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: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 5:19
PM
Subject: Re: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv-
I'm confused!
Hi Marilyn,
UC Davies is a good idea. Unfortunately, your link is not for UC
Davies but for a website that sells pet meds. I'm going to find the UC
Davies website on Google and then wander around until I find what I
need.
Does anyone know if Texas A&M offers the PCR test?
Has anyone ever gotten a cat tested with the PCR?
Lee
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 5:05
PM
Subject: Re: Moses tested FeLv+ and
FeLv- I'm confused!
UC Davis does this test and it is very
inexpensive (relatively). I think this is the
link.
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: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:40
PM
Subject: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv-
I'm confused!
We recently rescued a tame "feral" cat from an apartment complex
where people move out and leave their cats to fend for
themselves. I named him Moses. Since he comes from an area
where all the feral cats tested negative on their combo test, I wasn't
very worried. I took him in for his free spay and vaccine and
because he was tame, I had him combo tested because I was going to foster
him at my house until I could get him adopted or into another foster
situation. Unfortunately he tested positive for FeLv. I really
couldn't believe it and the clinic where he was neutered has been known to
make awful mistakes so I took him to the vet I use for my own housecats
and he again tested positive on the ELISA test. I boarded him at the
clinic while I discussed the situation with my rescue partner who had been
the one to catch him in a cat carrier. We decided to do the IFA test
immediately rather than wait 3 months and test again with the ELISA.
Three months in a cage in a clinic is not the way to make a cat happy and
it's expensive. We do NOT kill cats who test positive for FIV or
FeLv. So the IFA test was done and it came back NEGATIVE. We were
happy. My vet called Texas A&M. They told him that if the
IFA was negative, we should consider the cat negative. Just to be
sure though, they said, keep him isolated for another month or two and
then test again with the ELISA. At this point I wanted to
scream. After that, my vet mentioned a test called the PCR. A
friend googled it and found that it tests for FeLv that might not show up
on either the ELISA or the IFA. Unfortunately, Cornell University
Laboratory doesn't do the PCR. It's popular in the UK but apparently
hasn't taken hold here in the USA. Does anyone have any experience
with this test and also, what am I supposed to do with Moses? Should
I consider him FeLv+ or negative? I took him home and isolated him
in a spare bathroom. I only have one bathroom left now. If I
get another cat in to recover for TNR, I'll have to build an outhouse for
myself. Sigh. Any answers will be greatly
appreciated. Incidentally, Moses is a healthy, shiny-furred black cat
with an excellent appetite. He's about 2 years old. I have his
"wife" and son who both tested negative in the ELISA.
Lee