Hi,
I've just subscribed. My friend and I picked up a stray calico and planned to
get her spayed and adopted out. We named her Patches. Patches was spayed last
Thursday and tested for FIV/FeLV. She tested negative. We had her vaccinated
with the basics, including FeLV. Thursday night after her spay, she went to my
friend's house to recover. Patches was kept in a separate bed room with her
own food and water dishes that hadn't been used by the house cats, her own
litter box with fresh litter, and not allowed contact with the house cats. I'm
not sure how good my friend was about washing her hands between Patches and her
cats.
Monday afternoon, my friend found out that her cat Kitty who had been throwing
up for a few weeks and now with depressed appetite, tested positive for
leukemia. This was the SNAP test. I came and picked up Patches and took her
to my house, where she is caged in my basement, separate from my cats. Patches
was at my friend's house for 5 days.
Do I have to worry that Patches might have caught leukemia from the carpet,
bedding and cat bed in those 5 days? The room had been used as a foster room
but in between was open so that Kitty could go in there if he wanted. He also
sometimes slept in the cat bed. Should I continue to keep her separate from my
cats and for how long? Do I need to retest her at some point and when?
My own cats have been vaccinated annually against leukemia, except for Rusty
who has not been vaccinated in about 5 years. Rusty was sick for 2 days after
her first leukemia vaccination since I have had her. She may or may not have
been vaccinated at the shelter where I got her, so she has had at most 2
vaccinations, and maybe only one.
As for my friend, she has 4 cats, 2 kittens, and a foster kitten. She has had
Kitty for a year and a half to 2 years, and he probably was infected before she
got him. She never had any of her cats tested, I doubt vaccinated, and all of
them have mixed freely. One older cat was tested last spring when he was
brought into the house and was positive for FIV only. What are the chances the
others are infected now? Does it make a difference if it is a kitten or adult?
This is heartbreaking news to both of us, and neither of us know that much
about feline leukemia except that it is very contagious and bad.
Merlin
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