You know, I was thinking about that one myself. We "rescued" Onyx from a pet
store in Brooklyn In January '06. I say rescued because I had to take her to
the vet the next day. She had bloody diarrhea (coccidia), she was dehydrated
and malnourished. Although the pet store owner told me she was 10 weeks old,
her eyes hadn't changed color yet, so she was more like 6 weeks old. We never
had her tested (nor did her vet suggest it), I figured a pure-bred cat wouldn't
be exposed. The vet told me about the pet lemon law that would require the pet
store to replace the cat or refund my money, but with this little kitten in
such bad shape, how could I in good conscience give her back to the people who
treated her so horribly? She recovered from her initial illnesses and has since
been very healthy.
Onyx was about a year and eight months old when we got Cinder. we had Cinder
just over two weeks when she came down with a URI, which Onyx then caught. Onyx
got pretty sick because the vet who saw Cinder (a referral from the shelter)
said she didn't need to see Onyx as well - she would just give me enough
antibiotics for both cats - prescribed the wrong dosage for Onyx (only half of
what she should have bee getting). I figured out the correct dosage myself
through research and got her through it. We switched vets after that. In
hindsight, the surprising thing is that none of the vets Onyx saw ever
recommended testing her, and none of them ever recommended re-testing Cinder.
Onyx and Cinder were very close, sleeping together and grooming each other.
Onyx stayed by Cinder's side the night before she died, and didn't eat for
almost a week after she passed, wandering around looking for her. I have
wondered if it wasn't Onyx who had it to begin with after all, and the vets
tell me that it's impossible to know. Looking back, I would think that for Onyx
to test positive on the IFA without showing any sign of illness would almost
have to mean she had it first. Doesn't the IFA signal persistent viremia? I can
only take hope that if that is the case, she may be one of those rare kitties
who carry the virus without succumbing to it.
My other cats got their booster FeLV shots yesterday. These three don't really
mix with each other. The closest they get to each other is dinner time, and
maybe two if them sleeping on opposite sides of my bed. They do occasionally
chase each other through the house, but no fights or mutual grooming. I do have
one question though. I have conflicting information about the effect of the
FeLV vaccine on the Elisa test. One vet told me it the vaccine will effect the
Elisa test but not the IFA. A person at the ASPCA told me that it effects both
tests. But I have read here and elsewhere that the vaccine has not effect on
either test, because the tests look for antigens, not antibodies (which is what
the vaccine provides). Any clarification on that?
Thanks again! Avia
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