Hold on to that one! :) Wendy
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Hi, > > We found my cat Simba, at about the age of 5 weeks. > He tested positive for > FIV. We had him retested at approx 6 mos & he was > still positive. It is > true that FIV tests of young kittens may only be > picking up maternal antibodies, > so it would be a good idea to retest the little guy > after 6 mos. Simba is > going to be 8 years old in July. We have allowed > him to mix freely with our > other 12 cats all along & none of ours has ever > tested positive. He even gets > into occasional spats w/ one of the others & he > licks several that he is > good friends with, shares bowls, litterboxes, etc & > it has never caused a > problem. He is so healthy that we've had him > retested several times over the > years, because it's just so hard to believe that he > is positive. He keeps coming > back positive, but I've stopped worrying about it. > I just make sure he gets > good care & thank God that he is healthy. I have > also elected not to > vaccinate due to a study done at Cornell awhile back > that found that viral loads > for the FIV increased after vaccination. I don't > recall how I initially found > out about this study, but I did call & talk to them > to confirm the info. I > have not heard anything about it ever since, tho. > I'll have to do a little > digging & see if that was researched any further. > I don't have a reference > that I can give you right off hand, but I'll look > for one. Simba did get his > initial round of vaccinations as a kitten, however. > This was my > experience...personally, I have no qualms about > mixing FIV+ with negatives, but everybody > has to do what works for their situation. Hope > this helps. > > Yvonne > > In a message dated 6/22/2006 7:45:19 A.M. Central > Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > have been researching the net for information on > FIV in kittens and hope to > get more info here. My daughter came home two weeks > ago with a little freal > kitten appr. 5 weeks old. We already hav a 3 year > old cat and had not planned > on another cat, but ofcourse everybody in the > family fell in love with this > little thing. Yesterday we were told she tested > positive for FIV, which realy > upset everybody, but we have decided to keep her and > deal with things as they > come. Now I read that when a little kitten tests > positive, you need to keep > testing it until at least 6 month of age because it > might be mothers > anti-bodies, passed through mothers milk that might > make the test come back > positive. Is there anybody in this forum that indeed > had that happen, meaning that at > first the test came back positive but later > negative? I know we are grasping > at straws, but hope helps. We are also trying to > decide whether to keep the > two cats separate for ever or introduce them anyhow, > I will talk to the vet > to have the older one tested too now and if that > comes back negative, to have > him vacinated, but wonder whether that would be > sufficient protection. Any > advise?? > > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
