I have a few questions and hopefully some words of hope and comfort about sharing your life with an FeLV positive cat.
My cat, Buddha, tested positive for FeLV 8 years ago. At the time I had him tested he was not sick or showing any signs that he might be FeLV positive. He had been vaccinated regularly, however one of my mothers cats had recently been diagnosed with FeLV and was quickly deteriorating. Although Buddha and I had been away at college for 2 years, he had spent time with the infected cat when we still lived at home so I went ahead and had him tested just to be on the safe side. When he tested positive it was like someone had reached in and ripped out my heart. At the time he was already 7 years old and I had hoped that he would live to a ripe old age. Our family vet suggested that I have him tested again in 60-90 days to rule out a false positive, but he said that he probably wouldn't live that long. Since Buddha had never been sick a day in his life, Buddha and I decided then and there that he was going to be one of the rare and lucky few that don't succumb to the disease. Over the next 8 years he lived a very happy, healthy and stress free life. He celebrated his 14th birthday on October 13, 2005 and it seemed as if he would sail through another year without any problems. However, on November 7th he began sneezing, which then turned to a runny nose and an irritated, watery left eye. My husband and I decided he needed to see the vet, but couldn't get an appointment until the 11th. On the morning of November 9th, I woke up to the sound of Buddha having a sneezing and coughing fit. I quickly noticed that he also had a bloody nose. I had never even heard of cats getting bloody noses, so I called my vet and told them that it was an emergency. I rushed him to the vet, where after $300 worth of tests, I was given frustrating news. Although all of Buddha's blood work came back perfect and his organ function was normal, his red and white blood count was normal, and even his cholesterol was good, I was given a bottle of Clavimox for his upper respiratory infection and was told to take him home and wait for him to die. Probably within a week. This was exactly the reason I had avoided taking him to the vet for the past 8 years, which some people might see as irresponsible, however he was never sick, never went outdoors, was never exposed to other animals and I was concerned about injection site sarcoma. Also, I had never found a vet who had a positive outlook on FeLV infected cats. For a month he seemed as if he was going to yet again prove the "vet of doom" wrong, however a little over a week ago I once again awoke to the sound of Buddha coughing and sneezing, this time much worse. He was very lethargic and could barely open his left eye. He was so limp and listless, I was worried we wouldn't be able to get him to the vet in time. This time my husband and I took him to an vet that practices alternative medicine, in addition to conventional veterinary medicine and also specializes in FeLV positive cats. It was as if an angel had come into our lives. (If anyone reading this has a cat and lives in the North Texas/DFW region, I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Ballard at the Alternative Veterinary Hospital) She immediately diagnosed him with Lymphatic Cancer and started him on steroid therapy supplemented with homeopathic Immune System boosters, stress relieving drops, Nutri-Cal vitamin gel, and more Clavimox. However, she did say that this was only going to be a short-term solution and that IF he responded to the steroid treatment and his tumors began to shrink, it would only buy us a few weeks to months, a year at the most, which we were more than willing to take. By the time we got into the car to come home he was almost back to his old self. He was moving around, vocal and purring. I took Buddha back for his follow-up exam last Friday. His tumors had been responding very well to the steroids and he seemed to be getting over his upper respiratory infection. Which brings us to this week. At about 3am Monday morning I woke to the sound of him wheezing and snorting. Like a person with a really stopped-up nose, who still tries to breath through their nose but can't. I called the vet and she had me come in and pick up some nasal spray and drops for his water. We noticed Tuesday afternoon that he hadn't eaten all day. By Tuesday night he was breathing almost exclusively through his mouth. I was able to force a little water down with an eye dropper, but not enough to be of much use to him. We took him in to the vet this afternoon and the vet gave him intravenous fluids and a booster shot of antibiotics and vitamins. She also gave us a can of liquid cat food, which can be fed with with a syringe if necessary. We have been home for several hours and he seems to be feeling somewhat better. He not only ate 1/4 of the can of the liquid cat food, he also had a few bites of his regular cat food. However, he is still having trouble breathing through his nose. The vet said that his tongue was still pink, and his breathing wasn't labored, so he was getting enough oxygen, and he wasn't running a temperature. Although I am trying to be realistic about Buddha's future and I am thankful for every second of the 14 years and 1 month we have had together, I am still hoping that we can clear this upper respiratory infections up, at least so he can breath normally again. He is a strong cat and still has light in his eyes. This is where I come to my question for anyone who might have any experience with feline upper respiratory infections... I have read that humidifiers can be helpful to cats with upper respiratory infections, but I have not read anything about using humidifiers on FeLV positive cats or cats with Lymphatic cancer. Also is there ANYTHING at all that anyone has come across that is really effective in clearing a cat's nasal passages? Sincerely, Chandra and Buddha Love is not necessary to life, but it is what makes life worth living. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
