Tessa sounds like a darling. I know it's tough to keep them separated, but Jenn, (our other Jenn!), is right, there's no sense in letting them pass that URI back and forth. Besides if you wait until Midnight has been vaccinated, (there's a waiting period after that as well, I seem to remember 2 weeks, but you could ask your vet), you'll feel better about making sure you've taken the necessary precautions. We've had the "mixing" discussion many times. Vets usually recommend keeping them separate, which from their standpoint makes sense. Less interaction means less chance of transmission. Personally, I could no sooner restrict any of my cats access to the house than I could a human member of the family. From all I've read and heard, the chance of a healthy, immunized, adult cat becoming infected is very small. It's not a very hardy virus, someone once described it as "when it dries, it dies". I didn't discover that a litter of bottle babies I rescued were + till they were about Tessa's age. By then they had been living mixed in my household long enough to transmit the disease to anyone anyway. My + is now over a 1 1/2 yrs and none of my negs has turned up pos.
I'm not quite clear on what the seclusion arrangements are at your house. Does Midnight have the run of the house, except your daughter's room, or is she sequestered in another room as well? If your daughter belongs to Midnight, I would probably bring Tess into your room instead. It might help to install a screen door in the bedroom where you have Tess confined. That way she won't feel so isolated and Midnight can see what's going on. You could also use a "kid gate" positioned so that you can still close the door. That way you have a fraction of a second longer to catch the fleeing cat when you open the door!
Why was Midnight running a temp when you took her to be tested and vaccinated? What was her temp? Does she have any other symptoms of illness?
Vita C is good to add as an immune booster. I also add L-Lysine, occasionally Co-Q10, and if someone isn't feeling well, I'll add Transfer Factor to their food. The interferon that your vet is talking about, (sounds like a good vet by the way!), is Interferon A, or human interferon. There is also something called Feline Interferon Omega, that a couple of us on the list have tried. More about that later, if you're interested.
I'm sorry about your recent loss, I know it never gets easier to say goodbye. Congratulations on your new addition, though! I'll say a prayer that Tessa has a speedy recovery from her URI. It sounds like she chose well, when she chose you.
Nina
Jennifer Korin wrote:
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
