I have never had to test kittens for FeLV, only for FIV. My vet says that
under 10 weeks of age, chances for false positives are high. From my
experience with FIV, one can tell if it's a true positive or maternal
antibodies showing. I may have written it once in the past, but I have
NEVER had any kittens from all the FIV+ mothers that were positive. I know
that it probably isn't the same with FeLV - I have only had one kitten,
about 15 yrs. ago; it died before age 3 months - I was treating him with
Interferon. Now, I have two adult FeLV+ males with absolutely no symptoms,
but would like to treat them with something other than the vitamins. Natalie
-Original Message-
From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org
[mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Georgetta Brickey
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 10:03 PM
To: FeLV List
Subject: [Felvtalk] FeLV misconceptions
Hi list,
I think quite a few people get feline leukemia confused with panleukopenia.
They sort of rhyme and may sound alike to the uninformed.
Panleukopenia organisms DO persist for a very long time (years) in the
environment unless very stringent measures are taken, including bleaching
everything,etc.
FeLV organisms are much more fragile and only survive more than a few
minutes if the conditions are perfect, right temperature, moisture, etc.
That is why unvaccinated cats can contract it through exchange of fluids
(sex, fights, grooming) and to a lesser extent, from sharing litterboxes and
water and food bowls.
The Panleuk vaccine is extremely effective in confering immunity.
The FeLV vaccine isn't quite as good but TONs better than doing nothing.
There is an enormous amount of good information online about these and other
conditions. This year I had my very first kitten in the 7 years of
fostering kittens (200+) with a confirmed positive FeLV, followed later by
another + kitten (both were isolated/quarantined at intake and the first was
out of the house before the other arrived.) I spent quite a few hours
searching and reading and learned amazing things from this list and from
googling... and also found a great sanctuary for Wisp (Thanks a Trillion,
Michael J!) here.
The second kitten was transferred to another foster who combined 3 litters
before getting each tested...not so good outcome... Lucky and another kitten
from one of the combined litters were confirmed positive for FeLV and ended
up at a wonderful sanctuary in SLO county. The other 4 kittens are now 6
months old and 2 are finally being shown for adoption (one got adopted
today). The other 2 were adopted to a family who had no other cats and all
4 have re-tested negative repeatedly. It really reinforced the importance
of TESTING BEFORE YOU MIX litters
just my 2 cents...
One question I have for the FeLV group - How young do you test for FeLV? I
know there is the concern about maternal antibodies triggering a false
positive, but if a Negative is really a Negative on the Snap (ELISA) test...
shouldn't you be able to test pretty young/small kittens, provided you can
draw the blood required? I know there might be a greater chance of a false
positive, but taking the into account, you should be able to clear at a
pretty young age, maybe 3-4 weeks? That way you could clear the negatives
and relax a bit, then be supercareful to keep the + kittens in quarantine as
long as necessary to clear or confirm!
Any experience or insight would be greatly appreciated. (I am ccing to
orphankittens and the feralcats groups for more input.)
Thanks and good luck with your cats and kittens,
Georgetta (back from today's PETCO adoptions - placed just 2 older kittens
in 4 hours - neither were any of the 8 I took to show for adoption...
sigh... wish me better luck tomorrow.)
www.CatsCradleRescue.org
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