Hello Debbie and welcome. I'm so glad you found us, you sound like
you'll fit right in here. Most of us, and I would guess most folks that
have had to deal with felv are the type that bring in the wayward ones
off the street. Bless you and your husbands for having such open and
caring hearts.
I'm so sorry for your recent losses. I understand completely how heart
wrenching it is to find an animal in need when it's already too late to
save them. Please take some comfort in knowing that you helped relieve
their suffering and gave them the opportunity to be loved and cared
about. As far as sweet Elsa goes, it does sound like she was in the
last stages of a very serious illness, (kitties with felv are immune
compromised and succumb to secondary illness, not felv itself). Once
they start developing symptoms like fluid build up it's costly both in
suffering and expense to turn them around, usually, unfortunately, it
does signal the beginning of the end. You did the best you could for
her and you have nothing to feel guilty about with what took place.
Life's hard lessons can really get you down, but you have learned and
will learn more as you do your homework about the realities of felv.
That's a good thing. You might be able to help educate your vets too,
so you may be influencing the lives of many kitties and their guardians
in the future. It's an unhappy fact that many well intentioned vets
still think of felv as a death sentence and advise euthanasia when
someone tests pos, even if the kitty has no symptoms of illness. It's
probably because, like you kind folks, the vets usually don't know they
are dealing with felv until the end stages when not a lot can be done to
turn things around. They see kitties suffering and they just don't know
the facts. The facts are that many cats test pos and throw off the
virus, the test is actually a false-pos, or they do actually have felv,
but with aggressive preventative care, (acting immediately at the first
sign of illness, good nutrition, low stress environment, etc), they can
and do live happy and healthy lives for a long time to come. It may
just be Elsa's legacy to enlighten not only you but your vet as well.
That little girl may change the lives of many to come. Please do your
best to fight the feeling that you did/do the wrong thing in giving cats
in need refuge and love. It's always a good thing to help those in need
to the best of your ability. Just look around you at all the sweet
angels that call your house home when you start to doubt that.
As others have stated, a good many of us have mixed felv pos and negs
together. It's a judgement call to do so, but in your case it doesn't
make a whole lot of sense to me to separate cats that have been living
together for so long. They've either caught it or they haven't,
separating them now will only cause them stress, (one of the no nos with
felv). Healthy adult cats have a very good chance of not catching it at
all or catching it and fighting it off. I would probably test the four
you mention here, and would separate any newcomers that enter your
household until they are tested and if neg, vaccinated. If anyone
starts acting sick, I'd bring them to the vet immediately and the first
thing I'd do is get them tested so you know whether you are dealing with
felv or not. Did you say they are all indoor kitties? I probably
wouldn't even vaccinate indoor only cats. If you do decide to
vaccinate, then you should test those cats first because imo there's no
sense, (and could be harm, although there has been debate about that),
in vaccinating a cat that already has felv.
It is suggested to retest anyone testing pos because the snap test isn't
100% reliable, and also because an infected cat can throw the virus and
become neg later. You wouldn't retest a cat that tests neg on the snap
test, (false neg tests are more unlikely than false pos), unless you had
reason to suspect they had been infected since the last test. The
reason it has been suggested to retest using the IFA is because it is
more reliable. You asked if you can be sure that a neg snap test result
means the cat is truly neg... The answer to that is no, but it is more
likely that they are neg though. Felv can be sequestered in the bone
marrow, (not present in the blood), and a ELISA test would not show
that. If your kitties are acting healthy, then I wouldn't worry, I know
that is sometimes easier said than done, but worry does not help. Arm
yourself with information, watch them all carefully, get the ones that
seem compromised tested and go from there. That's my two cents, (well,
I guess it's more like a buck fifty :-) ).
Nina
Debbie wrote:
all of our cats are within 3 1/2 to 4 yr. group, so no one is elderly.
We have one cat that had problems with urinary tract crystals, 2 with
hormone problems (loss of hair by tail), and only one that is what I
would call thin. They all run, jump, play, eat well, and like I said
they have all their other vaccinations.
Does the group feel like a snap test is accurate at all? If we have
them tested can I know that a negative is truly a negative? I doubt we
will be able to retest everyone if we test all 14 now.
How do you think a vet should approach this sort of thing? I live in a
rural community so our vets are more than likely not exceptionally
qualified on feline leukemia. No insult intened.
