I've wondered about the "dad factor" myself. In my particular litter of
felv kittens, (found as bottle babies appox 2.5 weeks old), we lost 2 at
or before 7 mos, 2 at or before 2 yrs, one that tested neg, and one that
was never tested, but remains healthy and asymptomatic. The two
surviving kittens are now over 3 yrs (the one that was never tested was
adopted out, but we keep in touch). The strange thing is that the two
remaining kittens look like each other, both male with Siamese markings
and blue eyes, but the 2nd kitten we lost also looked like them, she was
female though. There are just so many factors and of course, this is
just one litter, so it's impossible to draw conclusions. The little
girl Siamese was adopted out to a hectic household, perhaps the stress
factor had something to do with her dying young.
I sure would like to hear from anyone else that has had experience with
vaccinating pos cats/kittens for felv before/after they have been
diagnosed. None of these kittens were ever vaccinated for felv.
Nina
TenHouseCats wrote:
the latest stuff i've read--forgive me, those of you who want
attribution, i'll find it again one of these days, really!--it may NOT
primarily be passed in utero like it was once thought, but through
mom's mucous membranes during the birth PROCESS, and during the
nursing/cleaning/nurturing days of tinybabyhood--this might help
explain why we're seeing so many mixed litters, and moms who are
negative with babies who test positive at one point or another... in a
colony environment, that'd make sense..... i also wonder if, since a
litter can have as many dads as kittens, if there's an immune-response
thing that's contributed by dad.....
- Re: BIG TEST QUESTION Nina
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