Hi MaryChristine, I forwarded your link in your later email to my friend.
Your email helped me formulate a plan for my friend. First, the situation: 3 adult cats living together for about 1.5 years. 1 adult FIV cat living with the group for about a year. Monday found out 1 of the 3 is FeLV positive, the rest negative, including the FIV cat. 2 kittens, about 5 or 6 months old, exposed to FeLV for about 3 months, one tests negative, one tests positive now. Their mother was tested negative and it is presumed they were originally negative. 1 kitten, about 3 months old, exposed to FeLV for about 3-4 weeks, tests negative now. This kitten's mother was tested last week and is negative. She was not part of the household or exposed to the household cats. The Plan Caveat: The only way to make sure a cat doesn't get leukemia is to keep it away from leukemia cats. The 4 adult cats have all been together for at least a year and only one has leukemia. Presumably, if the rest were going to get it, they probably already would have it. Retesting them in 3 or 4 months probably won't make a difference since they have had at least a year of exposure. Unless they should get the IFA test now to confirm negative status? Vaccinate the negatives (give this how much time to work?), then let the adults mix - the possibility of the rest getting leukemia is very low. Vaccinate (and test?) the negatives annually. The kittens are more difficult. None have been exposed for 4 months. One might really be positive, or maybe this is false positive. The other 2 are negative at this time, all according to ELISA. The positive kitten has only been exposed for about 90 days. Should she get the IFA test now, or wait another month because maybe the virus has not had time to incubate? In any case, she should be isolated from the negatives and the adult positive. All 3 of the kittens should be retested, at least with ELSA, in 4 months? Should the negative ones start vaccinations now, or wait until after the second test? Once the kittens who are negative at the 2nd test are vaccinated, they be allowed to mix with the adults, again keeping in mind the only sure way to prevent infection is to keep positives and negatives separate. Does this plan sound reasonable, and reasonably safe for the household cats? Merlin > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:06:52 -0400 > From: MaryChristine <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Leukemia questions > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > to me, the key is making sure the negatives are really > negative: ie, even if > they test negative on an initial snap, unless you know it's > been at least > 120 days since they COULD have been exposed, they could > still be incubating > the virus. of course, we're all in denial, so if we get a > negative test, we > believe it.... > > a darling tortie who tested negative at the shelter and > moved into my house > with the shelter manager wasn't truly negative, and we > didn't find that out > til months later when she got very ill: she was positive, > and died soon > after. there were 12 other cats involved--two of them > 3-month-old kittens > when brownee came into the house, as well as at least two > elders--both of > those high-risk groups. we tested all of them, but at 90 > days (which i now > consider too soon), but my vet suggested that i NOT retest > until and unless > there were any symptoms.... that was 9 years ago. > > once you know a cat is truly negative, then vaccinating > them is the answer: > there are no documented cases of actual negatives ever > becoming persistently > positive from living with a true positive (also tested at > least twice with > enough time between the tests). i know that i've looked for > those studies, > because i initially presumed there had to be some--and > there's just not that > i have ever found. the current vaccines are very > effective--and considering > that 70% of cats can either not be infected in the first > place, at will > process the virus out, even the old 85% efficacy rate often > quoted drops the > number of cats who WILL become infected way down. > > one of my favorite cases to quote is that of my friend > katiekalico--she was > never tested when she first came into a friend's household, > and just got > vaccinated each year. at about age 4, i think, she got > sick, and was > routinely tested--positive! every year since, she's been > retested, and all > her sibkits have been tested: she remains positive, they > remain negative. > all are vaccinated yearly. > > in sanctuary experience, FIVs are as able to throw off FeLV > as cats without > FIV; having a history of not dealing well with illness, > however, makes yours > a bit unusual. kittens can be given the FeLV vax pretty > early. if they > SHOULD be positive, tho, you really can't be sure where > they got it because > of that whole exposure thing: unlike with FIV, the snap > test (and the IFA, > actually) both test for ANTIGENS, not antibodies. > > in another email, i'll send the most recent aafp guidelines > for managing > retroviruses in cats: someone just sent it to me, saying, > "now i'm REALLY > confused about testing!" > > MC > > > -- > 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
