most shelters and rescues don't even retest POSITIVE cats to make sure they're really positive, because of both expense and not having a place to keep them until they can be retested.
and people don't stop to think that just because someone tests negative today, it doesn't mean they weren't exposed yesterday-or in the up-to-120-days before that that it can to show up on a test. the good news, tho, is that an adult healthy cat can be exposed, and 70% will throw off the virus. again, it can take up to 120 days for the virus to clear the system, so retesting earlier just makes you crazy. in some cases, IFA tests have remained positive for up to 8 months before going negative. and, of course, with vaccinated cats, they don't really know how long the protection lasts--with most of them, titres show it's much longer than the official one year, so if you aren't opposed to vaccinating, you could give your others their boosters and greatly lessen any chances they have of catching it. On 12/26/06, Barbara Oberst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I have 5 of my own cats, plus 4 strays we're fostering. In October, 1 of the fosters tested a faint positive for FeLv. The others tested negative; I just had them retested last week; now 2 more are a faint positive, too. The scary thing is, we were told (not by a vet) that the adoption agency doesn't normally retest negative cats, and those that tested negative could live with my other cats--now I'm worried all of my cats will get it, as some of my own cats were not current on the FeLv vaccine, as they've been exposed to them for over 2 months. Most people, including my family, think my husband and I are crazy for taking in strays, especially now this has happened (my own mother now is implying a sort of, "Serves you right" when I talk to her). But, how could we have left those poor 5 month old kittens to die? They were living in a storage shed, and they were being cared for by the employees; but some of them abused the cats. We still think we did the right thing, despite what's happened. We do it because we love cats, and have been accused of being too soft-hearted (I've been called worse things!). I'd rather err on the side of kindness, if I had to go to an extreme. *"Dianne K Perry, Ph.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>* wrote: Thank you for this. It reminded me of the day Asia was diagnosed with FELV, even before the Lymphoma ....I was down in the dumps and wondering why this again in my life....(last year was horrible with the loss of 4 pets and a husband and a couple rescue dogs) anyway, it came to me that Asia picked me ...she did, there was no doubt about it when it happened last Dec. I knew, her foster parents knew, we talked about it..... It came to me loud and clear that God had her pick me because I would take care of her to the very best of my ability and would not give up easily. Dianne ----- Original Message ----- *From:* TenHouseCats <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *To:* [email protected] *Sent:* Tuesday, December 26, 2006 2:09 PM *Subject:* Re: How do yall do it? the short answer? we do it because we can. we might not always THINK that we can, but clearly the creative force of the universe, by whatever name you choose to call it, believes that we can. these critters always manage to find us, no matter what we do. i have come to believe that, in order to complete their journeys, they come to us because there is something they need that only we can give them. and that there is something that we need to learn that only they can teach us. it never gets easier to deal with the difficulties of special-needs cats, but after the first few times they appear in our lives, i think we start to realize that we ARE supposed to be doing this work, and that it's not just some bad cosmic joke.... everyone does what they can. some of us can work with the elderly, the sick or dying; some can foster; some can give great amounts of time or money but are unable to physically take in additional animals. there are so many ways to help, and each path is valid... On 12/26/06, Kelley Saveika <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi guys, > > I don't have an FELV+ that I know of, but I do have a kitty with VSM > (ventricular septal defect) - a heart condition. She could die at any time, > or she could live for quite a while. (If you could add her to the prayer > list, that would be great). Her name is Missy, and I love her more than > anything in the world. > > She had an echocardiogram and was diagnosed with VSM this summer. I > think I have cried every day since. Before she had the echo I thought she > would be dead every day when I got home. Now I'm sure she will be. Nice as > the heart list people are, I can't really read that list; it is too close to > home. I can barely read this one, and I cry a lot here too. > > How do yall stand it? I don't think I am strong enough. > > Kelley > > -- > Rescuties - Saving the world, one cat at a time. > > http://www.rescuties.org > > Vist the Rescuties store and save a kitty life! > > http://astore.amazon.com/rescuties-20 > -- Spay & Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference.... MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
-- Spay & Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference.... MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892
