Hi Anna
I can identify with your devastation and can understand the fear and
uncertainty around the diagnosis of a best friend. Most of us have
been there.
The statistics fluctuate, but it has been reported that 80% of cats
have a natural
immunity to FLV, and if you read the archives on this list you will
discover that
transmission is not as certain as was once believed although all of
us living with
FLV kitties know that one time is enough.
My advice would be to research supplements that will boost their
immune system
and feed them the best diet you can. I think I've been able to bring
a formally mistreated kitten
(she was thrown from the window of a moving truck onto the porch of a
100+ cat home/shelter)
back from the brink because she feels so loved and cared for, that
she is 'not going anywhere'
if she can help it. As we all know, a lot of love and care helps 'a
body'.
Because she was so highly symptomatic at one time, we are giving her
an on again off dose of
Interferon, which some people feel is "cruel" because of side
effects. Our kitten plays and eats
with abandon so I am reluctant to change anything that is keeping her
well and side effects are impossible
to imagine.
You'll get good advise here. Mine would be to keep their immune
systems tuned (DMG liquid is one I use)
be careful of stress and just love them. I know I am nuts, but I do
"bliss therapy" sessions daily. I make sure
that she gets to sit in my lap and purr as loudly as she can for 10
minute intervals. I've concocted the notion
that the purring is helping her heal and so far, it is working.
You will get over the shock and will discover that they have a lot to
teach us about 'present time' and that
love never is subject,object.
Welcome to the three of you !
Jane
On Oct 5, 2009, at 5:11 PM, Anna Waltman wrote:
Hi everyone,
I've been lurking around for the last day or two reading your
posts. My
darling Sylvia, the first cat I have owned as an adult, just tested
positive
for FLV on both the in-office and IFA tests. She's one of my best
friends
and I'm devastated; she was negative as a kitten and has lived
inside for
most of her life (as a little baby, she was a stray-- I adopted her
from the
SPCA at five months, and I know she was there for a while before I
adopted
her). She was given a confident all-clear by my former vet to move
with me
to Massachusetts and live in a multiple-cat household less than
three months
ago.
Upon moving, it became obvious that Sylvia doesn't like being left
alone in
the apartment for long periods of time (prior to our move, we lived
with my
retired parents and their two dogs so she was almost never home
alone). I
decided to adopt a kitten, Beatrice, a few weeks after we moved in,
after
Sylvia had gotten comfortable in the apartment.
So when Sylvia started meowing strangely and acting a little
lethargic, I
assumed it was a kitty flu but took her to the vet anyway, just to
be safe,
and tested her just to be absolutely sure she was still negative.
What a
horrible surprise. She's been living with Bea for a month or two
now and
they're best friends; they wrestle all the time, share food bowls,
groom
each other, etc. I feel sick with guilt about bringing a young
kitten into
a house with a FLV+ cat, and now chances are I have two positive
cats to
care for. Our current vet is wonderful, though, and she feels that
if we
vaccinate Bea ASAP and keep a close eye on Sylvia (treating her
problems as
they arise), there's a good chance we can keep both of them healthy
for a
long time. She says she has other patients and co-workers with FLV
+ and
negative cats living in the same household who never pass it to
each other.
I'm feeding them a mix of Wellness and Innova ENVO and giving the
kitten
multivitamins to boost her immune system and help her fight off the
exposure.
I'm a young graduate student in an MA/PhD program and I don't have
a ton of
money. These kitties had been the most stable thing in my life and
this
diagnosis is totally eating me up, from the inside out. I love
them to
pieces and want to be the best cat-parent I can to my girls (having
chronic
illnesses myself that significantly increase my risk of certain health
problems, I'm as empathic about this as anyone). The horrible
potential of
this disease breaks my heart every time I think about it. My
childhood cat
passed away a few months before I got Sylvia, and I can't bear to lose
another one like that (he was very sick for a long time before he
died, but
we don't know what it was. Could've been FLV or FIV; he wasn't
tested every
year, though he was vaccinated. He was indoor/outdoor and a fighter).
What do you wish you had known when your cat was first diagnosed, if
anything? If there is any advice people have, I would appreciate
it, and as
I gain experience caring for my girls I will share what has worked
and what
hasn't with anyone who asks.
Many thanks and best wishes to you and your families, furry and
otherwise.
Anna
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