RE; COST AND FINANCIAL HELP in Missouri, at least in Lincoln County, we have a thing called care credit. my vet holds charges until we reach $400.00 then puts it on my account with care credit. i can take up to 1 year to pay with no interest charged unless i go past the year limit. you can also use for glasses, dentist, etc. on the monthly statement, they list each charge, and its expiration date. this way, you can pay off a little each month instead of a lot at once. you can contact them at www.carecredit.com or 1-866893-7864 to find out if it is available in your area. dorlis ---- Chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Just for my own info... I thought IFA would show if the virus has spread to > bone marrow and that a pos IFA was pretty accurate determination.. Am I > wrong on that? > > And you can have false neg Elissa --My Tucson was one of those--she got > tested as a very young kitten and obviously, exposure had been recent--5 > years later she (an indoor spoiled 18 pounder), tested pos on both Elissa > and IFA. Two vets confirmed that neg test was likely because of timing. > > Christiane Biagi > Cell: 914-720-6888 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of MaryChristine > Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:13 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] tests > > please provide information about the PCR test you're talking about. the last > i'd heard, there were none available that wree consistently accurate and > reliable--they've been working on this for a long time and haven't been able > to establish a test that's acceptibly accurate across many labs. > > i know that they HAVE developed one for FIV to determine if the virus is > vaccine-induced or not, but as of a month or so ago, it still wasn't > commercially available, tho it's expected to be soon. > > as far as everything i've read, at this time, the IFA is still considered > the confirmatory test for FeLV. i'd love to see anything newer. > > what has to remembered with FeLV is that, unlike FIV, the ELISA test is for > ANTIGENS, not antibodies--so a cat can test negative merely because the > exposure was too recent tos how up--so the negative isn't "false," it just > was too early. likewise, false positives may be false positives from all the > things inherent in the test, but they can also be true at that time: the cat > has been EXPOSED to the virus. antigens are NOT an immune response, however, > just an indiciation that the kitty has been closely exposed to the virus. > > this is where the biggest misunderstandings arise: most adult cats will > throw the virus off anywhere between 30-120 days--their immune systems will > just knock it out. then a test will be negative because there are no longer > antigens wandering around irritating them. but if you test too soon, you'll > just get another positive result because the cat's body hasn't had the > chance to work the virus out. > > doing an ELISA and an IFA right away will probably give you the same result > on both of them, because it's the EXPOSURE that's showing up. the only real > way to know is to consider a positive result for what it is: an indication > that kitty was in close contact with someone who had the virus. (we don't > know for sure, as far as i have seen, that a cat on the edge of throwing off > the virus itself can't still pass it on, perhaps at a subclinical > level?)--if you know when the last date the kitty could have been in contact > with another cat, test if 90-120 later than that..... with the IFA (or if > there really is a DNA/PCR test newly available, that one) > > and then make the decisions. > > MC > > > On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 11:36 AM, Saehwa Kang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > The ELISA test takes a blood sample from the lower leg, and is > > inexpensive. It's not that accurate, as there are false positives and > > sometimes false negatives. We had 2 three month old kittens who became > > negative within 1 month, and one that became negative 3 months later. > > > > You can retest after about 2-3 months with the Elisa again. Better yet > > is the IFA test. It checks whether the felv has reached the bone > > marrow- the vet sends a blood sample to a lab and is a tad more > > expensive but much more accurate. > > > > However,the best alternative after a positice elisa test is the new > > PCR test. It's so new you won't see it in many google searches. It can > > detect even minute quanitites of the virus and is the most accurate > > test out there- also sent to the lab. Best after two consecutive > > positive ELISA tests. > > > > Your kitties can fight off the virus and change to negative though > > it's not guaranteed. They probably got it from their mother. Many > > kittens can and do fight it off which is why early testinf is often > > inaccurate. In order to do so, you'll need to provide a low stress > > environment, indoor only home to reduce exposure to germs, premium > > food mostly canned (wellness, innova evo, natures variety > > instinct,etc), clean the litterbox and dishes daily and have more than > > one box, vaccuum and keep them flea and worm free, as well as spend > > time playing with the kittens and giving them affection, toys, warm > > places to sleep. > > > > There are no guarantees but it is possible to go from positive to > > negative. Just takes dedication and having hope... > > > > And others will tell you a felv positive diagnosis is not a death > > sentence! > > There are plenty of people here who have healthy cats with felv that > > have had long lives. > > > > I don't know about financial assistance, but you should try and talk > > to your vet about payment options. The cheapest ELISA test I found ran > > about $25-30 here in LA. > > > > Also, you can do you best to change their positive status to negative > > in the next few months. Even if they don't, you can adopt them out > > when they are a bit older after you've tried or just try to adopt them > > out now and tell people they are positive for now but could change.. > > > > > > On Oct 28, 2008, at 7:51 PM, SALLY NORDSTROM <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > > > I'm getting real confused about the available tests and their > > > accuracy. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? > > > > > > I had to file a bankruptcy and can't afford testing. Is there > > > someplace that can give me help? > > > > > > How hard is it going to be to place my rescued kittens in homes? > > > What resources should I be using? > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Felvtalk mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Felvtalk mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > > > > > > -- > Spay & Neuter Your Neighbors! > Maybe That'll Make The Difference.... > > MaryChristine > Special-Needs Coordinator, Purebred Cat Breed Rescue (www.purebredcats.org) > Member, SCAT (Special-Cat Action Team) > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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