I agree with everything Lance said. I foster kittens and also have regular
house cats and the fosters have a room- my bedroom which is actually 2 rooms
put together-- that they live in. As long as they have their clean environment
(which I have to keep clean because it's my room!) and play and affection, they
are fine with it. Eventually, the ones I end up keeping may be integrated into
being house cats, but I've been doing it this way for months and it's fine. A
lot of people on this list- or more so formerly on this list- have FELV+ rooms.
Many people even mix them because the transmission rate is very low- much
lower than you would think- and vets have differing opinions on this (so do
owners of FELV cats). I had an FELV cat and he was my only cat for the 4 years
I had him but I made that choice because he hated other cats (and that is
probably why he had FELV to begin with- he was a "fighter"!) and I was so
obsessed with him that I didn't want to expose him to any run-of-the-mill
diseases that another cat could have that he maybe wouldn't be able to fight
off as well b/c of his FELV. But I have a vet who mixes Felv cats with
non-Felv and she says there's never been any transmission- that the critical
time period is when they are very young kittens and if they don't pick up Felv
then, it's very unlikely they will get it as they get olde because their immune
system matures and their body develops antibodies and a system for fighting off
these feline retroviruses. It's when they are kittens and have an immature
immune system that they are most susceptible to transmission. So she will mix
adult non-Felv cats with Felv+s and has never had a transmission issue.
I'm not telling you what to do- it's a personal decision- but I do think it's
one that has to be made with as much info at hand as possible and one single
vet is not going to provide you that. Sadly, in this day and age, there are
STILL vets who recommend putting to sleep an ASYMPTOMATIC Felv cat (which
frankly, I think is malpractice). So you need to consult a lot of different
resources to make a fully informed decision.
You also need to have Buzz retested in approximately 6 months. There can be a
lot of false positive tests in kittens for FELV. My Felv cat was already about
2 years old when I found him and I had him retested 3 times (positive every
time) b/c I was in such denial! He was so strong and never had anything wrong
with him until the end. But retesting is a must with this disease, but you
need to wait at least 6 mths.
There's lots of good info in the archives about mingling Felv and non-Felv
cats, retesting, and if you should decide to keep him- all the things you can
do to boost his immune system and hopefully keep him asymptomatic for as long
as possible-- diet is HUGE-- very important. So definitely take a look at
those and look for subject lines that will indicate what the discussion was
about.
Good luck.
Caroline
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected]> Subject: Re: Sweet
> Buzz> Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 09:56:10 -0600> > Hi Sue,> > I think it's great
> that you've given Buzz a new lease on life. It amazes> and> disgusts me that
> anyone would abuse an animal. Thanks to you and your > brother's family for
> taking care of him.> > I will say that, as someone who has to isolate a
> wonderful, sweet FeLV+> girl, I don't think it's cruel to keep an animal in
> one room, as long> as their needs are met, they are given love and
> affection, and they get> some time to play, even if it's in the one room. >
> > If you love Buzz, I think you should consider keeping him. If he does> not
> have direct contact with your other cats, and as long as you keep> his
> dishes and litterbox away from them when you're taking them out> to be
> cleaned, the risk of them catching the virus AND actually becoming>
> persistently infected would seem to be incredibly low, if not zero. The>
> virus is fragile, and can't live outside of a cat for more than a few>
> minutes.> > I'm definitely not trying to make you feel guilty or bad. It's
> just that> you> obviously love the little guy, and you might be the person
> he> needs for the rest of his life. My Ember is almost six years old, and>
> other> than what seems like a yearly, intestinal bacterial overgrowth
> that's> been> easily treated thusfar, she's really doing well. Whatever you
> decide,> thanks again for looking out for Buzz.> > > Lance> > > > On Wed, 06
> Feb 2008 08:35:19 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:> > Hello to All... > > I
> recently took a cat my brother had rescued from some neighborhood kids> >
> who were abusing and kicking him. He had fleas, worms and ear mites and> >
> was near death. My brother and his wife nursed him back to physical> >
> health, but he was terrified of people. They had been calling him Buzz> >
> Saw because of the way he behaved when anyone tried to touch him. When> > I
> visited my brother, my sister in law threw a blanket over him to catch> >
> him and handed him to me. I cuddled him in and after a while he began to> >
> purr. He was terrified of people reaching for him, so when we reached> > for
> him we did so with treats in our hands. His whole personality began> > to
> change and Buzz and I really began to bond. When I took him home I> > had
> fortunately kept him away from my other 5 cats. I took him to our> > vet to
> be checked over and neutered. I found out he is 8 - 10 months old> > and the
> heartbreaking news - he is FeLV positive. I have read as much as> > I could
> and > > tried to find a way I could safely keep him with my other cats, but
> that> > does > > not seem to be possible. Even if I vaccinated my other cats
> the risk is> > too > > great. A couple of them have their own issues, and if
> they got feline> > leukemia, > > too, it would probably be the end of them.
> Buzz is now living in one> > room of > > my home and I am trying to find a
> good home for him. I would almost like> > to be > > selfish and keep him
> anyway because he has turned into one of the most> > loving, > >
> entertaining wonderful cats I have ever had, and I have had many. It> >
> would not > > be fair to keep him in one room for the rest of his life,
> though. Oh, by> > the > > way, his name is still Buzz, but now it stands for
> Buzz Light Year - To> > Infinity > > and Beyond! If anyone knows of a home
> where he will be well taken care> > of and > > happy, please let me know. >
> > Thanks, > > Sue > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Lance Linimon> [EMAIL
> PROTECTED]> >
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