I wonder if the cats/kittens can shed the virus if a positive is on an ELISA
test? That would be so helpful to know, but I read that scientists could
not determine when the virus actually sheds :(
----- Original Message -----
From: "Maureen Olvey" <molvey...@hotmail.com>
To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 5:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] doubts on two FeLV positive kitties
Those two little babies are so adorable. I really hope they turn out to
be negative. How did you manage to get them to be still to take such
great photos? When I try to take photos of my fosters for our website
they are too busy playing to sit still for a photo shoot.
I didn't foster the mama kitty or kittens that had FeLV but last I heard
they waited like a month and a half and did the IFA on the mama kitty
which turned out to be negative. They did individual snap test on the
four kittens. Two of the four kittens tested positive on the snap test
and the other two tested negative. So weird. They were able to adopt
out the two negative kittens, same home I believe, although they did
tell the adopters about the Mama and the two positive littermates. The
other two littermates haven't been adopted yet. I'm not sure about the
Mama cat. I'll have to e-mail them to find out what's going on right
now. They really need to re-test the Mama and the two positive kittens
and I don't know if they realize it. Good thing you sent this e-mail so
I'd remember to talk with them.
I have this book called "The Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook" which
is written by several different vets and I'll write exactly what they
say about testing. It's a little long so just ignore this next part if
you don't want to know.
"Currently there are two tests available to detect FeLV infection.
1. The IFA test, performed by a reference laboratory, detects virus
antigen in infected white blood cells. This indicates that the bone
marrow is infected and there is a high probability that the cat is
persistently viremic and is shedding the virus in his saliva, making him
infective to other cats. About 97 percent of IFA positive cats remain
viremic for life and never extinguish the virus.
2. The ELISA test detects virus antigen in whole blood, serum, saliva
and tears. Blood is the recommended sample for testing. A rapid
screening leukemia test kit is available for home and veterinary clinic
use. The ELISA test is more likely to detect weak, early, or transient
infections.
The common practice is to screen for FeLV using the ELISA test. If
positive, the cat may have a transient viremia from which he will
recover completely, or he may be in the early stages of a progressive
infection. A positive ELISA test should be confirmed with an IFA test.
A positive IFA test indicates that the cat is shedding virus and is
capable of infecting others.
The ELISA test should be repeated in 8 to 12 weeks to see if the virus
has been eliminated. The IFA test should also be repeated at this time
because if the cat was in an early stage of infection, the IFA initially
may not have been positive but may become so after 12 weeks."
That's the direct quote from the book. The books also mentions about
latent (dormant) type infections where the cat is able to eliminate the
virus from blood and saliva but the virus still persists in the bone
marrow and in T-cell lymphocytes. It says "over many months the
majority of latent-infected cats overcome and extinguish the virus, so
the incidence of latent infection after three years is quite low."
During this period of latency though it talks about sometimes stress and
illness can reactivate the virus. As far as testing to find out if a
cat has a latent virus it says -
"Cats with latent infection test negative on both the ELISA and the IFA
tests. This is because the virus is absent in both serum and white
cells. The only way to diagnose a latent infection is to remove a
sample of the cat's bone marrow containing the dormant virus and grow
the cells in culture."
Well, that's what the book says anyway. Not that it is an absolute
authority but most of the other reading seems to say the same thing.
What's funny is that you could have a cat that has a latent infection
and you would never know it unless the virus got reactivated and the cat
became sick. So you could do 10 different test on the cat and they
would all be negative but then a year later the virus could become
reactived then the cat tests positive. I look at all my cats and my
fosters and wonder if any of them have a latent infection. You just
never know and that's the really scary part. One encouraging thing
though is that only about 30% of the cats exposed to the virus actually
become permanently infected and will die from the disease. Of course
30% is still too many.
The problem we in rescue have is that keeping the cat for 12 weeks and
doing several different test before trying to adopt out is not always
possible. It sucks.
As far as immune system stimulants, I'm not sure what to recommend. I
hear of so many different things that I can't remember what does what
and what is good for what. I would think a decent diet is a good basis
to start with. Probably not the cheapest cat food they sell. But the
supplements are just way too confusing for me. Natalie and some of the
others might have some opinions.
“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
From: ana...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 13:15:18 -0500
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] doubts on two FeLV positive kitties
John,
Thanks, that's the idea I had too... Since Beltza shared her life with
Zuri,
my FeLV negative and we never had an issue.
What brand of vaccines do you use on your FeLV Negative. We are using
Pfizer's Leukocell on the rest of the kitties.
The thing is... If I was going to keep these little ones, I would be this
worried.... But since I am in the need of finding suitable homes for them,
I
feel like I need to have more cautions. I do not want a random FeLV
negative
to gain the virus, just because someone forgot a vaccine....
Natalie,
One of the kitties is probably 3 months old, whilst the other one is,
probably, 4 mo.
As you and Maureen suggested, I will do the IFA test... I just need to
find
out where in México they have that test.
Thanks for the info on the IFA test, it was pretty clear and really useful
:)
Maureen, thanks also for the info on the virus lifecycle/development. Is
there anything we can do to help our kittie's immune system to fight the
virus? Echinacea, maybe? Some other immunoestimulant?
What happened to the mama cat and the kitties?
Thanks for the advice and for your words Gracias Bonnie :)
Beth,
So, if I got a negative result in the IFA test, it can still mean that
they
are fighting the virus and the bone marrow could acquire the virus later?
This is so hard :(
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your support. This is a great group, and it feels
son
nice to count on you guys in these hard times.
Best wishes,
Ana
PS. Here are pictures of the little ones, so you can get toknow them
Erizo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=427613&l=e496f151d6&id=100001729370338
Panfi:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=430657&l=7353fe13c5&id=100001729370338
_______________________________________________
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
