Gary,
I don't know the specifics about the "stages" either, but as for the life
of the virus itself, it is very fragile outside the body. "When it dries,
it dies".
The virus cannot live in a dry environment. It is not airborne.
Prolonged exposure is necessary to spread the virus. Infrequent casual
contact should not cause a negative cat to become infected, as long as the
negative cat has been confirmed negative and kept up to date on the
vaccinations.
When the kittens are free from the URI, and when they test negative, once
they are vaccinated and are given a couple of weeks for the vaccs to take, you
should be good to go. Keep separate litter and water for the infected cats
in the meantime.
How old are your fosters? When they were tested, was it an office
ELISA (snap) test, or was the bone marrow tested? In any event, I would
retest in about 3 months just to see where they are.
Terri in NJ
=^..^= Terri, Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, Travis, and 6
furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth, Alec & Salome'
=^..^=
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2005 2:28
AM
Subject: Re: For Gary---Determing the
stages of FeLV
Kerry,
Thanks for your response, didn't see it before I
sent my last message. I still don't have any idea how you determine what
stage a cat is in and exactly what that means. I read something
somewhere that suggest you should wait until a cat is stage 2 before starting
Interferon therapy because there is a chance they could develop some
resistance to it if started too early and that they would need it more in
stage 2.
I am also a little concerned as I have 15 of
my own who are not positive. The FeLV kitties are in a separate room but
I am still a bit worried about going back and forth. Most of my 15 have
had the FeLV shot but I have 2 kittens that are just getting over a long term
URI and have not had their shots yet. I have read in one place that
says the virus lives for a few hours outside the body and in another
place where it was said it only lives a few seconds.
So much to learn.
Gary
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2005 12:13
AM
Subject: For Gary---Determing the
stages of FeLV
Hello Gary
Bless you for fostering the kitties, and for
wanting to do the best for them since they tested FeLV
positive.
FeLV isn't like cancer where the more
advanced the stage, the less likelihood of recovery.
Rather, FeLV depresses the immune system, so
the most important goal is to do as much as possible to boost the immune
system. Buying the highest quality of food you can afford--eg with no
additives or preservatives--and using filtered water are an excellent
start. Many members on the list use supplements. Many members have, or have had, FeLv cats that lived to a ripe old
age. Others--including myself--have loved and cared for FeLV kitties that
died way before their time, but nonetheless enjoyed life until
succumbing.
Here's an excerpt from The New Natural
Cat--A Complete Guide for Finicky Owners, by Anitra Frazier-- if
you come across the book, it's in the Feline Leukemia section on
pages 326/327)--that you may find useful in regard to your
question.
