Hi Nina:
The vet didn't say what grade murmur, but when I take her back to him, I
will ask.
Cricket was tested as a kitten and was negative. She received boosters
every 3 years, since I am not a big advocate of just vaccinating for the
heck of it for everything once a year, since my cats are 100% indoors. So
she had her initial kitten shots, then a booster at age 3. All 3 cats were
exposed to Cotton at the beginning, since we didn't know Cotton was sick.
We got Cotton at the end of August last year, his housemate who also was
living with us then died in late September, and we had all the cats tested
by ELISA by October or so. Cotton's was positive and confirmed by IFA.
Cricket's was weakly positive, but we thought it might be from exposure.
Miss and Myca were negative and they were boostered.
Cotton got sick shortly after that, in I think November, and since I was
saving for his possible ultrasound, we couldn't afford another test until
January. Because Cricket tested positive, we got her checked first, and
went with the IFA, which came back positive, much to my disappointment.
Cotton has been well, but I strongly suspect that he is still actively
shedding the virus, since he has passed it to two cats. Cricket
unfortunately started many fights with him, stole his food before we knew he
was FeLV+, but she didn't really put many wounds on him.
Cotton bites and scratches and fights for real, while most of Cricket's
attacks are bluff and posturing and noise: Cricket does lots of screaming,
lots of paws flying, but very little biting on her part. Poor Cricket has
bald spots on her back, neck and ears where Cotton beat her up. When he
got to her, fur would fly. A lot of her fur. Once he ambushed her in the
litterbox within 10 seconds of escaping someone's arms, he made a beeline
for her and tore her up. I had to bathe her to get all the litter and urine
and blood out of her wounds. He's a real little devil. He even bites us
with no warning or reason and then runs off.
We thought Cricket lost weight, but the vet said she didn't. But we've
noticed she has become more and more depressed and panicked if she cannot be
in our bedroom to hide, but now that Cotton is neutered, he seems less
interested in her. She is still very upset by him. All she has to do is
smell him on someone and her tail bushes up. We haven't had a bad fight in
about 2 months. Cricket is due to go back in for her heart murmur check in
2 weeks. Her appetite is good, but she has days where she won't come out
and days when she seems happy and less anxious.
I have tried everything, even a cat door to my bedroom, which Cotton figured
out in about 15 seconds how to open. He is very wiley and strong for such a
small cat, and can open even heavy french doors, he knocks over glasses and
has broken more stuff than I care to share. He has to stay with us much of
the time so we can watch him. Sometimes he is just too wild and we have to
shut him in the bedroom for a timeout. I don't think he ever sleeps during
the day unless he's alone. When we confine him, he yowls loudly. He's
always up in someone's business. He's like a hyperactive child. Cotton
finally had to be neutered despite the risk to his health, which has helped.
But now we don't take any chances, as he did so much injury to Cricket, we
keep them apart as much as possible.
Sandy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: mixing
Hi Sandy,
My Grace developed a heart murmur and it didn't seem to give her any
trouble, she was pos and succumbed to anemia. I had her on Coq10, I don't
know if it helped or not, but I've heard good things about it from others.
I did hear that it shouldn't be stopped once started, I'm sorry I don't
have any info to back that up. You might want to ask your vet about it,
although many vets are not up on sups and their benefits. I've not heard
that felv cats are more susceptible to heart murmurs. As Jenn suggested,
you should find out what grade heart murmur it is before you stress out
about it too much.
Could you please clarify for us exactly what the situation was with
Cricket testing pos? I know that Cricket is 6 yrs old and you had her
before you got Cotton. I know that the two of them have been fussing
since day one and that Cricket has been depressed and stressed out by his
presence. What I don't know is if Cricket had ever been tested before
Cotton's arrival, or if Cricket had been vaccinated for felv before Cotton
came to live with you. Could you tell us again how long you've had Cotton
and how long you waited to test Cricket the second time with the IFA. I'm
a big advocate for mixing and I'd really be interested to know what the
specifics are.
Of course I too hope that all your babies stay healthy and strong. While
we're hoping, let's put in a plea that Cricket and Cotton figure out a way
to get along and stop stressing each other and everyone else out!
Nina
Dudes wrote:
What does every(any)one think about the new appearance of a heart murmur
in my Cricket? Is this an uncommon symptom to appear in FeLV+ cats? I
can't find much in research on the web.
And I am not sure that I feel the same way about mixing positives and
negatives since Cricket is now positive. My vet says FeLV is the
"friendly cat" disease, because cats that groom each other are most at
risk of passing it along. Cricket and Cotton are anything but friendly
to each other. But she did test positive for it before she and Cotton
fought enough to draw blood and cause wounds. I just hope they both stay
well, and my other two cats stay negative.
Sandy C.
Cricket, Cotton, Miss and Myca
