I too got a 'Positive" kitty from the pound.....have had her 3 yrs....my other
cat has been with all everyday (got him vacinated).......BOTH are great....and
healthy....
"A failure is just a stopover on the way to SUCCESS."
________________________________
From: Maureen Olvey <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me
Like everyone else has said, ALWAYS ALWAYS re-test. Never rely on one positive
ELISA test. It can show a false positive but even if it's not a false positive
it is possible the cat can extinguish, meaning totally get rid of, the virus.
I would do an IFA test like someone else mentioned. It looks to see if the
virus has spread into the white blood cells. If the IFA is negative the cat
can still kick the virus so you would need to wait and re-test. Also, the cat
could put the virus into dormancy, which means it may not ever have problems
with the virus and it can't spread it.
Lots of people on the site have mixed positives and negatives. I have a friend
with lots of rescued cats. She has 3 positive cats. She has all her negative
cats vaccinated against FeLV and over the years none have ever caught FeLV.
She even has FIV positive cats that get vaccinated and have never caught the
FeLV virus. No vaccinations are 100% but it would seem that in most cases it
works. Another vet I talked with said that most researchers now feel that even
non-vaccinated healthy adult cats are resistant to the FeLV virus. So even if
you don't vaccinate it's possible the other cats wouldn't catch the virus.
That happened in my house. No cats in my house caught the virus from one who
had it (her first test was negative so I didn't know I had a FeLV cat mixed in
until she died and we did the necropsy and another ELISA). None of my cats
were vaccinated against FeLV but somehow none of them caught it. In your case
though, I
wouldn't take the chance and would vaccinate the other cats but it's just
interesting that it's not spread as easy as many people believe.
“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, 7 Nov 2011 17:33:50 -0800
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me
thank you all for responding so quickly. when i have more time I will review
all archives. I hope i am posting correctly by sending these emails. I see my
post is all chopped up (at least in my display ). Thanks for your advice. I
guess i will take things day by day. thanks also for the advice to get the
other test as a follow up.i can only hope it turns out negative. I am worried
about the redness of his gums which he is on an antibiotic for. Vet attributed
it to gingivitis and teething but this was pre finding out the positive test
results.
________________________________
From: dppl dppl <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 6:52 PM
Subject: stray kitten positive any advice for me
I came across this site, having just been informed by the vet that the
abandoned kitten I took in three weeks ago. Before I took it to the vet, I
have been keeping it in a separate room but admit that since it seemed so
healthy I let it out for little walks. I have 4 cats over 12 years old. Other
than walking on the same floors, they have not had contact with this kitten.
In our short phone call, the vet basically said that she would understand if I
euthanized the cat and that she wasn't sure about false positive and whether
retesting would be worthwhile. The cat also has hookworms. When I took the cat
in, she suggested that I give it its vaccinations before waiting for test
results. I asked if the cat turned out postitive, wouldn't this harm its
immune system. she said no. Now when she called she said she was surprised
that the cat tested positive since, other than the sore gums, which she
attirbuted to teething and bad breath, she said it
seemed healthy. It does seem healthy , eats well and plays. and is the
sweetest cat, loving and intelligent. I am heartbroken about this. I'm sorry I
haven't had time to read all archives but I work from home and also take care
of my bedridden elderly mother. Is there anyone out there would be kind enough
to give me some advice? Thank you. PS the test done was elisa and it just says
"positive" the vet estimates the cat is from 5-6 months old.
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