I realize now that I did not address the concern you posted about. I felt the need to educate you about the testing protocol for FELV because I would hate to see you cage a cat for 3 months that may not even be infected with the virus. You cannot consider a cat persistently viremic until they test positive on the IFA test. If it turns out the cat you rescued is really FELV positive, she is not going to transmit the virus to your other cats through some chance encounter. It would take prolonged contact with your other cats to infect them with the virus. Even if they had prolonged contact, it does not mean your other cats would get the virus. Some cats are able to build an immune response and fight off the virus. I rescued a cat over the summer that tested positive on the combo snap test and the ELISA test but tested negative on the IFA. Thirty days later, he tested negative on the snap test, the ELISA test and continued to test negative on the IFA test. As a precaution, we tested again 30 days later, and he continued to test negative on all three tests. His body built an immune defense and fought off the virus
--- On Mon, 3/14/11, Jannes Taylor <jannestay...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Jannes Taylor <jannestay...@yahoo.com> Subject: [Felvtalk] Any advice appreciated. To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Monday, March 14, 2011, 1:50 PM Hello, I rescued a stray two weeks ago. Took her to the vet a week ago and they said she was FELV positive. She was starving when I found her, but she has gained weight and is looking good. Her eyes just glisten and she seems healthy. The vet said she was about a year old. She only weighed six pounds last week. I did not have the heart to euthanize her when she is not suffering. However, I have three healthy cats upstairs and I live in constant fear that they will escape to the basement where this cat we now call Amber is staying. I keep her in a nice cage during most of the time and let her out to get her exercise in the basement about four hours per day. My husband is building her a 8' long x 4' wide x 6' tall cage so she will have more room I do hate keeping her caged up, but don't have a choice. She is very sweet and it is just a sad situation. I tried to find a home for her but no one seems to want a cat with her issues. We are trying to be very cautious regarding the other cats, but it is does make me fearful. I plan to have her rested in three months. I am so new to this situation, so any comments or ideas are much appreciated. Jannes _______________________________________________ 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
