Good letter! I'll send one too. Lorrie
> On 01-26, Laurieskatz wrote: > Here is what I wrote to this address: edi...@bestfriends.org > > Dear Editor: > > The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is > inconsistent with my experience and, I believe, does a great > injustice to cats diagnosed with this virus. Certainly not all cats > diagnosed with FeLV have the health issues Clemans reports. I lived > with two cats who were diagnosed with feline leukemia after I > adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years. Squeaky lived to age > 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15 > years. They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what > big boys they were. They were playful and fully engaged in life. > > Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved. > Squeaky was never sick a day in his life until his final three > weeks. Squeaky died from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' > cause of death. My vets did not treat these cats any differently > than other cats I have had. There was no alarm sounded when their > tests came back positive. The information was given to me as part > of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought this was a big > deal. Certainly my vets did not think so. > > I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived > to an old age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the > time he was rescued. Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of > love. She was rescued 3 years ago and was an adult cat at that > time. She was anemic and had a high fever when rescued but these > situations quickly resolved with medication treatment by an > internal medicine specialist. > > Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties > who test positive should be retested as there can be false > positives (and false negatives). Their owners can find information > and support groups on the internet (yahoo offers several groups for > FeLV cat owners). In this group format they can talk to other > people who live or have lived with cats with FeLV. They can get > questions answered. They can learn about feeding a quality food, > keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and treatments > in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test positive will be > as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to > this disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive with > this disease. > > > Sincerely, > Laurie Crawford Stone > Cedar Rapids, Iowa > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
