Hi! I hope it's okay to just jump in here. I found this mailing list while searching for information about FeLV. About three weeks ago, I adopted a 6 month old kitten who was tested FeLV negative by the rescue I got her from. Tessa started sneezing a lot after I got her, and I took her to the vet to be checked out. During the course of the visit, they did another FeLV test (because they have a combo of that with FIV, and the shelter hadn't tested for FIV) and she was positive. (We're talking tests a literal week apart - the shelter had her tested when she was spayed the weekend before I got her.)
Anyway, we had just lost a beloved cat to a sudden stomach hernia, and Tessa had already slid right into the empty hollow in my heart (and at my feet), so there was no question of sending her back to the rescue. But, we have an older cat (about 3 years old) who is attached at the hip to my eight year old. They love each other to distraction. When we found out that Tessa was infected, we rushed Midnight, the older cat right in to the vet (although she had only been exposed to Tessa for four days). Midnight, thankfully, was still negative. We've scheduled her to be vaccinated (she was running a temp at the last appointment and we couldn't get it done then). Here's my concern. At the moment, Tessa is isolated in our bedroom. She's on about 4 different drugs to rid her of an upper repiratory infection and a yeast infection in her ears. The vet is also talking about starting her on Interferon. But, she is a very social kitty. She wants to be where I am, and is constantly trying to escape the bedroom. Meanwhile, Midnight is used to having the run of the house, and though my daughter's room is her "natural habitat", the closed door is irritating her, since we never close doors. So she keeps trying to get in. We're just dealing with it until Midnight is vaccinated, but it's hard to imagine keeping them totally isolated for however long Tessa is with us. Do you have any advice about + and - cats together? Will the vaccine and Midnight's adult age protect her sufficiently? Or should I keep tossing them back in their own areas every time I open the door? Will Tessa have a crummy life living in just one room? Also, does anyone know how a cat could test negative one week and then positive on both the vet and lab (IFA) tests a week later? Isn't IFA an indicator of a later stage of infection? Is there anything important I should know right away to help Tessa live as long as possible? She is adorable, by the way - soft and gray, yellow eyes, ridiculously long tail. She loves on me and my husband, purrs louder than any cat I've heard, loves to play with anything dangling and attack my feet in bed, will sit on my arm or lap for hours to be petted and is basically the most perfect cat ever. (Since my Dot passed on, anyway!) Phew. Sorry for the long message, I just have so many questions!!! By the way, I'm Jenn, but I'm used to having lots of Jenns on mailing lists, so you can call me Jenn K if that helps. Jenn K