I thought you had already had the kitty tested, sorry. You might not even want to bother with the ELISA, actually, since it is not that accurate either way. I have limited experience but if it were me, knowing what I do now, I'd go straight for the IFA, and then have another IFA in 3 months or so, either way. Sometimes the disease is dormant in the bone marrow for many years, but if I recall correctly, the IFA should show whether the kitten has it in his bone marrow at all. Diane
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Maryanne Velard Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Kitten potentially exposed to FeLV Hi Diane - Thank you for the advice. I will be having the kitten tested this Wednesday with the ELISA in the doctor's office test, it has not yet been tested. Should I ask then for the IFA test if comes back negative? I'm not sure the sequence of what to ask for when. I was just wondering if the exposure this little guy had to the indoor FeLV+ cats in the man's home could show up later in life and negative now. Thanks again - MaryAnne "Rosenfeldt, Diane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, Maryanne -- You'll get some great advice from this bunch, but just a couple things: 1. FeLV isn't as drastically contagious as is often thought. The virus doesn't live long in air, and is mostly transmitted through exchange of bodily fluids, so if the kitten hasn't been eating or fighting with the indoor cats, chances are the kitten is OK, at least as far as contracting it from them; there is still a chance, of course, that it had an FeLV+ mother. 2. I am assuming that you had the IFA test done on the kitten on Wednesday, since you don't yet know the results; the ELISA tests are done in-office so you know right away, but they are much less accurate. Please know that even if positive you should have the kitten retested in 90 days, since sometimes (this is mostly in cases where it was exposed via its mother) kits will test positive but "throw" the virus later as their immune systems develop. I believe there have been cases of false negatives (but especially in the case of the ELISA tests, far more false positives). I'm sorry for the loss of your old kitty. It's very hard watching them be ill and not being able to help. Diane R. ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Maryanne Velard Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:18 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Kitten potentially exposed to FeLV Hi, I'm new to this site, and have a question. This past weekend, I answered an ad in the paper for a kitten found in backyard of someone's house. I went to the house, and the man there told me the kitten showed up at his doorstep about 1 month ago. They he had been feeding him, and I saw the food/water bowls outside. He told me he had 2 indoor cats. I saw one of them while I was there. He brought the kitten I adopted inside (it was very friendly, obviously not ferrel) for me to see. I ended up taking the kitten home. He looks like he's about 10-12 weeks old. The next day he called me and told me his 2 indoor cats were FeLV+ and that he lost another cat this past July to FeLV. I asked him if the kitten I took was exposed to his cats, and he said they remained outdoors and separted all the time. However, he did allow the kitten inside when I was there visiting, so I'm not certain I believe him 100%. I will be having the kitten tested Wednesday for FeLV/FIV, and if negative again in 90 days. This kitten is now in my home strictly indoors, with no other animals. My question is this, if the combo tests I have done show up negative, could the kitten still have FeLV lying dormant until something stressful happens to him, or he gets sick with something else? I've read some controversies on the Web, and would like to know what the possibilities are. I had a 19 year old cat that lived her last 4 years with Vaccine Associated Sarcoma, and it was very emotionally draining. She died this past July. I'd like to be sure I start with a healthly kitten, not one that could have this disease lying dormant. 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