If you want to be ultra careful, I would wait until 24 hours after the other kitties have had their booster. I realize you have already co-mingled so it may not matter.... L
-----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Cougar Clan Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:14 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] How to long to separate negative/positive kitties? My holistic vet prescribed various "meds" to reduce stress including Rescue Remedy and Feliway. Perhaps yours has some ideas along those lines? On Aug 4, 2009, at 9:08 AM, Lisa Borden wrote: > Hi Iva, > > I just wanted to tell you how much I can relate to your dilemma. > Last year, I brought Tommy home and successfully introduced him to > his new brother and sister, only to find out that he was FeLV+. I > was given the same two options - separate or euthanize. I can only > tell you what I did. I tried separating, but like what is happening > in your home, everyone was unhappy about it. I took Tommy to a > holistic vet and she told me that separation is stressful to > everyone, and this can make it easier for the virus to take over and > make Tommy sick. > > So what I decided to do is NOT separate, keep everyone vaccinated > against FeLV (except Tommy), and keep stress to a minimum. Almost a > year later, Tommy is showing no signs of illness, and he just turned > a year old. My others also show no signs of illness, and I plan to > get them tested when they go back to the vet this year, and boosted > for FeLV vaccine if they are still negative. > > I think you said in your other post that they have been living > together for a while? And they are still negative? That tells me > that they have mature immune systems that are capable of fighting > off the virus. It is likely that they will stay negative. > > Hope that helps, > Lisa > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Iva Lark Emily Seaberg" <melleph...@sbcglobal.net > > > To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> > Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 1:29 AM > Subject: [Felvtalk] How to long to separate negative/positive kitties? > > > Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! It was very reassuring to > read all of your posts, especially those with multi-cat mixed > households. I spoke to the vet this morning and she was actually ok > with my decision, but she wants me to keep my positive kitty > isolated for now. She didn't say how long, though I know she is > hoping for indefinitely. We are putting Becca on antibiotics for her > oral inflammation and then steroids, which I know will temporarily > decrease her immune system more but could be worth it in helping her > fight the virus back? > > Anyway, here is my dilemna. Currently, Becca is isolated in my > master bedroom/bath. All the cats are unhappy about this. The two > negative kitties sit outside the door and reach their paws under to > her. They meow at me with a clear "Umm, Mom we want our sister > back." and they try and sneak in there. She in turn tries to sneak > out and is seeming a bit down. She's exceptionally affectionate when > we go in there, more so than usual, but she's not eating as much and > seems almost a bit depressed. She kept me up all night trying to > love on me. I also know it is a small space and can get lonely. Now, > I've read what everyone said about stressing her and I don't want to > do that, so here's my dilemna. How long should she be quarantined > for? The negative kitties JUST got their first vaccine on Friday and > won't be at full protection until they get their boosters in 2.5 > weeks. Should I keep her in there until at least then? Should I just > let her out now? I really > really want to minimize the negative's risk of exposure because I > don't want them to be infected. > > I did read the articles everyone mentioned and it was still unclear > to me where in the articles it says that it is safe to expose a > negative to a positive. It still said they could infect, but no odds > were mentioned, so therefore they should be separated. See below: > > "Uninfected cats in a household with infected cats should be > vaccinated; however, other means of protecting uninfected cats (eg, > physical separation) should also be used. Constant exposure to FeLV- > infected cats is likely to result in viral transmission regardless > of vaccination status." > > "In ~70% of adult cats, viremia and virus shedding are transient, > lasting only 1-16 wk. A few cats continue to shed virus in > secretions for several weeks to months after they cease to be > viremic. Virus may persist in bone marrow for a longer period, but > even this latent, or sequestered, infection usually disappears > within 6 mo. Some FeLV-exposed cats (~30%) do not mount an adequate > immune response and go on to become persistently (ie, permanently) > viremic. Persistently viremic cats develop fatal diseases after a > variable time period" > > What if she's just now in the shedding stage? Is she considered > persisently viremic at this point as she's had gum issues for a few > months? Does that mean she is currently shedding the virus? > > I almost wonder if the positives that aren't infecting the negatives > aren't at the viral shedding stage. Is it really safe to expose the > other kitties? Should I keep her quarantined for the next 2.5 weeks > or does it really matter? I'm torn. On one hand I don't want to > stress her unnecessarily, especially when I'm about to have to give > her antibiotics twice a day and steroids twice a day. She is going > to hate that. I don't want her to lose weight either, she's always > been a tiny, dainty thing and she doesn't have any weight to lose! > On the other hand I don't want to infect my other babies and I can't > help but worry that to let her out now, before they have full > vaccine protection at least, much less before the steroids have a > chance to calm her virus down would be to stack the odds against them. > > I need advice! > > Iva > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > Marylyn, Copper & Thomas _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
