Hi Laura,
Welcome to the group. I haven't been a frequent contributor
recently, but have been on the list since 2001, when I took in FELV
kitties Calawalla Banana BooBoo and Mr. Black Kitty (who were meowing
at my door steps every morning). I later was fortunate to have
Mittens, a sweet gray tabby. All have passed away. Calawalla and
Mittens were both young, and died when about 2.5 to 3 yrs old. Mr.
Black Kitty (MBK) was of unknown age, and FELV/FIV positive. He died
in November 2003, as I recall, but don't know his age.
I've had two die since then, last September 2006 - Houston (black
DSH) and Dallas (gray and white DLH), both about 2.5-3 years old.
They died after I was gone on vacation, and they didn't get their
interferon every day.
I now have 4 FELV kitties - Oliver, Felicity, Chloe, and B.B. The
first 3 are about 10 years old or more, and B.B. is about 4 years
old. They are not on interferon.
After my first FELV kitty died, I followed the belief of others on
this list, Tally, in giving low dose oral Interferon Alpha daily.
Tally's web site is still out there, and she has a page on "Boots
Story" - http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/ Note that
it's easy because it's oral and tasteless. Interferon can cost a lot
(like $65 for a small bottle) or a little (I get a huge bottle for $15.)
So there are 4 - no 5 - approaches that I have encountered - 1)
Interferon Alpha, 2) Vitamin C, 3) Immuno Regulin, 4) Interferon
Omega, and 5) FELV vaccinations.
If I acquired an FELV kitty now, less than 3-4 years old, I'd
definitely do daily oral interferon. Just my approach.
A 2nd approach - Vitamin C therapy, which has been said to make an
FELV pos. kitty go negative. Let's see, the web site is http://
www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/
And a 3rd approach, is Immunoregulin, for which there are various
protocols for injecting it.
Then number 4, there's Interferon Omega, which is not easily
available in the US, but you can get a special dispensation from the
FDA to use it.
I add the 5th approach, because I got 3 cats from a vet tech in
Oklahoma, a couple of years ago - and these cats are about 10 years
old. Her vet treated ALL of them by doing periodic FELV vaccinations
- I don't know the protocol, and most folks I mention it to say it
shouldn't work. But these cats are 10 years old, so go figure!
The other cat I have now, B.B. , has not received anything, but the
person he was with before gave him holy water blessed by an Indian
teacher/guru.
The FELV web site - felineleukemia.org - has a lot of great info out
there.
Re mixing - I don't mix my FELV and FELV- cats, but have done that,
and would if I didn't have fosters for the local cat rescue - and if
I was sure it wasn't dangerous for my FIV+ cats. I just don't
believe it's that contagious for healthy neutered cats.
Sorry, this is a bit long. Hope it helps a bit, and you'll generally
find that this is a really terrific group of wonderful people!
Gloria
in Little Rock
On Jun 14, 2007, at 5:16 PM, Laura Mostello wrote:
Hi all -
My name is Laura and I'm new to this list. I'm also
new to FeLV, since I've just adopted an infected cat.
I work at an animal shelter here in Georgia, and one
of my favorite cats tested positive last week. We had
planned to take him to an adoption fair but had to run
the test first. Well, Duncan was one of the unlucky
ones. He has a terrific personality and I'd grown
quite attached to him during his 4 months at the
shelter, so I adopted him myself rather than let him
be euthanized.
Duncan visited the vet today, and aside from slightly
swollen lymph nodes, the vet says he looks great. He's
extremely energetic, friendly and has a great
appetite, and so far there are no symptoms of illness.
It was a real surprise when the test came back
positive. Cats rarely stay healthy for 4 months at the
shelter - they usually contract a URI and, since there
is no money in the budget for vet care and no
medications, most deteriorate quickly and are
euthanized. But we never worried about Duncan; he
always seemed so strong and he never got sick. Of
course at this point the vet can't give me a definite
prognosis - we just have to wait and see what happens.
I'm hoping to learn a lot from others on this list,
especially what you all have done to keep your cats
healthy.
Thanks!
Laura
