Hi Peggy, I'm sorry to hear that Scooter has tested positive, but happy you found us. I'm even happier that you have decided to keep Scooter. I don't believe in accidents when it comes to cats; Scooter came to you guys for a reason. Bless you guys for taking him in.
About FeLV and transmission. I had a stray give birth on my porch about five years ago. I found her a home and two of the three kittens a home. The third kitten I named Cricket and ended up keeping. He was my baby. I had two others in the house as well. Two years after Cricket was born, he got very sick and ended up testing positive for FeLV. He probably was born with it. We got him over that illness and he was fine for two more years, until he succumbed to FeLV related anemia that I believe was brought on by the stress of having a lot of family living with us for a week during Hurricane Rita last year. I lost him in November. None of my other cats are positive. Two of them lived with him more than four years (they are 10 now) and another lived with him for two years (she's 17). They all shared the same water and food bowls and litter boxes, but no grooming. There are a lot of people here who mix. The big thing you will need to worry about is fighting. If blood or bites are exchanged, then the FeLV is more easily transmitted. Scooter may still throw off the FeLV virus, so you'll need to retest in several months. I think the statistics say this happens 40% of the time. The two big things in keeping him healthy and helping him to throw the virus are his diet and keeping him stress free. Make sure he is getting a good, quality food (anything you can buy at Walmart does not count nor does Science Diet, which is what I fed mine before I joined this group; I feed mine Innova Evo now). Also, supplement his immune system by giving him L-Lysine (without propylene glycol) and Vitamin C. Others here use a few other supplements. He will have the upper hand by getting all the love that you and your husband will be giving him. I think that goes a long way in keeping any cat healthy. Please post if you have any more questions or just need an ear and good luck! :) Wendy Dallas, TX P.S. My grandma's name is Peggy, so I love that name! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
