I think that there are many unknowns and that the virus can live in many forms. I have had my cat for almost 8 years. The last Elisa test on her before I took her in, at about 3 months, was negative (after an initial positive test). At the time I already had a cat (1.5 yo) who was negative. I was assured that she was negative and would not have Felv. They are both indoor cats and are not exposed to others. So why after having her for so long, does she now test Elisa positive and IFA negative? Has the virus been dormant for 8 years? I have researched on Internet and it seems that there are many unknowns.
It would have been impossible for me to separate my cats after 8 years together and the stress of keeping them apart would have been hard on them and me. So they live together and my other cat is fine so far (he is vaccinated). I found the following on the website of the SNap test manufacturer about discordant results and found the comment about true status not being known to be interesting. this is an ELISA-positive and IFA-negative status. Discordant results may be due to the stage of infection, the variability of host responses, or technical problems with testing. The status of the cat with discordant results may eventually become clear by repeating both tests in 60 d and yearly thereafter until the test results agree. Unfortunately, a substantial number of these patients have persistently discordant test results and the cat’s true status may not be known. Cats with discordant test results are best considered as potential sources of infection for other cats. Sent from my iPad On Dec 22, 2016, at 10:45 AM, Amy Glunt <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: If my cat has tested negative on both, is it possible that she could be contagious in the future? I would like to get her a younger cat as a friend, especially now with her energy levels I think she would definitely benefit from having a feline partner. However I am not eager to have another cat with anemia and immune related issues. I figure if there's any chance of her shedding the virus, it's just not safe to bring another cat into the house, and I'm not sure how foolproof the vaccines are against the virus. Amy Sent from my iPhone On Dec 22, 2016, at 12:05 PM, Margo <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: With a negative IFA, the cat should have no virus in a position to shed. It is either not present, or is sequestered in the bone marrow, and undetectable by IFA or Elisa. When a cat is shedding a virus, they are contagious. Is that what you mean? Thanks, Margo -----Original Message----- From: "Armstrong-Brown, Sheila DDS Timonium" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Dec 22, 2016 8:12 AM To: "'[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>'" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Negative IFA test I had the same situation but when the IFA is negative, the cat should shed the virus after testing negative. They normally retest every 3 months for the felv elisa test. The IFA test is 99.9% accurate. -----Original Message----- From: Felvtalk [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Corinne Shank Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2016 8:34 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Negative IFA test Amy, Your story is similar to mine. I think that there is so much that vets don't know about Felv, so it is great to hear from others with their situation. When I found out that she had Felv from the Elisa test, her blood work was fairly normal and since that time she has gained weight. So I think it is wait and see situation. She still likes to wake me up at 3:00 am 😡, so I think she still feels good. Sent from my iPhone On Dec 21, 2016, at 4:55 PM, Amy Glunt <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I'm interested in replies to this as well. I have a somewhat similar experience which I have been pondering over. My own cat, Gravy, tested positive on the Elisa for FeLV in March when we took her in for an ear infection and persistent lethargy. A month ago she had both Elisa and IFA tests and was negative for both and the vet said that the leukemia must have gone dormant in her marrow but that she would still have a suppressed immune system and if she gets ill again, the leukemia could possibly flare back up. Also, I got the news today that after a month on Winstrol and prednisolone (we skipped the doxycycline since she was negative) her RBC has gone from 16 to 40. She is a whole new cat, it's absolutely incredible, and I owe it all to you guys here...my Christmas miracle! Sorry to hijack your post Corinne! Amy Sent from my iPhone On Dec 21, 2016, at 4:45 PM, Corinne Shank <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: My cat tested positive for Felv a few months ago from an Elisa test. I had her tested after she had persistent yeast ear infections and I had read that immune suppressed cats were prone to yeast infections. In addition, when she was a kitten she tested positive but then tested negative. I was told that she had shed the virus and that is why she tested negative. She is now 8 years old. So I put off getting the IFA test as I wanted to see how she did and I felt that she probably was infected. I finally took her in to get the test and it came back negative. So I know that the virus is not in her bone marrow. But what does this mean? The vet said to bring her back in 6 months for a snap test to see if she has shed the virus, but is this really possible? Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
_______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
