Olive actually did test negative on the ELISA test, although it wasn't a strong negative. The IFA was done twice and came up positive both times. We skipped the ELISA test on my other two, and instead are having the blood shipped to the vet school for the IFA.
I don't think that my vet seems to know a whole lot about FeLV, really. He hasn't really given me any options as to what to do with Olive. He may be under the impression that it's a lost cause. He gave me amoxidrop, but I don't know if that's even helping. He didn't say what type of anemia it was, although I would assume it's non-regenerative. He is aware of Hemobartonella, but I don't think he seemed too concerned about it. I'm going to call tomorrow and hopefully get more answers. I knew the transfusion wouldn't last long, but I didn't realize that it would only be for about a week. I will try to get Doxycylcine, as well as a consultation at the vet school. Now I'm scared that I'm too late to help her. If need be, I can do another transfusion, although last time we had to get blood from one of my other cats, and I hate putting them at risk. I will try to talk to other vets if mine proves unhelpful. Thank you for your input, and thanks to everyone else, as well. You all are giving me hope, even it's just a little bit. -Megan >===== Original Message From wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ===== >Megan, Hi and welcome to the group. I'm sorry you had to find us but you've come to the best place there is for info. short of a Veterinary Internist. I hope this evening finds you better off than last night. Michael is right...going to the website and clicking into Archives and searching through the most current archives is a very good idea. There is so much to learn and lot of good, intelligent people here to help you. Retesting with the IFA after a positive ELISA (in-house) test is important. ELISA can give false positives/negatives. However, since Olive already is dealing with anemia, the test is probably correct. However, all of your kitties who are positive can still seroconvert and 'throw' the virus, so don't give up hope that one day they will be negative. I would retest every 3-6 months (probably 6, since it's less stressful on them to travel and test less often). About 30-40% of cats who are exposed will throw off the virus, which means that if all three were exposed as kittens, which is the most likely scenario for exposure, then the other two may be negative. I'm betting at least one of them is, considering the numbers. I will not sugar-coat things...anemia is bad for FeLV+ kitties. It's fatal a lot of the time, BUT we have seen kitties here who got through the anemia with things like transfusions and meds to help stimulate red blood cell production (mainly prednisolone). The transfusion will wear off. I think it lasts about 10 days, give or take. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Did the vet give you any meds to give Olive? She needs help in getting her RBC's going again. Did the vet say she has regenerative or non-regenerative anemia? Do you happen to have a copy of the bloodwork results done on Olive? If not, can you get them to send you one electronically or pick one up to post here? The BIG thing you need to know about is Hemobartonella. Did your vet mention putting Olive on a three week dose of Doxycycline. Hemobart is very difficult to see on a slide, so difficult to diagnose. One minute the blood parasite is there, the next it's not. So the majority > of vets usually dose with doxy when they see anemia in an felv+ cat. Hemobart has a much higher presence in FeLV+ kitties. If it is hemobart, that's a good thing Megan. It means you have a much better chance of saving Olive. But you have to get her the meds asap. And be firm with your vet about the doxy. If your vet has not touched on any of these things I'm telling you, find another vet asap. You need someone who is willing to work with you to save Olive. Not make money off of you and not immediately suggest pts at the first sign of a positive FeLV test. Michael's suggestion of getting a referral to UT is a great idea. I'm concerned that the vet did not tell you that the transfusion was just a temporary fix. It treats the symptom, not the problem. Some people do treat with Interferon. I would post a question with that in the subject line and you will get more specific responses regarding that specific treatment. Interferon will not treat > anemia though. It helps the immune system stay strong so the virus doesn't kick in. The two most important things you can do to keep your kitties healthy and the virus from 'kicking in' or activating is to feed them a high quality diet, one with no grains, like Innova Evo or the like. Add immune boosting supplements like lysine to the food. Lysine must not have the additive Propylene Glycol in the ingredients as it causes Heinz body anemia in cats. The other thing is to keep your kitties as stress-free as possible. New additions to the family, long vacations and especially boarding, moving, environmental factors like heat, a lot of company, and loud noises are all some things that can stress kitties out. Also, your kitties have already been exposed, so separating them at this point is only going to stress them out further, something you don't want. I would not separate. I did not separate mine (I had four, one positive; the other three never became positive after four years sharing the same food/water bowls and litter boxes). Try not to stress out too much Megan, so Olive will not pick up on it. Do as well as you can in your studies even though you are dealing with this, and enjoy every minute you have with Olive. Take photos of her so in case the worst happens, you have a visual memory of her. I am not trying to scare you; just trying to give realistic advice. You can't know what's in store for Olive in the near future. Prepare for the worst, but hope and PRAY for the best. And please keep us posted and ask anymore questions you may have. :) Wendy ______________________________________________________________________________ ______ Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool. http://autos.yahoo.com/carfinder/
