Didn't find out my Tucson was FELV+ until several years after after I brought her in (as a kitten) with my other cats. She had tested neg on ELissa. So when I discovered she was pos, there was no choice for me about keeping them integrated. I had the others vaccinated. I subsequently brought in an outside "feral" (aka dumped) that I'd been feeding for a couple of years & he turned out to be pos. All of them lived together & none of the neg ever got felv. My Romeo passed away last year from lymphoma-he was 8 or 9 at least & my Tucson is lying on my bed right now living the good life of a 14+ years spoiled & pampered cat.
I did some research & decided on grain free foods. I found they put on a whole lot of weight w. dry only so I feed them all Wellness canned w. a bit of Wellness weight mgmt. dry as their late night snack. I have one who is diabetic & that diet has been good for her as well. But I know that pos kittens are the most vulnerable-their immune system can't handle the opportunistic infections. From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Forgotten Felines Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 1:48 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] Sick FeLV+ Kitten One of the 3 kittens I recently rescued tested positive for FeLV on the snap test. Although we're going to run the advanced test in about a month, Kaya gets sick very easily and loses several ounces when she does. Kaya is almost 5 months old now, 3 lbs 2 oz, and we've had her for nearly 2 months. At the time, we were told the kittens were related and tested a different one. They all have herpesvirus, which after being passed around we chose to isolate them separately. When Kaya became deathly sick the second time, our vet wanted to test her. Realizing none were related, we also retested the other two who came back negative. This is my first experience with FeLV and I have so many questions that seem to get conflicting answers. First, how do I care for a FeLV+ kitten/cat? She's recovering quickly with a mix of Natural Balance kibble and high cal/high stink (A/D prescription) wet food, with added cat-appropriate vitamin C and Viralys (lysine) and Nutri-Cal, but is there anything else I should be giving her while she's sick? Or when she's healthy again? Will she need to be on steroids or other medications for the rest of her life, or can this be managed holistically? Once the other kittens are healthy enough for vaccines, could I start them on the FeLV vac and let them have supervised visits? They were together for 2-3 months pre-testing and never got it, and are therefore missing each other quite a bit! And if all the cats and kittens in the house are UTD, does Kaya really need to be quarantined until she finds her forever home? (3 adults and 4 kittens, including her.) Thanks, Jill
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