I had nine felv negative cats when I adopted Amelia, she tested negative also, but just days later she tested positive. I hated the idea of risking the lives of my other cats, but I just could not put her to sleep, and finding homes for healthy cats is hard enough so I never tried to find her another home. I tried isolating her for about 3 weeks. Shutting her in one room by herself for the rest of her life is almost as sad as her being caged at the shelter in my opinion. My negatives have all been vaccinated so I decided not to separate them and hope for the best. She does not fight with the others, but she is not overly friendly either, so I rarely see her fighting with or licking anybody. She does eat and drink from the same dishes. I now have 8 felv negative cats left (I lost Linus this year to something non-felv related), with my 1 felv positi!
ve cat, and they all continue to test negative, and when their vaccines are due I do not let them lapse even a week, I am right there at the 1 year mark to get them revaccinated. A few of my cats are young, they range in age from about 3 - 9 years old. I am mostly afraid for the young ones, although I love my 9 year old very very much, I've had him since he was a kitten, he has had a long life now, and if he does become felv positive there is a chance that old age will get him before the virus does, although of course I would still be devastated and guilt ridden.
Of all unvaccacinated cats exposed to the virus 1/3 will resist the virus, for 1/3 the virus will be latent, which means they will be carriers only and will never get sick from the virus, and for the other 1/3 the virus will be transient, meaning they will get sick from the virus, and that on average begins about 18 months after the first diagnosis. If your other cat is vaccinated the chance of getting a transient form of the virus is only about 5%.
Sharon
