Welcome Sue and Shane! This is a tricky one. Dental health is very important. You would hate for your baby to overcome the rigors of fighting FeVL only to succumb to a debilitating and preventable illness caused by dental neglect. I am sure you are well aware of the potential serious health hazards of letting dental problems go unchecked... Three to four years is about right to get your first dental. People may disagree with me but I think that every other year there-after would be a good schedule for dentals for most cats. Don't ignore the dentals; they are very important. The type of equipment your vet has can have a lot to do with how long the dental will last -- along with, of course, the individual response and genetics of your cat. Some vets are better than others when it comes to dentals. My vet has some incredible state-of-the-art equipment (yes - even here in poh-dunk alabama) and they have made an impression on specialists throughout the state who have received patients from them for special care. there is a lot you can do yourself in regard to dental hygiene but i really don't think it compares to an ultrasonic scaling beneath the gum-line and all that they can do now for tartar build-up. I really think that your heart is the best judge of what to do in this situation. You know Shane better than anyone -- you know his status probably better than the vet does. With recent weight loss, however - my gut instinct says: wait. Even a pound of weight loss is a very large percentage of body weight for a cat. That being said - if you get him stabilized where he's at a good weight and his vitals are good - I think it would be beneficial to get the very best dental care if you want to prolong his life. Anything you could do to minimize stress, of course, would be wise...but you have to weigh the pros and cons based on what you know about Shane. The fact that most of his blood-work is on target is very promising. If it were my FeVL+ kitty...and I knew she was very stable and wasn't experiencing any current problems related to the disease -- I would take her for a dental in a heartbeat. I would be there with her every second they would let me and I would have it done on a Friday so that I could spend the weekend spoiling her rotten. The weight-loss bothers me though...if It were my baby...I think I might wait until he gained the weight back and had stabilized for a least a few weeks. I'm glad you decided to join us! We have a lot of very smart people on this list and I don't know what I would do without the people I've met here. elizabeth *Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.* -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 1:23 PM Subject: New member introduction/questions Hi Folks,
I just joined this list after finding out that my cat, Shane, is FeLV positive. Shane is approximately 3-4 years old. I adopted him about 2 1/2 years ago from our local shelter. I did not have him tested at the time I adopted him, so there is no way to know how long he has been infected (he does spend some time outdoors, though there are few other cats that venture onto our property). In July, he started having a problem with his left eye, which my vet diagnosed as an ocular herpes infection. It took about three months to clear things up and it now appears that it may be coming back. During this time, we also noticed that Shane was developing pretty severe gingivitis that has progressed pretty rapidly. I took him in for a pre-dental blood test on Monday and that is when his FeLV positive status became known. The rest of his blood work was fine--most everything was within normal range. I now have to make a decision about whether to stress him with a dental procedure or just do nothing. On the one hand, the worsening gum disease will have a negative impact on his health but, on the other hand, my vet is concerned that the anesthetic and procedure could potentially create a health crisis as well. I also wonder how long the benefits of the dental would last, considering how fast the gum disease has progressed in just a few months' time. Basically, my vet has left it up to me and says there are arguments for (and against) either option. Shane is in good condition (though he had dropped about 3/4 of a pound since our last visit to the vet), his appetite is excellent and there are no other abnormalities that we have detected so far. Does anyone have any thoughts in regard to the dental? Also, I've been reading through the files regarding interferon alpha, immunoregulin, etc. At what point is it reasonable to consider using those treatments? Do you wait until the CBC starts to show problems (anemia or drop in WBCs, etc.)? I look forward to you input. Sue and Shane Jerome, AZ ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
