Dear Jim and Rhonda: How wise of you not to listen to that vet and accept an FeLV+ test result as an automatic death sentence. You were right to question such a grim recommendation...there IS much that can be done for FeLV cats.
There seems to remain quite a bit of confusion about the relative merits of the ELISA vs. the IFA tests for FeLV. A positive result on either of these tests indicates the same thing, i.e. that FeLV ANTIGEN (which is produced by the replicating virus) has been detected in the cat's blood. The difference between the two is that the ELISA (the in-house "snap test" which only takes a few minutes) is 100 times more sensitive than is the IFA and can detect even minute amounts of antigen, so detects FeLV infection in its earliest stages. There are 6 stages of infection with FeLV. Considering that healthy, adult cats are quite likely to shuck the virus even up to stage 4, a positive ELISA, by itself, is not necessarily a good indicator as to whether or not a cat will remain persistently viremic and should not be used to determine whether or not a cat be PTS, as is sadly the case at most shelters. A positive result on an IFA test is indicative of later stages of infection (stage 4-6). While some cats can still clear the virus at stage 4 of infection, a postive IFA result is a more reliable indication that a cat will remain persistently viremic. Neither the ELISA, nor the IFA can detect a "latent" infection that is not currently replicating. Only the PCR, or bone marrow biopsy, can detect latent infection. To say that there is a high rate of false positive with the ELISA test may be a bit of a misnomer, because a true "false positive" would be to detect antigen when none was actually present. It is much more likely that an ELISA positive (due to perhaps only minute amounts of antigen present) can later test negative because the cat was only TRANSIENTLY infected. This is much more likely to be the case with adult cats, rather than kittens. Lymphocytes in kittens replicate 50 times more FeLV virus than do those in adult cats, which is why it is less likely for kittens who are infected at a very young age to be able to clear the virus and they are more likely to remain persistently viremic. So if Pilgrim tested ELISA positive, but IFA negative, that is good news in that she is still in stage 1-3 of the infectious process and there is a chance she can clear the virus and revert to negative status. And, according to Dr. Pitcairn in his book Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, cats do not begin shedding the virus and become infections to other cats until they have reached stage 5. I would put Pilgrim on the most natural, healthiest diet you possibly can and give her aggressive immunosupportive therapy. Then get her retested in 60-90 days. If she is retests ELISA negative, at that point you will have one very lucky kitty who has managed to clear the virus. If she is still ELISA positive at that point, you might want to repeat the IFA to confirm whether or not she is likely to remain viremic, or if she may still have a chance of clearing the virus. It IS possible for FeLV+ cats to revert to negative status. I've had three so far...two adults and one kitten, who was positive at the tender age of 6 weeks and was going to be euthanized if I had not rescued him. I put him on a raw-based diet with Transfer Factor, Oli-Vet (olive leaf extract). Vit. C and CoQ10 supplementation. When he was neutered recently at 6 mos., he retested NEGATIVE. Good luck with Pilgrim. Do find a vet who is FeLV friendly and willing to work with you. I highly recommend Dr. Martin Goldstein's book "The Nature of Animal Healing" and also the aforementioned book by Dr. Eugene Pitcairn. You can get much helpful information about diet and regarding vaccines from both of those books, also from the website Holisticat.com. Some listmembers do vaccinate their FeLV+ cats. I have chosen to follow the recommendation of vets, like Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Pitcairn, who consider vaccines for FeLV+ cats as unnecessary assault to an already compromised immune system. Don't be in too big a hurry to give any vaccines to Pilgrim until her FeLV status has been confirmed. If she has already come into season once, she must be at least 6 mos. old, so and has managed to beat the odds with regards to any of the illnesses from which a 3 or 4-way vaccine is supposed to protect, and the only one of those which is truly life-threatening is Panleukopenia. The best thing you can do is to keep her away from any potential pathogens that might harm her and keep the stress level in her life to a minimum. Other cats represent more of a threat to FeLV+ cats that the postive cat does to other, negative cats. Here's hoping your Tuxie girl, Pilgrim, will become another one of those lucky kittys who is able to clear the FeLV virus and retest negative! Sincerely, Sally in San Jose
