Thank you for the support and I greatly appreciate the excellent feedback. Quentin Sonnier
On Jul 30, 2007, at 9:45 AM, glenda Goodman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi Quentin, I'm sure more than a couple of us will get back to you on this post, as there are a couple things you said here some of us might know about and want to comment on. I'm only going to give you feedback on the $$ issue. I live in Nebraska, farm country. We have always been able to purchase our cat/dog vaccinations over the counter, everything except the rabies vaccine. They want the animals documented for rabies, so that must go through the vet. I noticed about a year ago, the Feline Leukemia vaccine must also now be given by your vet. You can no longer buy it over the counter. In the past, I would administer all my vaccinations to my cats and dog, except the rabies. The over the counter cost was roughly $4.00 for the Feline Rhinotracheitis-Calici-Panleukopenia-Chamydia Psittaci Vaccine:( the Flu vaccine). Your kitten needs two of these, spaced about a month apart, then a booster every year...The Feline Leukemia Vaccine was about $6.00.Your kitten needs two of these too...Then a yearly booster...Things are changing a bit now and it is thougt we might be over vaccinating... In the past, I boostered everyone, every year and felt proud of myself for saving at least $40.00 per cat. (I now have six cats...) (My cost to do it myself was about 11.00 per cat.) The Leukemia vaccination from the vet was close to $30.00 and the Feline Rhino-combo was around $26.00. Some vets tack on that office visit charge, as they might call it a check-up. You can purchase your de-worming meds over the counter, but it does help to know what type of worms your cat might have , if any, and get the correct wormer. Your vet has the better wormers. ...As you know, indoor and outdoor cat worming needs, are a lot different.Outdoor cats are constantly getting tapeworms,for example... Quentin, I noticed the other day Foster and Smith sells different vaccines through the mail , as I'm sure a lot of other pet suppliers do. However, I believe it depends on which state you are in and what their laws are...I noticed with the Foster and Smith catalog they were asking for a prescription from your vet... I do wonder why, all of the sudden, the laws have changed in Nebraska where we can no longer purchase the Feline Leukemia Vaccine over the counter. I think this is a very bad change, because now, the responsible farmers, with large cat populations might bypass vaccinating their farm cats completely, for Leukemia...The FeLV vaccination from the vet is 26.00- 33.00 here in Nebraska. The FeLv/FIV test is, $ 33.00-$42.00 in my area... Spay and neuter is getting more expensive too. Spay is around $125.00 Neuter is around, $85.00. They are also adding pain management and some type of blood gas test before the spay/neuter to make sure your animal will survive the procedure...These tests add another $60.00 or so on to the bill? You can always bypass these services and say, not to worry about pain management or ah, let's just see if my animal can make it through the spay /neuter and not die...like they make you feel like a bad parent or something, if you refuse those little add ons...I know I want to be a good parent ,so I'm stuck... You might have a heart to heart with your vet and ask him to take it a little easier on you, especially since you are dealing with a FeLV+ kitty and it is really hard right now. I know a lot of vets really try and help shelter animals out and maybe they are picking up their losses charging their customers so much. Tell your vet you are working with curing your kitty and tell him you have a great group of people on this list and you are a bio major...the whole thing and this is a project of love for you...And, actually since you are so hands on here your vet should be willing to work with you on this...Your vet might learn something...JUST A THOUGHT..I think you do deserve a break...Bless your heart and good luck with your kitty. HANG IN THERE! Glenda --- Quentin Sonnier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: To be completly honest I have no idea what test it was. I feel like I was overcharged $105 for felt/fiv test deworming and nasal flu vaccine. Is this normal. I'm a college senior and my income is moddest to say the least but was this a far price? I know the test kit was a small white plastic bowl that had a faint positive for the felv antigen but not antibody? Being bio major I thought that was weird. The vet mentioned that would indicate it got the antibody from its mother but not the virus. This kitten has an abnormal eye that is receeded so I'm thinking its mother tranmited it. I'll look into the lysine diet sup. Also are anti oxidants a good bet? I was thinking about giving her low doses of xango. Quentin Sonnier On Jul 29, 2007, at 1:14 PM, "Pat Kachur" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: We "think" Mandy has only had the virus for about 5 months--but only because the vision problem began at that time so it is really just a guess. The vet said that the virus may attack most any part of the cat and he has seen other cases where it did attack the vision. Thanks for the advice re dosage of lysine. I am starting her on it today. Also purchased some PetPromise food at Whole Foods this morning. I see there is advice in one of these threads from a veterinarian regarding cats getting enough protein and enough water in their diet--the list mentioned two others Whole Foods sells so I am going to get some of those, too. So far, she'll wolf down just about anything. I did not see my "regular" vet who is also my friend as he is on vacation until Thursday. When he returns, I am going to discuss Mandy with him--as I think he is the world's best!! (Possibly a little biased.) Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "wendy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 2:06 PM Subject: Re: Valtrex toxic for cats or effective FeLV treatment Hey Pat, When we started Smookie on the lysine (no additives; can cause problems), we gave her 500 mg. capsules that we opened and mixed in with her wet food twice a day. So she was getting 1000 mg per day. Lysine is an amino acid, and it interferes with the virus's ability to replicate. Since your furbaby is only 5 lbs., you might consider sticking with 250 mg. 2x per day. Also, even though your kitty is almost 5 years old, she still can throw the virus, depending on when she was exposed. Some even throw the virus a long time after exposure, but that's more rare. Since your kitty has the vision/hearing issues, have you done blood work on her? Hypertension can cause overeating and vision problems. You might have to ask specifically for a high blood pressure test. Does the vet know why she has loss of vision? :) Wendy "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ ----- Original Message ---- From: Pat Kachur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 12:44:15 PM Subject: Re: Valtrex toxic for cats or effective FeLV treatment Wendy - I adopted just 3 days ago an almost five-year old cat who is FeLv positive. (Didn't know it until I took her for testing the next day.) She has no outward symptoms except partial loss of vision (and possibly some hearing loss). Other than that, she is lively, playful and eats like a small horse. Could you tell me how much lysine I should give her? I have bought some at the Whole Foods store but, of course, it only gives human dosage. She is very small--less than 5 lbs. Thank you. Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "wendy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 11:16 AM Subject: Re: Valtrex toxic for cats or effective FeLV treatment Hi Quentin, Welcome to the group. Bad idea on the Valtrex. Don't give your kitty any medication that your vet has not recommended. I have never heard of Valtrex being used on cats. Asparin and Ibuprofen are also no-no's, FYI. I have a cat that was diagnosed with feline herpes and had a bad corneal ulcer that we could not get rid of with the meds the vet gave us, including antivirals. She only had one eye to begin with and we almost lost the other one! We finally started giving her 500 mg 2x per day of lysine with no additives (especially propynol glycol, which can cause blood issues) into her wet food and the ulcer went away! It was wonderful! So I definitely recommend lysine for any kitties with viruses. Your kitty has about a 40% chance to fight off this virus and seroconvert. Give her about 3 months before you retest her again with an IFA test. Which test did the vet do on her? Elisa or IFA? Elisa can give a false positive and is what most vets use in-house. You might ask your vet about this. Also, feeding her a high quality diet with supplements like lysine, and keeping her environment stress-free and the two most important factors in helping kitty to seroconvert and keeping the virus at bay if she doesn't. Even if your kitty does not seroconvert, there are some kitties who live long lives, especially if these two factors are taken care of. There is a kitty at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary that is FeLV+ and 22 yrs. old! :) Wendy Dallas, TX "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ ----- Original Message ---- From: Quentin Sonnier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 1:42:17 AM Subject: Valtrex toxic for cats or effective FeLV treatment I have a sweet little black with white tip girl and I took her to the vet to get treated and wormed. We had her tested and she had a very faint positive for FeLV. I've been reading up on treatments and anti virals and I was wondering if it would be a good/ bad idea to give her low dose of valtrex? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. The kitten is about 4 months old and VERY energetic. Quentin Sonnier ____________________________________________________________________________________Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ === message truncated === ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. http://farechase.yahoo.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222
