Wow! Am I ever behind on my email! Doing another IFA test sounds like good advice if the PCR is so unreliable. I'll probably go for that with Taco. I'm dead set against the FIV vaccine. Most so-called shelters will kill the cat before even asking questions. I have no doubt that if a cat tests positive for FIV, there won't even be a question in a private vet's mind whether the cat was vaccinated or not. One very weak protection would be micro chipping and including the vaccination info there so that if the cat is scanned, the info that he/she was vaccinated for FIV will show up. It has been my experience that I had to ask for a scan on some of my tame rescues before the vet would grudgingly get out the instrument and go over the cat with it. My own vet is good about scanning strays, even the frightened types who would be considered "feral" but a lot of vets still need to be asked. I now have two FIV/FeLv+ cats. Smooch needs his first IFA test after testing positive for both on the ELISA. Really, I don't feel that tests in general are very reliable. I usually go with the temperament of the cat. When they are neutered, there is less fighting. However, I do have a couple of belligerent Alpha cats who will pick a fight with anything, even a chair if they are in a bad mood. I wouldn't mix an FIV+ with a group containing that type of cat. But most of my cats are very lay back about new comers and don't do the macho thing. They just move one plate over and allow the new kid in town to eat. Lee
--- On Mon, 10/26/09, MaryChristine <twelvehousec...@gmail.com> wrote: From: MaryChristine <twelvehousec...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Tests To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Monday, October 26, 2009, 3:39 PM the problem with PCR tests is that none, as far as i know, have proven to be consistently valid and reliable, at least in this country. i know that they've been trying to create a reproducible test that can be counted on, but so far everything i've read has shown the same sorts of problems: getting inconsistent results within the same lab on known samples, and across labs when using samples from the same cat. i haven't read anything recently that contradicts this; i know that for a while UC Davis had a test for FIV that supposedly could tell the difference between wild and vaccine-induced strains; you can't even find any mention of said test on their website any longer. IDEXX has just put out a PCR test for the same thing, again, with FIV, but the accuracy rates are in question with that, too. i'd do another IFA if it were my cat, because if i got a positive from a PCR test, at this point in its development, i'd go and run another IFA anyway! 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 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
