The only thing I know about his mom is that she was a stray a friend of
mine took in over the winter and low and behold she was preg. Ziggy has
three other siblings and I know my friend is trying to see if the other two she
gave away have tested pos. (I guess it's kind of difficult to ask someone
especially if they have not had them tested but I was of the mindset she should
at least let them know one of the litter had a pos test). I know she was
going to take the last one - whom she still has - to the vet this week coming up
to test her. She was also going to let her ex know about Ziggy for his mom
to be tested (he took her and she does not care to be an indoor cat - she
escapes). As far as I know he is otherwise healthy -- his temp was
normal ,his gums are pink, he is grooming himself regularly, going to the
bathroom regularly and being as playful and mischievous as ever. The only
thing I know is he has no desire to eat is wet food although he has had this
aversion since he was weaned (he does come running at the sound of a tuna can
being opened though!).
Niki
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: Information
Niki,
Yes, the vet would prescribe interferon for you.
It is a clear liquid,
(looks and tastes just like water) that you give
orally. I don't know
if I would start an asymptomatic kitten on
interferon right away because
of the immunity factor, (because it's human
interferon, not feline), we
are told that eventually their bodies develop
"immunity" to it and it
stops working for them. You may want to save
that for when he's
symptomatic. Tonya has a point though, if Ziggy
is actually fighting
the disease itself, it will help boost his immune
system. I would think
he'd be showing symptoms, at least a fever, if
that were the case. I'm
still hopeful that he has tested false
positive. Can you get any
information about his mother? If we
knew her status, (positive or
negative), that would tell us if Ziggy was
exposed invitro, or somewhere
else. I'm not sure about this, but I
think cats that have gotten FelV
and cleared it can still test at least
faint-positive. Adult healthy
cats, have a very good chance of
clearing the virus. Cats that are
immunized, don't get it at
all. Hopefully someone will step in here
with more info. That
brings us to whether or not you should proceed
with vaccinations. If
Ziggy is otherwise healthy, I would get him his
shots, (except FelV, of
course). This is only my opinion, and he could
have a bad reaction
because of his status. I'd talk to your vet about
this, research it,
and again, others on the list may have different
advice. If he's
truly going to stay an indoor only cat, and he has no
siblings that come
and go from the house, it would make a difference in
considering
vaccines.
Please don't feel at all uncomfortable about "asking so many
questions". You are a concerned and loving fur-mom trying to make
the
best decisions possible for your Ziggy. Believe me, we get
that!
Nina
Nicholena Rushton wrote:
> Tonya:
>
> Ziggy is strictly an indoor cat only. Would the vet be the one
to
> prescribe the interferon? Would this boost his immune
system? Alos
> the vet gave him "kitty shots" and now I am
wondering if I should
> continue with his next round when I take him
back to the vet as I am
> now wondering if these vacs are going to
compromise his immune
> system. Do you have any info regarding
this? I apologize in advance
> for asking so many questions but I
trying to do what is best for Ziggy
> and do not want to compromise
what health he has right now.
>
>
Niki
>
> ----- Original Message
-----
> *From:* catatonya <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
*To:* [email protected]
>
<mailto:[email protected]>
>
*Sent:* Sunday, June 12, 2005 12:48 AM
>
*Subject:* Re: Information
>
>
Niki,
>
>
I'm not the best one to give advice on the supplements as I'm
not
> using them right now on any of my
own. I have read a lot about
> transfer
factor, but have never used it myself. If I were in
your
> position I think what I would begin with
is interferon. I would
> call the vet and
ask if it's ok to start Ziggy on it to
hopefully
> help him fight off the virus and
seroconvert. Vets usually are ok
> with
this. Most vets usually recommend a half cc of
diluted
> interferon (Your vet will give
you the amount.) for kittens.
> Once you get
going on the interferon if things are going well
you
> might then try transfer factor next, and
so on. That would be my
>
opinion.
>
> Does Ziggy stay indoors only? I would
keep him away from other
> cats right now
because you don't want to risk him being exposed
to
> the virus at this stage obviously.
You also don't want to take
> chances with kitty
colds or anything else when you're trying to
>
boost his immune system. I'm sure others will chime in with
more
> advice and you can just pick and choose
what works best for you
> and
Ziggy.
>
>
tonya
>
> */Nicholena Rushton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/*
wrote:
>
> Hi
Tonya:
>
> Thanks you so much
for the information. Any suggestions
on
> food that I should
be giving him? Right now I am giving
him
> Iams Kitten
Formula and catmilk (I think by Wiskas) every
once
> in a while as a
treat. Should I start vitamin C and
the
> interferon
now? If so what would the dosage be? I have
been
> reading some
stuff about something called Transfer Factor
and
> am a bit confused
by what I have read about it. DO you
have
> anything yu could
tell me - is it even worth it? I have
to
> let you know that
you have quelled my nerves somewhat as
I
> went bonkers when I
first heard of the + test and began
to
> think the
worst. Now it is nice to know Ziggy can have
a
> productive life for
whatever time I am going to be blessed by
him.
>
>
Niki
>
>
----- Original Message
-----
>
*From:* catatonya <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
*To:* [email protected]
>
<mailto:[email protected]>
>
*Sent:* Saturday, June 11, 2005 1:42
AM
>
*Subject:* RE:
Information
>
>
Hi
Niki!
>
>
I'm glad you found the list. You'll get lots of
support
>
and advice! First of all congratulations on your
new
>
baby! The good news is that if Ziggy is only 8 weeks
old
>
he could still fight off the virus (which it sounds
like
>
you've already learned). I'm not sure what the total
time
>
you would need to be sure with a kitten this young. But
I
>
think by June 30 he could still be positive even if
he
>
were eventually going to be negative. In the meantime
I
>
would get directions from the archives on feeding
Ziggy
>
good, nutritional food. I would probably add some
vitamin
>
c and get interferon from my vet. My vet used to
give
>
interferon to negative shelter cats to keep them
from
>
catching URI's at the shelter. It's supposed to
boost
>
their immune system, so I would give it a try. You'll
get
>
lots of other advice. The most important thing, in
my
>
opinion, is not to over worry. Even if Ziggy
remains
>
positive, it is possible he could only be carrying
the
>
disease and never get sick from it. Also, add one
thing
>
at a time. Try not to overwhelm yourself and Ziggy with
a
>
zillion new foods and additives, etc. all at once.
Good
>
luck with Ziggy! I like the
name!
>
>
tonya
>
>
*/Nicholena Rushton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/*
wrote:
>
>
Hello. I have just adopted a 8 week old kitten
named
>
Ziggy. Ziggy had his first vet visit on 6-9-05
and
>
since I knew nothing about his mom or dad I decided
to
>
have a FeLV test done which resulted in a positive.
I
>
was devastated and am now trying to figure out
the
>
best course for Ziggy. He is acting like a
normal
>
kitten would, getting into all sorts of trouble
and
>
shows no signs of the diease. I am trying to
stave
>
off an full blown attack and would like to
have
>
information regarding what I should be doing
right
>
from the start. I am going to have retested in
a
>
follow up visit on 6-30 and am also curious to know
if
>
he could come up neg by then? I know
relatively
>
little about this disease and am becoming
increasingly
>
confused by all of the information on the web.
Any
>
help would be greatly
appreciated.
>
>
Thanks
you
>
>
Niki Rushton
>
|
