|
I took Dixie Louise to my vet to be spayed and she
tested positive for FeLV. There were lots of conversations about how to
handle the "situation" especially since I have Kitty, a FeLV neg cat who has
cancer. To get to the point, all the vets at the clinic, who are very
friendly to all the oddities I bring in, supported having her spayed because it
was a lot less stressful than going into heat several times a year and certainly
less stressful than a pregnancy.
I have friends who are animal communicators
and Dixie kept telling them she had been to the vet before. I had my
vets run a blood test when they could find no surgery scar. Seems
like Dixie had been spayed by someone in the past. Luckily, my AC friends
were there for her or she would have had surgery a second time. It
is highly unlikely this would ever happen again.
If you have men who will exclude any of God's
creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with their fellow
man.
St. Francis
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 11:12
AM
Subject: Re: Hi, I'm New to the
Group
Hi Shana,
Thank you so much for taking in little
Audrey! I'm so glad you followed your heart and didn't take the advice
of your vet! If you take a look at our archives, (you could probably do
a search on "mixing"), you see that a great many folks on the list mix their
negs and pos. I no longer have any felv pos in the house, but when I
did, I mixed them too. Are your other cats vaccinated? Are they
adults? If so, in our experience there is very little chance of them
succumbing to the disease. Vets warn against mixing for the same reason
they advise pts, it's the safest and easiest solution. Pure
ignorance. It's a real hot button with me. We're all going to die
sometime, why should our little pos friends be denied the chance to live, just
because their life spans may be shorter?
It sounds like a wonderful
solution to have your MIL adopt Audrey. Bless her heart! I hope
she's as nice in every other way! If you decide at the outset that you
won't be taking extraordinary measures to prolong Audrey's life, should she
become terminal, then it doesn't have to be expensive. There are things
you can do to help her stay healthy and happy that won't cost much at
all. Being an indoor, only cat is a great start! Keeping the
stress level down, adding immune boosting supplements and feeding her a high
quality diet are the best ways to maintain her health. Finding a vet
that understands their needs and isn't willing to write them off at the first
sign of illness is another. With felv, it's the secondary diseases that
take hold that cause the problems, not felv itself. If you catch things
quickly enough, they can recover, they just need extra support because they're
immune systems don't allow their bodies to heal themselves as easily.
There is also a great possibility that she may have been infected and is in
the process of shedding the disease naturally. She may test neg in the
future!
As far as having her spayed... If she were mine, I'd go
ahead and do it. I'd do it now, while she's healthy. Coming into
season is stressful, (at least it has appeared so to me, all the yowling and
trying to get out to find a boyfriend). You certainly don't want to take
the chance of her becoming pregnant. Talk about stressful to the
system! Hideyo had some good advice about insuring her safety during the
operation, and once you find that felv friendly vet, they'll understand that
add precautions might be necessary. I'd look for a board certified
internist to help you and your MIL with Audrey's care.
One more
thing... Where did Audrey come from? If there's one intact kitten
out there, there are probably more. You could do them all an enormous
favor by getting some help to TNR (trap/neuter/release), the colony.
Just think about the sweet angels that weren't as lucky as Audrey in finding
their way into your home.
Let us know what you've decided. Ask as
many questions as you like. We're all here to support each other and
together we've got an enormous amount of experience and information to
share. Welcome to our group Shana,
Nina
shana tarver
wrote:
Hi
Everyone,
I am new to the
group. We found a beautiful sweet little kitty in our yard 3 wks ago that we
named Audrey. She behaved like a feral cat the first week we had her but is
now a complete love. She purrs when she hears your voice and jumps into your
lap for pets. She has had both the ELISA and IFA test and sadly both have
come back positive. She is 1 yr old (although she's tiny, 6 lbs) and in
perfect heath. We have 2 others cats that are negative (we have kept her in
a separate room). We just received the results of the IFA today and we
are heartbroken. We were hoping the ELISA was a false pos. Our vet
said there is really nothing we can do to help her. My Mother in Law has
offered to give her a home and has no other cats. I would love suggestions
on our next step with her and any success stories you may have. Also, we
need to have her spayed but I am worried about doing it. Any
thoughts?
thanks so
much,
Shana -
Toulouse, Pollock and
Audrey
|
