catatonya <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I joined the forum someone (???) posted last week. I got this post this morning and thought you all might be interested. It specifically mentions feline interferon having positive results and being available for import as some of you have done! If more people begin to order it we may have hopes of it becoming available here!t
NMHPForum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "NMHPForum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:52:21 -0700
Subject: [NMHP] What's the story with all these feline leukemia tests?
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Question from BJ:
We have a feral male cat that was shot by neighborhood punk with a bb gun. He lost an eye because of this act. We trapped him and obtained medical help for him only to learn that he was positive for leukemia (ELISA test).
The cat has recovered from this injury and appears to be doing all right at the moment. We have him in a separate outdoor enclosure (with shelter, of course) from our other cats. He will not let us have any contact with him, but we are trying to spend a few moments a day in the cage with him, talking softly, etc. We don't want to upset him.
We want to do all that we can for him, although he is feral and will not let us touch him. We are currently feeding him Purina One kitten formula with yogurt. He had thrown up a couple of times initially throughout all the trauma, but this food seems to be something he likes and he hasn't thrown up at all in over a week. We give him a little wet food in the morning and in the evening to give him a little variety.
Can you suggest anything more that we might be able to do for him (i.e., something we could put into his food that he would not smell or taste
perhaps) that might boost his immune system?
Also, at what point should we have him retested? And should we have the IFA test done, or have a Western Blot test done? Testing will entail trapping and transporting to the vet and he will probably have to be sedated for them to be able to work with him, so we don't want to do it too soon before the results might be conclusive. The ELISA test was approximately one month ago.Response from Dr Julie Levy:
This poor little kitty is lucky he found you. We'll discuss a testing and treatment plan for him, but first, a little virology . . .
Detection of the FeLV core protein p27 (antigen), which is produced abundantly in most infected cats, is the mainstay of clinical FeLV testing. Immunochromatic lateral flow devices and microtiter ELISA can be performed in clinics. Commonly used tests in the US include the IDEXX SNAP and Synbiotics Witness tests.
The immunofluorescent antibody test (IFA) detects p27 antigen in infected blood cells. Because it requires special processing and fluorescent microscopy, the IFA must be performed by a qualified reference laboratory. This test requires an experienced technician to interpret, and poor laboratory quality control can lead to inaccurate results. The laboratory that I prefer to use is the National Veterinary Laboratory in New Jersey. They invented the FeLV IFA test decades ago.
Antibody tests are not useful because of the high rate of exposure to FeLV in the environment. In surveys conducted prior to the development of FeLV vaccines, most free-roaming cats acquired anti-FeLV antibodies, evidence of at least transient exposure and infection with the virus.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test has been used for the diagnosis of FeLV infection. This test detects viral DNA instead of protein antigens. PCR may be useful in helping to determine the true status of cats with discordant results from other testing techniques and may be the most sensitive test available. The PCR must be performed by well-equipped and trained laboratories. At this time, I believe that the PCR laboratory at UC Davis is a good choice.
Virus culture for FeLV is not routinely available in the US but is considered to be the confirmatory test of choice in Europe. However, not all cats with FeLV infection are positive on virus culture. Because FeLV generally replicates in lymphoid tissue and other sites before the bone marrow, immunochromatic tests may detect infection a few weeks earlier than the IFA. Some cats are apparently able to clear the infection at this stage and may revert to negative status within a few weeks to months. IFA-positive tests indicate that the bone marrow is infected with FeLV. In this case, most cats remain persistently infected for life.
That was a long-winded introduction for a testing plan for your cat. In my experience, most cats with positive FeLV tests remain positive. I think that is because it is statistically unlikely that you will test very many cats that just happen to be in their brief "transient" infection phase. Still, to be safe, we like to wait 2-3 months before testing again. Cats that are still positive at that time are likely to remain positive for life.
If you do elect to sedate him for retesting, I would probably go the extra step to collect samples for SNAP and IFA (and PCR if you are really want to be as thorough as possible).
The next question is how will the results affect your management of him? Is he going to be released if he is negative? If he (and you) thrive in the current situation, then there may not be an urgent need to do further testing.
As far as trying an oral supplement to enhance his immune system, I am going to go out on a limb to say that there are no products that have shown any benefit in FeLV+ cats. While there are literally dozens of folk remedies that have their earnest supporters, there are no well-designed controlled studies that address this question. We all know FeLV+ cats that live full healthy lives without any special care. The response to infection is so individual that without controlled studies, we'll never learn if there is something out there that can really help these cats. A classic example is a German product called Baypamune, which was proposed to save hundreds of FeLV+ cats from their deathbeds. When a large placebo-controlled study was done, there was no benefit in the treated cats. In fact, a higher percentage of the cats that received the placebo (sugar pill) were alive at the end of the study than the cats that received Baypamune.
An injectable product, Feline Interferon Omega, is available in Europe and did show increased survival in treated cats. It can be imported via Internet pharmacies, but requires a USDA permit specifically for each cat to be treated. More information about studies for FeLV therapy can be found at http://www.vetcontact.com/interferon/index.htm and http://www.virbagenomega.com/.
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