Cassandra:
I don't really have an answer to your question exactly, however, when I took my beloved Monkee (who passed on the 16th) to what would be his last vet, a holistic vet, something along these lines came up. In reviewing his records, she noted to me that the first vet I took him to in Northern Kentucky (when I first took him to a vet after ascertaining he was a stray- I went to the cheapest vet clinic in town because I didn't plan on keeping him) had gave him the FelV vaccine, even though his FelV test was positive. At the time, I knew nothing about FelV, I wasn't planning on taking this cat in (I wanted to adopt him out, but the vet said no one take him with a FelV positive test) and I was in the office by myself crying. So when she said they would give him the vaccine, even though he tested positive already, I was just like "whatever." She mentioned something about how they go ahead and give the vaccine anyway even if they test positive because he could still throw it or something...? This was back in 2003. When I saw the Holistic Vet at the end of June this year, she couldn't believe they gave Monkee the vaccine for FelV, after having a positive test. She said that I was probably "just given bad advice" but she says they don't recommend doing that in a FelV + cat because the vaccine, due to the very nature of what a vaccine is (a dead form of the virus) can actually bring up the FelV virus (cause it to become activated) in a positive cat. Thank god, this did not happen to Monkee, as he lived 4 insanely healthy years before the virus reared it's horrible, ugly head, but still, it freaked me out at how badly it could have gone just due to my lack of education.
I want to see what the other members think about this? But based on the above, I would wait until they are old enough to be tested for FelV and then only vaccinate if they are negative. I don't think there is harm in waiting, especially if you keep them from being exposed to other cats that may be positive. My mom's cat Tally was FelV negative and my mom only started the vaccinations this year (Tally is probably 3 years old now) just because she's a strictly indoor cat and she wanted to wait until she could afford the vaccinations.
-Caroline
From: "C & J" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Vaccinating kittens of unknown status against FeLV?
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:55:19 -0500
I adopted two kittens from a farm who are 8 weeks old right now. They are scheduled to go in for their vaccinations at 10 weeks, and the clinic mentioned that the FeLV vaccination is standard now. I asked if they should be tested first to make sure they don't have FeLV, and they said it didn't matter.I am wondering what your opinions are on this. I don't know if these kittens have ever been exposed, but I do know that 10 weeks is too soon to reliably test for the virus. Is it safe to go ahead and vaccinate, not knowing if they are infected or not?I'm not even positive I want that vaccine, but it may be a good idea. The kittens will eventually be able to go outside in chain-link enclosure that we've built, so it is unlikely they will have contact with other cats, but its always possible some contact could occur through the fence. We live outside of the city now, but there are a few cats belonging to neighbours that wander through from time to time (they mostly stay out of the yard due to our dog).Cassandra
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