Re: To Leslie: Re: crackers IFA was positive need help a.s.a.p.

[Leslie]

Thank you, Wendy! 

Message: 10
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 07:06:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: wendy < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: To Leslie: Re: crackers IFA was positive need help a.s.a.p.
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Message-ID: < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Leslie-

I loved this post.  You are one cool cat.

:)
Wendy

--- Leslie < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>  Kayte,
> My first FeLV+ cat was also the first cat that I
> ever owned on my own.  I'd
> grown up with all sorts of critters, but it took a
> few years after
> graduating college to finally get in a situation
> where I could own my first
> "all mine" pet.  I'd been wanting this cat forever.
>
> I found Sushi at a shelter, she was 2 years old and
> demanded that I take her
> home that very instant.  I L-O-V-E-D that cat.  The
> shelter had tested for
> leukemia and FIV before I adopted her and she'd
> tested negative.  One month
> after having her home, she was very lethargic.  I
> ran with her in a carrier
> to a vet that I'd seen near my apartment, but I'd
> never met.  This was New
> York City (Queens), so not having a car, and not
> wanting to subject a cat to
> a subway ride, I was pretty limited in my vet
> choices.  The vet was an ass.
> He had no bedside manner.  He  made me feel like the
> whole situation was my
> fault.  He'd HAVE to rehydrate, he'd HAVE to do
> bloodwork, he'd HAVE to keep
> her during the day - like I wasn't going to be
> paying him for his efforts.
> I was in tears, which didn't make him respect me any
> more.  Quite frankly,
> he scared the hell out of me, and as it's all of our
> deepest fears that it
> really IS our fault, I was a mess.  He retested her
> for FeLV+ (she'd been
> rescued from a house full of cats, so may have been
> exposed close to rescue
> and the first testing).  I took her home as she'd
> perked back up, the fluids
> really helped, and she rebounded fully.  Despite
> this, when he called to
> tell me that she was positive and anemic and had
> "maybe" a month to live,
> told me to expect to see rapid deterioration, blah,
> blah, blah, I was again
> distraught.  The next week, against the back drop of
> her romping around and
> talking to herself, chasing bits of dust, knocking
> things over (her favorite
> was to knock my glass of water onto me at night),
> trying to escape, I called
> everyone that I knew hysterically telling them that
> my cat was dying.  The
> vet said so.
>
> Eventually, emotionally spent.  I hung up the phone,
> slumped down against
> the wall and lethargically, tearfully gazed over at
> her across the room.
> Making eye contact, she marched over and placed a
> World Cup worthy head butt
> against my pathetic forehead.  I giggled.
>
> And I realized that I was being a dumass.  Maybe she
> had this disease.
> Maybe she was dying, but who of us isn't?  She
> wasn't dead, and I was
> wasting time being a melodramatic human.  So instead
> of focusing on how she
> was going to die, I focused on how she was going to
> live.  I didn't have any
> support, but I found a raw feeding list and, though
> I didn't switch to raw
> for a while, I started researching the feline diet.
> And I put her on a
> better food.  And I moved into the city and found a
> good vet.  I took her in
> for check-ups and loved the heck out of that cat
> until she passed two years
> after I'd adopted her of a heart attack (myocardial
> infarction).  Yes, my
> life infarcted at that point, and I still miss my
> sweet marshmallow-y
> friend, who would lay on my arm at night and purr,
> and gaze into my eyes
> like she was proud of me.  But she'd led me to
> another positive cat to
> adopt, Hepburn.  And Hepburn led me to Satchmo that
> I have today (also
> positive).  And Sushi, after all, after all that
> that jerk vet said, never
> did deterioriate.  Never did succomb to the
> leukemia.
>
> I owned Hep for 2 1/2 years, she did die of FIP,
> which was probably leukemia
> related, but I'd gotten her as an older kitten, so
> even there, she was on
> the high end of her life expectency and she, too,
> was an amazing, happy,
> healthy cat until the end.
>
> Satch I've had for two years now, I adopted him at 5
> years old, so we don't
> know when he was exposed to the virus, but he's the
> biggest, stompiest guy
> you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting, and other
> than being susceptible
> to URI's (which as long as I don't bring home sick
> kittens that already have
> URI's) hasn't been any problem.  I have high hopes
> for him going a very long
> time.  And I'm thinking of adopting him a friend -
> either a positive kitten
> or a negative adult cat - once he stops coughing.
>
> I know that this has been long, and work is piling
> up, but I just wanted to
> tell you my story.  Let you know that I understand
> what you're feeling, but
> take your cues from Crackers.  Is he laying around
> in dirty pajamas,
> watching Ricki Lake, stumbling amongst empty Chinese
> take out cartons,
> wondering "why me?"  This is a terrible illness, but
> not one that is
> powerful enough to take the good times away while
> they are here.
>
> Get a new vet.  Pinpoint when Crackers was exposed.
> What happened to
> Pokemon?  Was she positive?  Put Crackers on a good
> diet - there are lots to
> choose from ranging from Max Cat to raw feeding -
> expensive doesn't always
> mean good, nor does the fact of it being sold out of
> a vet's office.  Do
> some reading about which ingredients should be there
> and which shouldn't.  A
> lot of people supplement, again anywhere from
> Vitamin C to ImmunoReglin.
> There is no one path to follow, just make sure that
> you and Crackers are
> happy on the one that you choose.
>
> Good luck to you both,
> Leslie