Hello everyone, I am new to the list and wanted to introduce myself and tell about why I am here. I appreciate you taking a minute to read about us.
My name is Sandy and until recently I've had 3 adult cats who I love like fuzzy children. I have a stepdaughter who moved home this summer for a few weeks, and brought with her an orange kitten she had adopted from someone she didn't know. She got him to keep her older cat Kuma (Japanese for "Bear") compnay. After they got here, her cat Kuma became very ill, and within just a day or so of showing symptoms, had to be euthanized. He experienced multi-organ failure. The vet diagnosed FeLV. So we took the orange kitten Cotton to the vet as soon as we could, since we knew so little about him. Cotton also tested positive for FeLV. My stepdaughter has neither the desire nor the means to care for him, so she left him. The vet recommended immediate euthanasia, and wouldn't even check his little orange ears for ear mites or intestinal parasites or suggest any more blood work. Just FeLV positive = death. That was hard to swallow, but in the meantime, I gathered up my three established cats to be tested, and unfortunately my younger female has also tested positive. The other two older cats were negative. I am heartbroken and distraught. I've tried to read and learn as much as I can about FeLV. I have been angry at myself for letting this all happen, and feel now that hindsight is always 20-20. But please don't make me feel any worse than I do. It had been about 2 years since my cats had the FeLV vaccine, becuase they are 100% indoors, and I was worried about overvaccinating them. Now I feel that I need to look ahead and address this head-on, and I am hoping for some sound, rational advice. My vet seemed totally negative and I do intend to get a second opinion and confirmatory blood tests. The two cats that are negative got a vaccine, even though I know it may not do much good. They also have boosters scheduled in 3 weeks. I fear that even though Kuma (stepduaghter's cat who died) was sequestered during his illness, everyone was exposed before we realized what we were dealing with. I now have a household of 4 cats, two of whom are FeLV negative, and two who are positive, one of whom is symptomatic, as Cotton the orange kitten now has swollen glands and diarrhea. Any words of wisdom would be totally appreciated. Thank you, Sandy C. Houston, Texas area
