So you think FeLV would show up by 3 months after the first combo test? I'm just wondering what the maximum amount of time it can take to show up on a test once they've been exposed to FeLV. Someone recently said it can take up to a year before the test would indicate that the cat is positive. I wonder if that is true.
Yeah, I've have heard that a cat with no symptoms could be a carrier of FeLV. FIV is harder to spread than FeLV according to everything I've read. It can only be spread by a deep bite wound. The saliva carrying the FIV virus has to go directly into the bloodstream. It cannot be spread by mutual grooming or sharing food bowls. So if the cat isn't a biter then there is no danger of him spreading FIV to other cats in the household. That's why I've never separated my FIV cat from the others. “I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn’t….the pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.” – Mark Twain > Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:02:07 -0400 > From: at...@optonline.net > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] How long can FeLV stay dormant? > > Ideally, when a cat is tested for anything, FIV/FeLV, it should be isolated > for three months and retested. However, rescue groups cannot do it because > of space limitations, especially isolation areas. > When a cat tests negative, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true - the > cat may just have been exposed to it, and it would show up 3 months > later.... > I've never had a FIV cat living with healthy ones, nor can I do it as a > rescue organization. However, we had one cat that tested negative for > FIV/FeLV, and many years later, started being ill....my vet asked for some > blood test at the lab, but they mistakenly tested for FIV - it turned out > that she was positive. No one living with her ever became sick, to this > day. She died about two years later at age 14/15. However, FIV is not as > serious as FeLV, which seems increasingly more mysterious to me after having > been reading all the posts about FeLV+ cats living with healthy ones. The > two FeLV+ cats we have, are very healthy, exhibit absolutely no signs of any > symptoms. I'm not sure what exactly it means when someone says that a FeLV > cat with no symptoms could be a carrier; it can't be that the cat is > perfectly healthy and can't mean that at some point, will not become > symptomatic, does it? I do everything I can to keep them very healthy with > supplements, good food, TLC, etc. > > -----Original Message----- > From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org > [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Maureen Olvey > Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 8:11 PM > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Subject: [Felvtalk] How long can FeLV stay dormant? > > > I've heard from some of the vets that FeLV can hide in the bone marrow for a > while before ever showing up on a combo test. How long do you think that > can happen before the combo tests shows positive? Anyone have experience > with this? If the FeLV + cat and the other cat have been living together > for a year and the healthy cat's combo test was negative after a year > together with lots of exposure, is there a chance it is still hiding in the > healthy cat's bone marrow and not showing up yet? It seems to me that a > year would be enough time for the virus to show up in a test. > > > "I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are > profitable to the human race or doesn't..the pain which it inflicts upon > unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me > sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further." - Mark > Twain > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
