Hi Lynette,
Bless you for the work you do and for helping this mom and her kittens
in particular. I saw Phaewryn's
response and I agree with it and don't have anything to add. Please be
sure to let us know how everyone is doing and ask as many questions as
you like. It's always a shock to get a pos response to a fiv/felv test,
we get it, we understand your fears and anxieties. It does sound like
these guys are going to be okay. I know how scary it can be to find out
you've unwittingly exposed your own brood to the dangers of felv, but in
this case I think you guys will be fine.
Nina
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi all,
I do rescue work in the Chicago area. My group took in a queen from
another organization; she was about to give birth and in fact did so
hours after we received her.
Fast forward three months... three of the kittens were sterilized and
SNAP tested negative/negative on 12/2. She was separated from her
kittens on 12/18 in order that she dry up so she could be sterilized.
On 12/24, another kitten was sterilized and also SNAP tested
negative/negative. That same day the queen was SNAP tested, and the
test came out a "faint positive", ie a light blue dot instead of a
darker blue. She was also sterilized.
The veterinarian in attendance recommended we hold the queen and
re-test her in 1 month. If she tests positive again, we potentially
have an FeLV cat and would follow up with an IFA test. The veterinarian
also recommended that the kittens only go to homes with no other cats.
Our rescue group does full and honest health disclosure, to the best of
our ability, and we can't imagine adopters wanting FeLV exposed
kittens, so we plan to hold them at least until her status is known.
Before we thought through the implications of the queen's "faint
positive" result and asked the veterinarian what to do with the
kittens, I integrated them with my four negative, but vaccinated, adult
cats. The kittens and the queen had been isolated in a bedroom for all
of their 14 weeks and showed inadequate socialization which would be
easily corrected by being underfoot with normal cats in a normal
household.
I now have a lot of questions; this seems like a kind and patient group
so please bear with me, for my stupidity in immediately mixing in the
kittens, and for all my questions.
1) How much danger of contracting the virus are my cats in (they
received their last feleuk vaccine in late October)?
2) How likely is it that the queen is actually positive? (From the
research I have done so far, it appears that this is likely an
exposure positive, and her body may well fight it off, but then again
any possible exposure was more than three months ago, heading on four
months, so I don't really see how it can be an exposure positive).
3) Is there any point to doing an IFA test now, rather than waiting a
month?
4) If the queen is positive, how likely is it that the kittens will
also turn positive?
5) What is the correct process for determining if they are positive, as
in what length of time from their last possible exposure until a
reliable test can be given.
6) Is there any point at all in locking the kittens up until we are
sure of their status (they are blossoming after just a few days and I
am unenthused about this)?
I don't want to risk my cats lives and health, but I do want to do the
best thing possible for the other cats that come my way.
Thank you for any answers or links to answers you can provide, and I
apologize if I am asking basic questions.
Lynette =^..^=
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by
the way in which its animals are treated." --Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948
