Re: Sharing food

[Faye Lewis]

I had a positive cat that groomed 2 four week old kittens.  I heard the 
exact same thing which is why I have been so nervous the last 2 years.  I 
just knew they were going to get it.  I still cannot feel safe until my 
vet's arbitrary date of 36 months since last exposure (I know that is not 
perfect either).  It has been 24.5 months since last exposure and they were 
last tested in July-September.  They will be tested again in 6 weeks during 
their annual physical.  The three cats (the 2 kittens plus my oldest cat) 
exposed have never tested positive and they have each been tested 9 times.

However, my positive cat tested negative and was vaccinated.  Therefore, I 
just do not trust the tests.  One local vet claims that false negatives are 
not that common.


From: Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Faye,
Are you saying that you had a positive cat that groomed 4 week old kittens? 
 I had always heard that young kittens had almost a 100% chance of 
becoming infected if exposed to the virus.
Nina

Faye Lewis wrote:
What I read in the beginning of my ordeal is that the virus can only live 
15 minutes outside the body.  However, it begins to die as soon as it hits 
the air.  Therefore even a one minute old virus outside the body is 
considerably weakened and more difficult to spread.

Bites, sex and being born to an infected mother are the most efficient 
ways to spread the virus. Litter box, food dishes and grooming are the 
most difficult ways to spread it.  My infected cat shared food and drink 
bowls, litter boxes and groomed the 4 week old kittens obsessively.  
However, he never bit them nor had sex.

From: Cherie A Gabbert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Hi,
I am curious since all of this has happened with Snowball and now Amber, 
I have read numerous things, it is said that if cats share foods, the 
uninfected cat can be infected, but I have also read and heard from this 
group that the FeLV virus pretty much dies as soon as it hits air. When I 
asked my vet she said prolonged nose to nose contact and a bite from the 
infected cat, I am confused, can someone give my some correct 
information.
Thank you
Cherie