In terms of testing, you can buy bulk tests, I think my group paid about $12/test when we did, but we had to buy $400 worth. I think you need to take blood from a vein. We never bought our own again.
Since they live together, you can ask the vet to do batch tests. Our vet does that with kittens from the same litter. You can see if your vet will do adults living together. They mix the blood of up to 3 or 4 together and then do a test with that. If it's negative then they are all negative. If it's positive, you need to then test those cats individually to see whose blood the antibodies came from. There is some controversy over whether this is something vets should be doing. But I think in your case it might be a good option. For vaccinations, do you mean FVRCP (distemper, rhino, calici) which is what you wrote, or do you mean FeLV vax? Because the answer is different depending which you meant. Michelle -----Original Message----- From: KG BarnCats <[email protected]> To: felvtalk <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, Jan 11, 2014 10:27 am Subject: [Felvtalk] urgent question on FELV tests/vax Seeking advice and best places to shop. In addition to a small phydically isolated of FELV+ cats, I care for a large colony of cats. These are all fixed, all previously tested negative and mostly adult. They range from friendly to full feral. A few were FELV vaccinated a couple years back. One previously negative diabetic cat has fallen ill and just re-tested positive, after a host of other tests and treatments over the last two months. I don't have the money to test and vax everyone at the vet. So I am looking for the most cost efficient way to test and vax. Is it possible to buy snap tests and do them myself, using a blood drop from the ear? (similar to getting blood for blood glucose testing). Is special equipment required to run the test? Best source for bulk test kits? Where are the cheapest vaccines? I have seen 10 dose FELV only vials on sale for $69 at California Pet but if anyone knows a better source for single doses or multi dose vials, I'd appreciate it. Is there any data/studies to indicate that a single dose conveys protection for cats over 6 more? I recall reading on cat info.org that FVRCP single dose can convey longterm immunity for cats over 4 months. My understanding is that multiple doses are needed because of potential maternal derived immunity interference with vaccines, at least for FVRCP. Thanks in advance. Kg _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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