Well, I guess I have six of one and half a dozen of the other. About evenly divided for PCR being the best test ever and PCR being useless. Groan! ----- Original Message ----- From: Jennifer Phaewryn O'Gwynn To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 3:53 PM Subject: Re: Moses tested FeLv+ and FeLv- I'm confused!
PCR is unreliable and a waste of money. You must wait 120 days to be sure of ANY test result by ANY means, due to the nature of the virus: Cats will test positive around 30 days post-exposure on the ELISA test. The pathogenesis of FeLV can take one of three paths. Cats can be transiently infected and then clear the virus around 12–16 weeks after exposure (meaning they can test positive, and then "turn" negative after around 90-120 days). They can also develop a latent infection, in which case both the ELISA FeLV Test and IFA test will be negative. Latently infected cats can harbor the virus in their bone marrow for years with no clinical signs. Most latently infected cats can eventually clear the infection, but in a small percentage, the virus can reactivate and clinical FeLV can occur later in life. This reactivation of latent virus explains why a nine-year-old cat that has tested negative and lived indoors alone may suddenly become ill and test positive for FeLV. Cats can also be persistently infected, clinical or nonclinical, but these cats may be shedding virus. Phaewryn Please adopt a cat from Little Cheetah Cat Rescue!!! http://ucat.us/adopt.html Low cost Spay&Neuter services in VT, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html The Sofa Poem: http://ucat.us/sofapoem.html Find us on PETFINDER! http://petfinder.com/shelters/VT44.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.14.5/534 - Release Date: 11/14/2006
