Got it - thanks Kelley!
Gloria
On Sep 2, 2010, at 2:09 AM, Kelley Saveika wrote:
From what I've found "light pos" is either an error on the part of
the tech
or a bad test. The IFA is a much more conclusive test.
On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 12:29 AM, Gloria B. Lane
<[email protected]>wrote:
Thank you so much - this is a great group, as always, and I really
appreciate the replies.
This is my take, re your comment Natalie. With FIV, the "snap"
test is for
antibodies in the blood. Kittens of an FIV mom, when they are
nursing, can
take in the mothers FIV antibodies. It's different for FELV, the
test is
for Antigens, and apparently the transmission of the virus is not
the same.
Kittens of an FIV mom are very likely to get the antigens but not the
virus, depending on when mom was infected. Our rescue has seen
this happen
many times - kittens of an FIV mom invariably go negative before
they're a
year old - yeaa!
With FELV, as I recall its different, I think (but not sure) that
some of
the kittens can actually get the virus from mom, but can throw it
off as
their immune systems develop. This is just on memory, so if
somebody
knows, please correct me. So I'm gather that perhaps the antigens
hadn't
cleared yet at the time of the snap, and Linda seemed to agree with
that.
Anyhow, this is a 1.5 yr old cat, so the question is, with a light
pos on
Elisa snap test, and a negative on the followup IFA test, what does
it mean?
MC responded and said it could also be a bad snap test. Or bad
procedures
for testing. Also asked at what interval were the tests done? So
I'm going
to check out exactly when the tests were done and what brand were
the tests
and who did them.
But what I'm also hearing, is if neg on the followup IFA, then
kitty is neg
regardless of the snap. Yes?
I've been asked to take this kitty, so am exploring my options. I
know if
he's FELV it's unlikely he'll get adopted so he'll be a permanent
resident.
I already have several FELV cats, and have no fear of the virus,
even mixed
with healthy cats, vaccinated or not, but just have to be prepared
for
adding another cat. My FELV's are healthy too, I haven't lost one
in a
while, and I'm amazed at that.
But I know, if he's not FELV, he'll get adopted in a month cause
he's so
gorgeous! So trying to make sense of the data to tell if he's
actually FELV
or not.
Again thanks I appreciate your help and support. This is a
wonderful group,
always has been, a great resource. I'll check more into the tests
that were
used on Bicford and let you know.
Gloria
On Sep 1, 2010, at 7:18 PM, Natalie wrote:
Whenever this happened to me with kittens that were tested for FIV,
I was
told that they had most likely been born to FIV+ mothers and as
their
immune
systems developed, they would shed the faint positives.....and
they ALWAYS
did! I don't know if that's the case with FeLV.
I have two young adult cats that are FeLV+, but absolutely no
symptoms and
healthy as a horse!
Natalie
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gloria
B. Lane
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 7:30 PM
To: Feline Leukemia
Subject: [Felvtalk] faint pos on snap test, neg on IFA
I've been asked about a cat here in Arkansas - a Persian named
Bicford, that is about 1.5 yrs old, and tested "faint" positive on
the
snap test (Elisa), but negative on the IFA. I gather that means
that
Bicford has been exposed, so has antigens, but doesn't have the
virus
in his blood? I'm confused.
Can someone help me with interpreting what that means?
Thanks,
Gloria
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