Re: New to the list - hello.

[Nina]

Hi Elizabeth and welcome.  I'm sorry your baby isn't feeling well and has tested pos for felv.  We've all been were you are right now and understand how upset you must be.  Of course you're not ready to say goodbye!  I'm so glad you are willing to fight for her!  Take a deep breath, there are things you can do to help her.  If you've had MK for two years, it doesn't make any sense to create added stress by separating her from the rest of your cats, (imo).  Feeding a good supplemented quality diet and keeping the stress level low are the two best ways to help keep her asymptomatic.  If your other cats were going to contract felv from her, they probably already have.  You could have them all tested for your peace of mind, or test them if they become sick.  Since MK doesn't venture from your backyard and doesn't have contact with neighborhood cats, (felv is a "social" type disease, they have to have direct contact with a carrier to become infected, she wouldn't get it from the environment.  "When it dries, it dies".), chances are she's had it all along.  Most healthy adult cats, esp if vaccinated, either don't contract it when exposed, or have strong enough immune responses to fight it off and clear the virus. I have no experience with Acemannan, so I can't help you with that.  One thing I would strongly suggest is for you to find a board certified Internist to help you.  Felv is so darn unpredictable.  It's not the Felv itself that our kitties succumb to, it's the secondary illness and cancers that take hold because their immune systems have been compromised.  Bolstering their immune response and treating any sign of illness immediately are your best weapons.  An Internist will be knowledgeable in kitty diseases and you won't waste time with GP vets that would have to refer you to a specialist at some point anyway. If she's showing symptoms of anemia, pale gums, licking concrete, lethargy etc, you need to find out what the reason for the anemia is and treat for that.  The abx that your vet prescribed isn't a broad spectrum, it may or may not help.  Have you run blood tests?  Has she been tested for blood parasites?  My Grace had problems with anemia and even though the Hemobartinella, (blood parasites), test came back negative my Internist was intuitive enough to put her on Doxycycline anyway, it saved her life more than once. I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice from the group.  Weekends are notoriously slow for us.  Hang in there and post as many times as you like about anything at all that you feel like talking about.  This is the nicest, best informed group of people you'll ever run across.  I'm so glad you found us.  Keep your chin up and give your babies a head bump from me. One other thing...  You mentioned that MK had a litter of 12 kittens.  Do you have contact with any of them?  If she has been infected since you got her, she very well may have passed the felv on to her babies invitro.  You might want to contact anyone that you can and tell them about her status. Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to give some background information in the hope that some of you with more experience may have recommendations.  First and foremost - thank you for being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a cat family member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close - my heart is with you.   Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side.  The next morning, I took her to my vet's office.  On a gut feeling, I asked them to test her for FeVL.  Although she had been vaccinated a little over a year ago, she tested positive.   The vet and the vet tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day.  She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune system to run a fever.   (She was initially a feral cat who adopted me two years ago and blessed me with 12 kittens.  My vet said that was a record)   I am not ready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is time.  Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but she seems to have a decent quality of life.  She ran up the steps to greet me the next day with tail straight up in the air.  I don't want to selfishly keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but my heart says it isn't time.   I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable.  They gave her ammoxi drops and 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood.  I told them to expect me to have a lot of questions and they were very understanding.    I took off work the rest of the day...came home and did my research.  That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website.  Thanks to the information provided, I found out about Acemannan - a drug my veterinarian had never heard about.  I tracked down the manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it and asked if this would be a reasonable course of treatment and if he would assist me.    My vet was also able to find information about this drug and he got it here in 2 days.  We began treatment yesterday.   Since my vet is not familiar with this drug - he told me that he really didn't know what to expect in terms of how she would feel after the shot so I've been watching her closely.  It may be a coincidence but since she got the shot - she's been eating more than I've seen her eat in a while.  For days I've been trying to get her to eat a teaspoon of canned food several times a day without much success and she wouldn't touch her dry food.  Yesterday after her first treatment, she ate dry food and also about half a can of canned food.  I'm trying not to have false hope but I couldn't help but be encouraged.  All the kids here eat 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' cat food.  I have a feeling that nutrition is going to play a huge role in helping her to cope with this and so I am currently looking for diet and supplementation information too.   I'm trying to keep a level head - which isn't easy when it's your baby - and I know and accept that realistically, the odds may not be in our favor...but I believe I would be remiss if I didn't try.    One concern is that this is an eight cat household.  Entirely too many cats..but that is another story.  While this number will not increase - giving up even one is not an option.  They live inside.  Everyone else has been vaccinated and is in good health.  MK is in the habit of being outside in the day and inside at night...but she doesn't leave the yard (truly an extraordinary cat person).  Since she's been sick though - I've been keeping her inside except for brief periods in the afternoon when she wants to sunbathe on the front porch.  I am concerned about infecting the other indoor cats who range in age from 2-7.   Any information or recommendation would be most welcome.   Thank you, elizabeth