I've been a member here for a while, although I don't post much. I lost a 20 month old cat (Cinder) to FeLV a year ago. We found out her status post-mortem and through subsequent testing of my other three cats found one of them (Onyx) to be FeLV+ as well (Elisa and IFA). The other two (Horus & Blackie) have been vaccinated, and will be re-tested soon. I did not separate them after learning that Onyx was + because - well, any of you who mix your +'s and -'s know why.
Although there is no 100% sure way to know which cat gave the FeLV to the other, we are working on the assumption that Onyx had it to begin with and gave it to Cinder. Cinder was 9 weeks old when we adopted from ACC, and Onyx was about 20 months old at the time. I got Onyx from a pet store (lesson learned!) and she was in sad shape, only six weeks old, dehydrated, malnourished, and with coccidia. I couldn't return her to the people who allowed her to get into that condition (as suggested by the vet I used at the time), but for whatever reason, testing her for FeLV never came up. Cinder was tested at the shelter, and came back negative. Horus and Blackie both tested negative when they joined our family. At first I thought Cinder tested false negative because of her age, but in my many conversations with many, many people it seems more likely that Onyx had it from birth (or shortly after, she has never been exposed to FeLV other than with Cinder) and gave it to Cinder (they were very close as almost as soon as I brought Cinder home). Cinder developed a URI shortly after leaving the shelter, which Onyx caught, of course. Onyx had a much harder time beating the URI, part of which was due to a poorly prescribed antibiotic. I realize now that it may have been the FeLV that made it so hard for her to kick it. So, Onyx is now four years and a couple of months old. She is healthy and active, and I have been so happy that she seems to be one of those cats who lives a long time with this virus. Until I spoke to a woman from a rescue group doing cat adoptions in a nearby pet store. Through conversation I told Onyx's story and this woman kindly (hah!) informed me that the life expectancy for a cat with FeLV in the bone marrow is five years, so while I'm lucky she's survived this long, I shouldn't expect Onyx to be around a whole lot longer. Which brings me to the advice I would like: What are the chances of a cat who is FeLV+ from birth living past 5? I have been reading all the posts about LCTI, but I am not clear on whether you start when they develop symptoms or while they are still healthy. Does anyone here know if recurrent FLUTD is commonly seen in FeLV+ cats? Horus tested negative and was vaccinated, but he's lost two pounds in the last month (his appetite seems fine) and is in the middle of his third bout of FLUTD in as many months - he's also asthmatic. I am in panic mode right now. Should I re-test him early? Any advice anyone here can give me would be very much appreciated. Avia Rauscher _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
