Lance, I could totally get behind your Christmas Wish List. I rescued my first FeLV+ kitten ten years ago. In that decade, there seems to be little to no progress made in FeLV prevention and/or treatment. Instead, the information I come across is more confusing than it was when I first heard of FeLV. I understand that a lack of funding and red tape slow down scientific progress, but come on! There's a huge difference between slow down and standstill.
It may be too late for my Polli, but I look forward to the day that FeLV is treatable instead of something that only supportive care is available for. -Amanda On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 12:44 PM, Lance <lini...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > Yeah, it does show that persistent infection isn't necessarily inevitable > when a cat is exposed and infected. It's sad that we don't know more about > how often regressive vs. persistent happens. There are a lot of things I > think we need with regard to information. For Christmas, I'd like some > tangibles: > > * an immediate treatment that can hit the virus right after exposure. > > Even if it's only useful for 48 hours, that would allow people with bitten > cats to treat immediately, rather than to wait on the disease process. > Perhaps this is unrealistic or even science fiction. I think some folks > have used AZT in these cases, but that seems potentially dangerous. > > * a long-term treatment that allows for FeLV+ cats (and FIV+ cats) to live > with their illness in a similar way to how more people are able to live > with HIV infections. > > This is going to require lots of funding, but we need feline-friendly > antiretrovirals that are less toxic. Imagine someone getting an FeLV+ > diagnosis for his or her cat in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future, and > while they are saddened, they know that their cat can live a full life with > the right drugs–the virus will be relatively under control. > > * a vaccine that doesn't cause vax site sarcomas. > > How hard can this possibly be? Why do we not understand how this happens > better after a decade of dealing with it? Why is their less vax site > sarcoma prevalence in the UK and Europe vs. America, when both sides use > pretty much the same vax? > > In my family's case, I think I would have advocated for our girl now of > questionable status to be vaccinated if I didn't have to feel like I was > putting her at risk for an aggressive cancer. But, my FeLV+ was isolated, > and the few accidental meet-ups that they'd had were always quick and > easily curtailed, so putting Callie at risk of the sarcoma didn't seem > right. I'm regretting that now. > > > On Jun 12, 2013, at 2:20 PM, Margo <toomanykitti...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > Hi Lance, > > > Thanks! I don't know if I have that or not, but it sounds > interesting <G>. And it does give me some hope. > > > All the best, > > > Margo > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > > -- "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge" Bertrand Russell
_______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
