yeah, the old wisdom that positive-mom meant all-positive litter, and negative mom meant all negative babies ain't worth the litter they poop in....
the latest stuff that i've read seems to imply that the role of nurturing, cleaning, etc may be the biggest source of exposure--so, as i put it, if great-aunt tabby is the nursemaid in the family/colony, and SHE is positive, then mom could be negative and babies could test positive because of tabby. i don't know of any proven cases where cats who have processed the virus out of their systems ever re-testing positive from a later exposure: even tho there are different strains of the virus, most sanctuaries have found out that they've had "positives" living with their negatives, often for years, because they didn't know to retest. i know in the sanctuary where i worked, kitties in all stages of infection, from asymptomatic on downhill were together, so the possibilities for re-exposure when the virus was active were certainly there. remember, tho, that they haven't done nearly enough basic research on this virus to have gotten to the point of looking at re-infection.... 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
