Hi Laura, I don’t have a lot of advice for you, as my experience with FeLV is somewhat limited. I joined the list when one of the ferals I was feeding tested positive when I had him neutered. He lived in our spare room until I found him a forever home 10 months later. During this time, he shared the room with another feral from the colony. I first tried keeping him by himself, but he was too stressed. Our vet didn’t think the other cat had a high risk of contracting the disease since he was an adult and they had already lived together, shared food bowls, etc. I had the other cat tested months after the FeLV cat was adopted and he was fine.
I think it’s an excellent idea to try integrating another cat with your wee kitten. Sadly, most FeLV cats are euthanized and never given the chance you’re giving Dani. So an addition would save another life. Since she’s so young, I think she’d most likely welcome the company. (But this is just my opinion.) I just wanted to say thank you for looking past Dani’s disease and loving her for who she is. I’m praying she fights off the virus and lives a long and healthy life. Cindy From: laurak...@aol.com Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 5:57 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] Introduction Hi everyone, I am new to this group--and new to FeLV. I just took in an FeLV+ kitty from the shelter where I am a volunteer. Her name is Dani and she is beautiful. Long story short, she and her three siblings were found outside in a box when they were about a week old. They came to the shelter and tested positive for FeLV (ELISA). They were retested and again it was positive. At 9 weeks, they had an IFA test, all positive. During this time, they were bottle fed until about 8 weeks, shuttled to and from the shelter by a staff member. They were also treated for URIs with azithromycin. The shelter cultures all incoming cats for ringworm and unfortunately theirs came back positive, so they were dipped in lyme a couple of times a week for a while and put on Itraconazole. Dani took longer to shake it off and so was completely alone for some time. During their time at the shelter they were vaccinated with 2 rounds of FVRCP, a rabies vaccine and spayed/neutered. Sadly, Dani's littermates all came down with different issues (I don't know all the details, but I know the vet suspected FIP) and were euthanized. Little Dani was left alone, in a bathroom with no windows, and not many visitors. The second I found out about her, I set up the sun room off my bedroom (it was unheated but fixed that fast) and took her home. Anyway, I wanted to give the whole background so you know just how much she has been through in her short life. While even here it is not optimal--she is isolated--it is so much better than being stuck in the stuffy bathroom. Here, she bird watches, has a ton of toys, a much better diet and a ton of cuddles (though not as much as I wish. I have 17 other cats.) I have two big questions: is it possible for her to become negative with a positive IFA result at 9 weeks? And, second: how do I best care for her? I have her on a high quality canned only diet (wellness and weruva--no fish) and minimize stress as much as possible. Are there supplements I should be giving? Are NuCat vitamins recommended? Are my food choices OK for her? I will never vaccinate or even take her to a vet (I'd have one come to me if necessary to minimize stress.) I feel terrible she is alone a lot of the time and I have thought about bringing in another young FeLV + kitty for her, but I am worried about causing stress, having it backfire. I have all the patience in the world when it comes to having cats work out issues, but I'm also very careful when bringing in a new cat, quarantining for a couple of weeks, letting her explore while I put others in other rooms, etc. But I wouldn't have that ability to do so with a companion for Dani as I literally don't have any rooms left. Sorry for such a long post! I really want to do right by her. I love her to pieces. Thank you! Laura and Dani girl -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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