New cat on the block
Hi Ashley! I'm glad you found this site. Your vet is wrong - though it's true that there is no cure for FeLV, it's certainly not a waste of money to keep an otherwise healthy, happy kitty alive and well. So I'm glad you didn't take his recommendation to put Mr. Kitten to sleep. True, it gets expensive, and you probably should invest in high-quality food (many people on this list recommend Innova) and the experts here will tell you what supplements to give Mr. Kitten to keep his immune system strong. But at four, your cat has reached and passed a major milestone (our little guy died at 11 months and the latest cat we rescued from the SPCA is thankfully, not FeLV+). You won't find a better educated, more sympathetic and caring group of people than on this list. Best wishes for the continued good health of Mr. Kitten! Peggy
Re: New cat on the block
Welcome to the list! Mr. Kitten sounds like he has a good mom. I think many vets just refuse to learn new things. Just out of curiosity, has the vet that told you to euthanise Mr. Kitten ever given him any vaccines? If so, can you tell me where he gave them (neck, scruff, side, leg)? I ask because if he's still giving vaccines in the scruff of the neck, he's obviously just someone who refuses to embrace new technology and studies and is just a bad vet for not continuing to work on his education. The most important thing is to feed the very best quality food you can afford, like Wellness, Innova, Chicken Soup, or other super-premium brands. Cat food should never contain corn or corn ingredients. After that, then you start adding general immune boosting supplements (same as you would take to boost YOUR immune system) like Vitamin C, Lysine, B Complex Vitamins, etc. Then you consider adding a FELV specific treatment, like Interferon, Acemannan, or Immunoregulin. Lots of it is just plain good nutrition, and I don't think any vet could argue with adding extra immune boosting vitamins and minerals to an animal's diet! Phaewryn Please save Whitey! http://ucat.us/Whitey.html VT low cost SpayNeuter, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html
Re: New cat on the block
Hi Ashley, I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Kitten is FeLV+, but happy you have found us. The two most important things you can do to keep Mr. Kitten healthy is to keep him stress-free and to get him on a great diet, which includes immune-boosting supplements. Many of us feed our kitties Innova Evo, which has no grains as cats cannot process grains, but there are other good cat foods out there. Pretty much anything you can buy at Wal-Mart and most of what you can buy at Petco or Petsmart are not good foods. The good foods are usually found at pet boutiques and online. Supplements that people usually use are L-lysine (without the propynol glycol additive) and Vitamin C, but there are others. Again, welcome to the group Ashley, and I hope that Mr. Kitten has many long years ahead of him! :) Wendy Dallas, Tx __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: New cat on the block
Mr. Kitten has not received any vaccines since being diagnosed. He did receive a Prednisone shot that was administered in his neck, but I don't know if that is the normal spot for that injection or not. I live in a smaller town so it's hard to find a wide range of vets, expecially ones that are interested in handling Felv+ cats, but I'm working on it. In a message dated 12/19/2006 12:09:07 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Welcome to the list! Mr. Kitten sounds like he has a good mom. I think many vets just refuse to learn new things. Just out of curiosity, has the vet that told you to euthanise Mr. Kitten ever given him any vaccines? If so, can you tell me where he gave them (neck, scruff, side, leg)? I ask because if he's still giving vaccines in the scruff of the neck, he's obviously just someone who refuses to embrace new technology and studies and is just a bad vet for not continuing to work on his education. The most important thing is to feed the very best quality food you can afford, like Wellness, Innova, Chicken Soup, or other super-premium brands. Cat food should never contain corn or corn ingredients. After that, then you start adding general immune boosting supplements (same as you would take to boost YOUR immune system) like Vitamin C, Lysine, B Complex Vitamins, etc. Then you consider adding a FELV specific treatment, like Interferon, Acemannan, or Immunoregulin. Lots of it is just plain good nutrition, and I don't think any vet could argue with adding extra immune boosting vitamins and minerals to an animal's diet! Phaewryn
Re: New cat on the block
Nothing should ever be given in the neck on cats. They are prone to injection site sarcoma, in other words, a big cancerous tumor can grow in the location of any injections. Happens in every 1 in 1000 to 1 in 1 cats (studies vary on the frequency). Since you can't amputate the neck, giving it in that location equals instant death sentence for any cat that gets a sarcoma there (whereas if it's given in the lower leg, as it should be, you can amputate the leg and save the cat). But, that proves my suspicions, yes, your vet is VERY outdated and does NOT keep up with current protocols. I suggest a different vet. Ask them Now if you were going to give my cat a vaccine, where would you administer that, in the scruff? If they says yes, forget that vet, try again. Remember though, just because you may find one that is current on vaccination protocol, doesn't mean they will be current on FELV treatment, it's just SOMEWHERE to start. Here's the webpage on current vaccine protocols: http://www.avma.org/vafstf/sitercmnd.asp Phaewryn Please save Whitey! http://ucat.us/Whitey.html VT low cost SpayNeuter, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html
New cat on the block
So, I've just recently added to this list and have been reading just about everything I get in order to try and get the hang of things. My name is Ashley and I have a Felv+ cat named Mr. Kitten. I got him from our local SPCA in Jan 2004 and he will be turning four this upcoming January. Shortly after bringing him home Mr. Kitten had a runny nose that just wouldn't go away, so off to the first vet. This vet did no testing at all, just sent me away with antibiotics. Second vet ran all sorts of tests and this is when I learned that he was Felv+ The vet's first response was euthanasia, but since Mr. Kitten was an extremely happy (and healthy, for the most part) cat, I decided to take him back home. Upon hearing this decision the vet told me how the research on the internet is wrong and there is no cure and all the supposed treatments are just a waste of money. So I was a little put off from ever trying anything. I've recently been doing a lot more research and getting more involved and I am starting to see that there are different alternatives out there. As of right now I haven't been giving Mr. Kitten anything other than his regular food and water, but like I said, I'm new to the homeopathic world. I just watned to let you guys out there know that hearing such stories are so inspiring and it's really nice to know there are things that actually work and help. Just recently Mr. Kitten is becoming a little more picky about his food, one day he scarfs down everything in front of him and other days he has no desire for anything. It makes me a little nervous because I know that loss of appetite could lead to many other downfalls, but hopefully he is just being a brat. But anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and Mr. Kitten and let you guys know how grateful I am for people like you!
