. Out of the last litter, Mom was positive and all 4 tested positive thru the first 3 tests. We thought perhaps since they had all nursed from her, and were already weaned when they came in, that it had passed to all of them. But knowing how many before had "shed" the virus, we continued to keep them isolated. The final results, at 8 months of age, were 2 positive, 2 negative. We then separated them, and the 2 negatives remained negative, but the 2 positives remained positive.   There is still so much about FIV, like Felv, to be learned.   And it's a shame, that many vets also consider FIV an automatic death sentence.   Best of luck w/ your kitty. Patti