Faye had written she would be afraid to bring another cat into the house for fear of introducing another "strain" of the virus...but only one type of FeLV virus "strain" (perhaps more appropriately termed a "subgroup") is passed from cat to cat, and that subgroup is not the one responsible for the more devastating manifestations of the disease (lymphomas or other cancers and nonregenerative anemia). A cat, then, becomes infected with this "A" subgroup via contact with a cat who is in stage 5-6 of the infectious process and actively shedding the virus. The A subgroup significantly depresses the immune system but is not responsible for the major disease symptoms. It is through mutation and recombination with the cat's DNA that infection proceeds to A + B, A + C or A - B+C states. The B subgroup is the one associated with the various types of lyphoma or other cancerous growths, while the C subgroup is the one associated with the severe to nonregenerative anemia/leukemia. There can be mutation and/or recombination to include both B and C subgroups. It is possible to test for these various subgroups, but such testing is only available in research settings and not considered to be of interest to the general public.
Personally, I would find it useful to know what I was dealing with before a cat actually crashes with the obvious symptoms of B or C group infection, but until the mechanism for why the mutation/recombination occurs is understood and so, perhaps, there would be a way to head off or forestall such a devastating development, the knowing would be purely academic and any such testing would be expensive and not generally available. What we CAN learn from the testing currently available to us (ELISA, IFA and PCR) is whether or not a cat has been exposed to FeLV and has the virus replicating in it system...the ELISA can tell us that about the earliest stages of infection (1-3) as well as later stages, and a positive IFA can tell us that the infection has already reached a later stage of infection (4-6). So if we test with an ELISA and get a positive but an IFA to confirm is negative, then we know there is still hope the cat may be able to clear the virus. If we then aggressively support the immune system, this may help even the odds in the cat's favor. If a positive ELISA is confirmed with a positive IFA, there is the possibility the cat may be in early stage 4 of infection and a slim chance of clearing the virus still exists, but in all liklihood the cat will remain persistently viremic. What neither of those tests can tell us is if the infection is latent (dormant) and may resurface at a later point in time. Only a bone marrow reactivation test (PCR??...don't know if these are one and the same) can indicate a latent infection. So, there is really no need to be paranoid that bringing in more cats would therefore introduce other subgroups of virus to a population...whether or not one of the more devastating subgroups of the virus develops is dependent on each individual cat's immune response. However, viruses such as FIP, FIV and FeLV are found to be more prevalent in multi-cat situations...when you have more cats, especially more infected cats, the concept of "viral load" becomes a factor. I have yet to find an explanation as to whether or not having many cats already infected with the FeLV virus in a particular population provides a greater impetus for viral mutation. If they are already infected, they can't really become "more" infected, so whether or not continued exposure to a virus which has already infected a cat will further the infectious process within that cat is not clear. Certainly having a large number of positive cats around un unprotected, negative, cat would increase its chance of becoming infected. Currently, our only real hope seems to be keeping an FeLV+ cat's life as free of stresses to its immune system as possible, feeding it the healthiest, most natural diet we can provide and giving supplements to support the immune system. There are many such supplements available, including the VO (if one can get and afford it), human interferon-alpha, Transfer Factor, and a number of herbal agents and other antioxidants such as Vitamin C and CoQ10, etc. I would like to find more evidence through research as to how these various immunosupportive agents serve to boost immune function and which may be complementary, or if using too many different supplements may be counterproductive. It IS possible to OVERstimulate the immune system, and whether or not this also applies to a depressed immune system is not yet clear to me. I posted a message some time ago about a book I had recently come across, The Nature of Animal Healing, by a Dr. Martin Goldstein, a holistic vet who has a practice in New York, and has been quite successful in dealing with difficult cases of cancer on which other vets had given up and told the pets' owners there was nothing that could be done. I asked if anyone else had heard of this vet or his work, but no one responded. Dr. Martin Goldstein and his brother, Robert, who is also a vet and has a practice in Connecticut, based their strategy in dealing with cancer on the work of a human doctor/researcher, Dr. Lawrence Burton, whose theories and method for treating cancer in humans were very controversial. Because he would never agree to testing his theories with the "double blind" studies required by the medical establishment, he was not taken seriously (he could not condone the ethics of condeming one half of the test subjects to hope without help and probably death). He moved his practice to the Bahamas and opened a private clinic. Dr. Robert Goldstein spent time with Dr. Burton at his clinic and studied his theories and method of treatment, then adapted the approach for use with animals. It basically entails doing a very thorough analysis of the patient's blood and looking at ALL the blood values in a holistic, or inter-related manner. Because animals can have very significant states of imbalance or disease, yet their blood values can remain within the so-called "normal" parameters, one has to take into consideration how an imbalance in one organ system or another can affect the others. In particular, Dr. Burton, through his research, had identified four specific proteins that are associated with various immune functions, and by testing for these proteins to determine which ones are out of balance, then supplementing with injections of those proteins, with periodic retesting to monitor progress, the intent was to restore balance to the immune system so that the body could then proceed to heal itself. Nutritional support and eliminating toxins is also part of the equation. While Dr. Goldstein did specifically state in his book that this approach can be applied to dealing with FIV, he did not say the same for FeLV, which puzzles me greatly, and I wish I could ask him why. His implication was that immune support and diet were the key factors in dealing with FeLV, In any case, there is an (800) number for vets to call for consultation regarding doing such a Bio-Nutritional Analysis on blood samples. I believe that a computer is now used in assisting with the analyses, though this was not the case in their early days of experimentation with this type of treatment. The Goldsteins had a similar experience as Dr. Burton in dealing with the American Veterinary Medical Association, but have chosen to ignore the skeptics and continue to save animals lives. The book (published in '99) is very readable from a layperson's standpoint and their case studies are both astonishing and fascinating. I recently read in one of my horse magazines that new research is being done regarding the immune function and certain proteins and I am curious to find out more and whether or not this may relate to the theories/methods the Goldstein brothers have been implementing. I wish I were in New York and could pay Dr. Goldstein a visit. Are any of you back there in the New York/Connecticut area familiar with the Dr.'s Goldstein and their work? I wish I had a better computer and was more adept at doing research on the web...I have so many unanswered questions and there must be a lot of info out there that is not widely known that could be very useful if all the pieces were put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Anyone out there near a university that has a vet school with a health sciences library? Sally in San Jose
