[Felvtalk] LCTI, etc.
Dear all, My positive kitty, Sylvia, has been largely asymptomatic for a month or two now, and has only had one bout of immune suppression since testing positive (a sore in her mouth, which was taken care of with antibiotics and went away quickly). She is positive on both the snap and IFA tests. My five-month-old kitten, Beatrice, was negative as of a month or so prior to being vaccinated. I'm feeding both kitties a mix of Wellness Indoor Health, Wellness Kitten Health and Evo; Sylvia has actually put on weight (1/2 a pound) and looks good. Bea is growing like a weed and very energetic, but has intermittent issues with diarrhea and flatulence. The vet thinks it might be that the high-quality food is too much for her system, but I'm wondering if we might need to re-test her for giardia (which she had when she came to me) and do another snap test for FLV. The vet wants to wait at least six months from the first FLV snap test before we test her again. What are your thoughts on this? I want to test her early and put her on LCTI if she's positive; if there's a chance that she's positive but can beat the virus with some medical help, I'd like to give her that chance. And if she's still dealing with giardia (after several rounds of antibiotics she shouldn't be), I'd like to get that totally cleared up. Luckily, Sylvia doesn't seem to have contracted it. Diarrhea has only been an issue for her when she's been on oral antibiotics. Also: Sylvia periodically throws up immediately after eating. It's something she's done since young kittenhood and it happens every other week or so, sometimes slightly more often, sometimes way less (she occasionally goes a month or two without it happening). Is this vomiting something I need to be concerned about? It's only right after she's eaten and doesn't seem to affect her appetite, bowel movements or behavior. These two are my first pets as an adult (I'm only 23 and a first-year graduate student); I'm doing my best to do right by them. It's a wonderful thing to have this forum to turn to when I'm feeling confused about something. The girls and I both thank you heartily in advance for your advice! All best, Anna, Sylvia and Beatrice ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
[Felvtalk] beautiful and friendly Maine Coon cat, positive, needs home
Hi, everyone. I used to be active on this list when I had my positives, the last of whom passed away last year. I now run a Trap-Neuter-Return group, and we adopt out friendly adults and kittens. We have an extraordinarily friendly, lovey, and personable Maine Coon cat (the vet says he's pure Maine Coon) who is FeLV+. The vet says he's 3-5 years old. He's an exceptionally great cat-- he hugs like a human child and licks your face like a dog. We are in NJ. If you or anyone you know might be interested in adopting him, I can send photos, or you can see him at www.mtolivetnr.petfinder.com. His name is Animal. Thanks! Michelle Lerner = ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
[Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
Hello all, my Maggie now 1 year 5 months old has been Felv+ since birth. She is the kitten we adopted after testing her for everything under the sun to protect our 13 year old Sasha. She later became symptomatic (gingivitis, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes) and was retested and was positive. Anyway we kept her and her symptoms resolved except for the swollen lymph nodes. She has also tested positive on the IFA. Early spring she had an episode where she began hiding for a couple days, quit eating, and then began abdominal breathing. Turned out the pleural sacs around her lungs were full of fluid. She was given lasix and in a day was herself. Since then she has been a relatively healthy, happy kitty. 3 weeks ago I took her and her sister in for vaccines, exams, and blood work. They had a hard time getting blood from her (couldn't hit the vein) and she got quite stressed. The blood work was perfect and she seemed fine after we got home. We started her on Interferon a week ago. Now suddenly the last week she has been sleeping all the time under blankets (she doesn't like being covered up), not eating much (very odd for her as she is a food hound and will eat constantly if you let her), and not drinking much (she usually drinks and bathes in the pet fountain several times a day). Her temp is normal. Thursday we noticed she now is holding up her left front paw. She walks on it and the limp is mild. Any ideas? Has anyone seen any sides effects with interferon? Would it make her feel bad? I'm hesitant to run her to the Dr's. and create further stress but am really worried about her. These guys go downhill so fast sometimes I don't want to wait either. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Tanya ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
Tanya, I hope Maggie feels better really soon. I'm guessing that you're giving her low-dose interferon alpha? If that's the case, there doesn't *seem* to be a great possibility for side effects. When I started Ember on it, my vet told me that she might get nauseous, but that a reaction like that was rare. He said we'd have to re-evaluate our options if that happened. Thankfully, it didn't. I hope that someone else on the list can give you a better idea. Maggie will be in my thoughts and prayers. Lance On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:04 -0800, TANYA NOE sashacatgodd...@yahoo.com wrote: Hello all, my Maggie now 1 year 5 months old has been Felv+ since birth. She is the kitten we adopted after testing her for everything under the sun to protect our 13 year old Sasha. She later became symptomatic (gingivitis, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes) and was retested and was positive. Anyway we kept her and her symptoms resolved except for the swollen lymph nodes. She has also tested positive on the IFA. Early spring she had an episode where she began hiding for a couple days, quit eating, and then began abdominal breathing. Turned out the pleural sacs around her lungs were full of fluid. She was given lasix and in a day was herself. Since then she has been a relatively healthy, happy kitty. 3 weeks ago I took her and her sister in for vaccines, exams, and blood work. They had a hard time getting blood from her (couldn't hit the vein) and she got quite stressed. The blood work was perfect and she seemed fine after we got home. We started her on Interferon a week ago. Now suddenly the last week she has been sleeping all the time under blankets (she doesn't like being covered up), not eating much (very odd for her as she is a food hound and will eat constantly if you let her), and not drinking much (she usually drinks and bathes in the pet fountain several times a day). Her temp is normal. Thursday we noticed she now is holding up her left front paw. She walks on it and the limp is mild. Any ideas? Has anyone seen any sides effects with interferon? Would it make her feel bad? I'm hesitant to run her to the Dr's. and create further stress but am really worried about her. These guys go downhill so fast sometimes I don't want to wait either. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Tanya ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org -- Lance Linimon lini...@fastmail.fm ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Tests
Wow! Am I ever behind on my email! Doing another IFA test sounds like good advice if the PCR is so unreliable. I'll probably go for that with Taco. I'm dead set against the FIV vaccine. Most so-called shelters will kill the cat before even asking questions. I have no doubt that if a cat tests positive for FIV, there won't even be a question in a private vet's mind whether the cat was vaccinated or not. One very weak protection would be micro chipping and including the vaccination info there so that if the cat is scanned, the info that he/she was vaccinated for FIV will show up. It has been my experience that I had to ask for a scan on some of my tame rescues before the vet would grudgingly get out the instrument and go over the cat with it. My own vet is good about scanning strays, even the frightened types who would be considered feral but a lot of vets still need to be asked. I now have two FIV/FeLv+ cats. Smooch needs his first IFA test after testing positive for both on the ELISA. Really, I don't feel that tests in general are very reliable. I usually go with the temperament of the cat. When they are neutered, there is less fighting. However, I do have a couple of belligerent Alpha cats who will pick a fight with anything, even a chair if they are in a bad mood. I wouldn't mix an FIV+ with a group containing that type of cat. But most of my cats are very lay back about new comers and don't do the macho thing. They just move one plate over and allow the new kid in town to eat. Lee --- On Mon, 10/26/09, MaryChristine twelvehousec...@gmail.com wrote: From: MaryChristine twelvehousec...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Tests To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Monday, October 26, 2009, 3:39 PM the problem with PCR tests is that none, as far as i know, have proven to be consistently valid and reliable, at least in this country. i know that they've been trying to create a reproducible test that can be counted on, but so far everything i've read has shown the same sorts of problems: getting inconsistent results within the same lab on known samples, and across labs when using samples from the same cat. i haven't read anything recently that contradicts this; i know that for a while UC Davis had a test for FIV that supposedly could tell the difference between wild and vaccine-induced strains; you can't even find any mention of said test on their website any longer. IDEXX has just put out a PCR test for the same thing, again, with FIV, but the accuracy rates are in question with that, too. i'd do another IFA if it were my cat, because if i got a positive from a PCR test, at this point in its development, i'd go and run another IFA anyway! MC -- Spay Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference MaryChristine Special-Needs Coordinator, Purebred Cat Breed Rescue (www.purebredcats.org) Member, SCAT (Special-Cat Action Team) ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] LCTI, etc.
Anna, I will give you my personal opinion dealing with severe diahrrea in 2 of my kitties, one of which is +. After many trips to the vet and having many tests for parasites and doses of parasitic medicines, antibiotics, trying fortiflora (which does help some), nothing completely resolved their issues until I started feeding my cats what I feel is the best food possible -- a raw homemade diet of chicken and bones (and organ meat, egg, and vitamins, etc). Lots of people are totally against feeding raw, but I have 5 very healthy kitties who've been eating it for almost 2 years now with remarkable changes in all of them. No more diahrrea for my kitties, and most of the time is doesn't even have an odor (no kidding!) I will never go back to dry, and I use only a good quality grain-free can food if necessary. Cats with diahrrea are naturally going to be dehydrated, so you really need to be giving them water WITH their food -- a canned food. If the homemade diet is not an option for you though, just try a grain free diet. Wellness has a good canned one, and there are a few grain-free dry foods as well. Most cats merely 'tolerate' grains, and other cats cannot. It is not natural for them to eat grains. Oh, and LOTS of cats throw up. No, it is not good, but it is very common. My cats don't throw up anymore (other than hairballs) EVER! I spent tons of time researching making my own food because of so many health issiues w/my kitties -- now I don't have any issues at all. If you want to learn more, check out catnutrition.com and catinfo.com. If you follow the recipes to a T'', you will be amazed! Good luck, and I hope they get better! Tracey On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 1:28 PM, Anna Waltman anna.walt...@gmail.comwrote: Dear all, My positive kitty, Sylvia, has been largely asymptomatic for a month or two now, and has only had one bout of immune suppression since testing positive (a sore in her mouth, which was taken care of with antibiotics and went away quickly). She is positive on both the snap and IFA tests. My five-month-old kitten, Beatrice, was negative as of a month or so prior to being vaccinated. I'm feeding both kitties a mix of Wellness Indoor Health, Wellness Kitten Health and Evo; Sylvia has actually put on weight (1/2 a pound) and looks good. Bea is growing like a weed and very energetic, but has intermittent issues with diarrhea and flatulence. The vet thinks it might be that the high-quality food is too much for her system, but I'm wondering if we might need to re-test her for giardia (which she had when she came to me) and do another snap test for FLV. The vet wants to wait at least six months from the first FLV snap test before we test her again. What are your thoughts on this? I want to test her early and put her on LCTI if she's positive; if there's a chance that she's positive but can beat the virus with some medical help, I'd like to give her that chance. And if she's still dealing with giardia (after several rounds of antibiotics she shouldn't be), I'd like to get that totally cleared up. Luckily, Sylvia doesn't seem to have contracted it. Diarrhea has only been an issue for her when she's been on oral antibiotics. Also: Sylvia periodically throws up immediately after eating. It's something she's done since young kittenhood and it happens every other week or so, sometimes slightly more often, sometimes way less (she occasionally goes a month or two without it happening). Is this vomiting something I need to be concerned about? It's only right after she's eaten and doesn't seem to affect her appetite, bowel movements or behavior. These two are my first pets as an adult (I'm only 23 and a first-year graduate student); I'm doing my best to do right by them. It's a wonderful thing to have this forum to turn to when I'm feeling confused about something. The girls and I both thank you heartily in advance for your advice! All best, Anna, Sylvia and Beatrice ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] LCTI, etc.
If home made isn't an option, there are several commercial raw foods including Primal Raw that Dixie loved mixed with veggies and my boys love plain. This is a frozen diet, in cubes that are so easy. There are dried raw diets available too. A Google search should turn them up as should conversations with pet store personnel. On Nov 15, 2009, at 5:04 PM, Tracey Shrout wrote: Anna, I will give you my personal opinion dealing with severe diahrrea in 2 of my kitties, one of which is +. After many trips to the vet and having many tests for parasites and doses of parasitic medicines, antibiotics, trying fortiflora (which does help some), nothing completely resolved their issues until I started feeding my cats what I feel is the best food possible -- a raw homemade diet of chicken and bones (and organ meat, egg, and vitamins, etc). Lots of people are totally against feeding raw, but I have 5 very healthy kitties who've been eating it for almost 2 years now with remarkable changes in all of them. No more diahrrea for my kitties, and most of the time is doesn't even have an odor (no kidding!) I will never go back to dry, and I use only a good quality grain-free can food if necessary. Cats with diahrrea are naturally going to be dehydrated, so you really need to be giving them water WITH their food -- a canned food. If the homemade diet is not an option for you though, just try a grain free diet. Wellness has a good canned one, and there are a few grain-free dry foods as well. Most cats merely 'tolerate' grains, and other cats cannot. It is not natural for them to eat grains. Oh, and LOTS of cats throw up. No, it is not good, but it is very common. My cats don't throw up anymore (other than hairballs) EVER! I spent tons of time researching making my own food because of so many health issiues w/my kitties -- now I don't have any issues at all. If you want to learn more, check out catnutrition.com and catinfo.com. If you follow the recipes to a T'', you will be amazed! Good luck, and I hope they get better! Tracey On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 1:28 PM, Anna Waltman anna.walt...@gmail.comwrote: Dear all, My positive kitty, Sylvia, has been largely asymptomatic for a month or two now, and has only had one bout of immune suppression since testing positive (a sore in her mouth, which was taken care of with antibiotics and went away quickly). She is positive on both the snap and IFA tests. My five- month-old kitten, Beatrice, was negative as of a month or so prior to being vaccinated. I'm feeding both kitties a mix of Wellness Indoor Health, Wellness Kitten Health and Evo; Sylvia has actually put on weight (1/2 a pound) and looks good. Bea is growing like a weed and very energetic, but has intermittent issues with diarrhea and flatulence. The vet thinks it might be that the high-quality food is too much for her system, but I'm wondering if we might need to re-test her for giardia (which she had when she came to me) and do another snap test for FLV. The vet wants to wait at least six months from the first FLV snap test before we test her again. What are your thoughts on this? I want to test her early and put her on LCTI if she's positive; if there's a chance that she's positive but can beat the virus with some medical help, I'd like to give her that chance. And if she's still dealing with giardia (after several rounds of antibiotics she shouldn't be), I'd like to get that totally cleared up. Luckily, Sylvia doesn't seem to have contracted it. Diarrhea has only been an issue for her when she's been on oral antibiotics. Also: Sylvia periodically throws up immediately after eating. It's something she's done since young kittenhood and it happens every other week or so, sometimes slightly more often, sometimes way less (she occasionally goes a month or two without it happening). Is this vomiting something I need to be concerned about? It's only right after she's eaten and doesn't seem to affect her appetite, bowel movements or behavior. These two are my first pets as an adult (I'm only 23 and a first-year graduate student); I'm doing my best to do right by them. It's a wonderful thing to have this forum to turn to when I'm feeling confused about something. The girls and I both thank you heartily in advance for your advice! All best, Anna, Sylvia and Beatrice ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/ felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
Hello Tanya, I can't blaim you for being nervous about odd behavior in a felv cat. Interferon can cause side effects in humans that can actually lead to cessation of treatment, they can include gastrointestinal disturbances, depression, sleep disturbances, irritability, and flu like symptoms. These are usually more mild in cats. Interferon is sometimes given three days on and three days off which can help with these side effects. The felv cat that I treatment with interferon has very mild change in appetite and energy on the days she gets the medication. With the limp, I would be concerned about infection. Inspect the paw to see if there are any swollen areas, red areas, hot areas or extremely sensitive areas. If so there is likely are infection. Usually these are fairly easly to treat with irrigation of the area and then antibiotics. Would need to see the vet for irrigation. Good luck, Jenny On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM, TANYA NOE sashacatgodd...@yahoo.comwrote: Hello all, my Maggie now 1 year 5 months old has been Felv+ since birth. She is the kitten we adopted after testing her for everything under the sun to protect our 13 year old Sasha. She later became symptomatic (gingivitis, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes) and was retested and was positive. Anyway we kept her and her symptoms resolved except for the swollen lymph nodes. She has also tested positive on the IFA. Early spring she had an episode where she began hiding for a couple days, quit eating, and then began abdominal breathing. Turned out the pleural sacs around her lungs were full of fluid. She was given lasix and in a day was herself. Since then she has been a relatively healthy, happy kitty. 3 weeks ago I took her and her sister in for vaccines, exams, and blood work. They had a hard time getting blood from her (couldn't hit the vein) and she got quite stressed. The blood work was perfect and she seemed fine after we got home. We started her on Interferon a week ago. Now suddenly the last week she has been sleeping all the time under blankets (she doesn't like being covered up), not eating much (very odd for her as she is a food hound and will eat constantly if you let her), and not drinking much (she usually drinks and bathes in the pet fountain several times a day). Her temp is normal. Thursday we noticed she now is holding up her left front paw. She walks on it and the limp is mild. Any ideas? Has anyone seen any sides effects with interferon? Would it make her feel bad? I'm hesitant to run her to the Dr's. and create further stress but am really worried about her. These guys go downhill so fast sometimes I don't want to wait either. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Tanya ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] LCTI, etc.
A few years back, Ember had diarrhea that was corrected by switching her off of any dry food. She does really well on Wellness canned. One thing that seemed to stop her diarrhea when it happened was plain canned pumpkin. She liked the flavor or texture, and would eat it up. I didn't even have to stir it into her food. Lance On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:38 -0600, Cougar Clan maima...@duo-county.com wrote: If home made isn't an option, there are several commercial raw foods including Primal Raw that Dixie loved mixed with veggies and my boys love plain. This is a frozen diet, in cubes that are so easy. There are dried raw diets available too. A Google search should turn them up as should conversations with pet store personnel. On Nov 15, 2009, at 5:04 PM, Tracey Shrout wrote: Anna, I will give you my personal opinion dealing with severe diahrrea in 2 of my kitties, one of which is +. After many trips to the vet and having many tests for parasites and doses of parasitic medicines, antibiotics, trying fortiflora (which does help some), nothing completely resolved their issues until I started feeding my cats what I feel is the best food possible -- a raw homemade diet of chicken and bones (and organ meat, egg, and vitamins, etc). Lots of people are totally against feeding raw, but I have 5 very healthy kitties who've been eating it for almost 2 years now with remarkable changes in all of them. No more diahrrea for my kitties, and most of the time is doesn't even have an odor (no kidding!) I will never go back to dry, and I use only a good quality grain-free can food if necessary. Cats with diahrrea are naturally going to be dehydrated, so you really need to be giving them water WITH their food -- a canned food. If the homemade diet is not an option for you though, just try a grain free diet. Wellness has a good canned one, and there are a few grain-free dry foods as well. Most cats merely 'tolerate' grains, and other cats cannot. It is not natural for them to eat grains. Oh, and LOTS of cats throw up. No, it is not good, but it is very common. My cats don't throw up anymore (other than hairballs) EVER! I spent tons of time researching making my own food because of so many health issiues w/my kitties -- now I don't have any issues at all. If you want to learn more, check out catnutrition.com and catinfo.com. If you follow the recipes to a T'', you will be amazed! Good luck, and I hope they get better! Tracey On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 1:28 PM, Anna Waltman anna.walt...@gmail.comwrote: Dear all, My positive kitty, Sylvia, has been largely asymptomatic for a month or two now, and has only had one bout of immune suppression since testing positive (a sore in her mouth, which was taken care of with antibiotics and went away quickly). She is positive on both the snap and IFA tests. My five- month-old kitten, Beatrice, was negative as of a month or so prior to being vaccinated. I'm feeding both kitties a mix of Wellness Indoor Health, Wellness Kitten Health and Evo; Sylvia has actually put on weight (1/2 a pound) and looks good. Bea is growing like a weed and very energetic, but has intermittent issues with diarrhea and flatulence. The vet thinks it might be that the high-quality food is too much for her system, but I'm wondering if we might need to re-test her for giardia (which she had when she came to me) and do another snap test for FLV. The vet wants to wait at least six months from the first FLV snap test before we test her again. What are your thoughts on this? I want to test her early and put her on LCTI if she's positive; if there's a chance that she's positive but can beat the virus with some medical help, I'd like to give her that chance. And if she's still dealing with giardia (after several rounds of antibiotics she shouldn't be), I'd like to get that totally cleared up. Luckily, Sylvia doesn't seem to have contracted it. Diarrhea has only been an issue for her when she's been on oral antibiotics. Also: Sylvia periodically throws up immediately after eating. It's something she's done since young kittenhood and it happens every other week or so, sometimes slightly more often, sometimes way less (she occasionally goes a month or two without it happening). Is this vomiting something I need to be concerned about? It's only right after she's eaten and doesn't seem to affect her appetite, bowel movements or behavior. These two are my first pets as an adult (I'm only 23 and a first-year graduate student); I'm doing my best to do right by them. It's a wonderful thing to have this forum to turn to when I'm feeling confused about something. The girls and I both thank you heartily in advance for your
Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
Jenny, Thanks, Maggie is to get the interferon 7 days on and 7 days off. She is on her 3rd day off. I have gotten her to eat some today but she still hasn't had anything to drink. I have given her wet food off and on all day as opposed to her dry. Wet is usually a small amount daily but I figured it has more moisture in it so... I checked out her paw this am. No sores I can see, no swollen spots, no hot areas, though she did seem tender where her toes attach. I'm torn. Don't want her to get dehydrated. Last time she was sick we almost lost her and I am nowhere near ready for that. I know we decided her quality was more important than her quantity but she is still my baby and I love her. Anyway thanks again. Tanya --- On Sun, 11/15/09, jbero tds.net jb...@tds.net wrote: From: jbero tds.net jb...@tds.net Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 6:22 PM Hello Tanya, I can't blaim you for being nervous about odd behavior in a felv cat. Interferon can cause side effects in humans that can actually lead to cessation of treatment, they can include gastrointestinal disturbances, depression, sleep disturbances, irritability, and flu like symptoms. These are usually more mild in cats. Interferon is sometimes given three days on and three days off which can help with these side effects. The felv cat that I treatment with interferon has very mild change in appetite and energy on the days she gets the medication. With the limp, I would be concerned about infection. Inspect the paw to see if there are any swollen areas, red areas, hot areas or extremely sensitive areas. If so there is likely are infection. Usually these are fairly easly to treat with irrigation of the area and then antibiotics. Would need to see the vet for irrigation. Good luck, Jenny On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM, TANYA NOE sashacatgodd...@yahoo.comwrote: Hello all, my Maggie now 1 year 5 months old has been Felv+ since birth. She is the kitten we adopted after testing her for everything under the sun to protect our 13 year old Sasha. She later became symptomatic (gingivitis, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes) and was retested and was positive. Anyway we kept her and her symptoms resolved except for the swollen lymph nodes. She has also tested positive on the IFA. Early spring she had an episode where she began hiding for a couple days, quit eating, and then began abdominal breathing. Turned out the pleural sacs around her lungs were full of fluid. She was given lasix and in a day was herself. Since then she has been a relatively healthy, happy kitty. 3 weeks ago I took her and her sister in for vaccines, exams, and blood work. They had a hard time getting blood from her (couldn't hit the vein) and she got quite stressed. The blood work was perfect and she seemed fine after we got home. We started her on Interferon a week ago. Now suddenly the last week she has been sleeping all the time under blankets (she doesn't like being covered up), not eating much (very odd for her as she is a food hound and will eat constantly if you let her), and not drinking much (she usually drinks and bathes in the pet fountain several times a day). Her temp is normal. Thursday we noticed she now is holding up her left front paw. She walks on it and the limp is mild. Any ideas? Has anyone seen any sides effects with interferon? Would it make her feel bad? I'm hesitant to run her to the Dr's. and create further stress but am really worried about her. These guys go downhill so fast sometimes I don't want to wait either. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Tanya ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
Have you thought about making her some chicken soup? Needless to say, nothing canned but a few pieces of chicken stewed/crockpoted (my favorite for Copper and Thomas) with maybe a little extra salt to make her thirsty? On Nov 15, 2009, at 6:33 PM, TANYA NOE wrote: Jenny, Thanks, Maggie is to get the interferon 7 days on and 7 days off. She is on her 3rd day off. I have gotten her to eat some today but she still hasn't had anything to drink. I have given her wet food off and on all day as opposed to her dry. Wet is usually a small amount daily but I figured it has more moisture in it so... I checked out her paw this am. No sores I can see, no swollen spots, no hot areas, though she did seem tender where her toes attach. I'm torn. Don't want her to get dehydrated. Last time she was sick we almost lost her and I am nowhere near ready for that. I know we decided her quality was more important than her quantity but she is still my baby and I love her. Anyway thanks again. Tanya --- On Sun, 11/15/09, jbero tds.net jb...@tds.net wrote: From: jbero tds.net jb...@tds.net Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 6:22 PM Hello Tanya, I can't blaim you for being nervous about odd behavior in a felv cat. Interferon can cause side effects in humans that can actually lead to cessation of treatment, they can include gastrointestinal disturbances, depression, sleep disturbances, irritability, and flu like symptoms. These are usually more mild in cats. Interferon is sometimes given three days on and three days off which can help with these side effects. The felv cat that I treatment with interferon has very mild change in appetite and energy on the days she gets the medication. With the limp, I would be concerned about infection. Inspect the paw to see if there are any swollen areas, red areas, hot areas or extremely sensitive areas. If so there is likely are infection. Usually these are fairly easly to treat with irrigation of the area and then antibiotics. Would need to see the vet for irrigation. Good luck, Jenny On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM, TANYA NOE sashacatgodd...@yahoo.comwrote: Hello all, my Maggie now 1 year 5 months old has been Felv+ since birth. She is the kitten we adopted after testing her for everything under the sun to protect our 13 year old Sasha. She later became symptomatic (gingivitis, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes) and was retested and was positive. Anyway we kept her and her symptoms resolved except for the swollen lymph nodes. She has also tested positive on the IFA. Early spring she had an episode where she began hiding for a couple days, quit eating, and then began abdominal breathing. Turned out the pleural sacs around her lungs were full of fluid. She was given lasix and in a day was herself. Since then she has been a relatively healthy, happy kitty. 3 weeks ago I took her and her sister in for vaccines, exams, and blood work. They had a hard time getting blood from her (couldn't hit the vein) and she got quite stressed. The blood work was perfect and she seemed fine after we got home. We started her on Interferon a week ago. Now suddenly the last week she has been sleeping all the time under blankets (she doesn't like being covered up), not eating much (very odd for her as she is a food hound and will eat constantly if you let her), and not drinking much (she usually drinks and bathes in the pet fountain several times a day). Her temp is normal. Thursday we noticed she now is holding up her left front paw. She walks on it and the limp is mild. Any ideas? Has anyone seen any sides effects with interferon? Would it make her feel bad? I'm hesitant to run her to the Dr's. and create further stress but am really worried about her. These guys go downhill so fast sometimes I don't want to wait either. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Tanya ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/ felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Maggie's not acting normal, advice is appreciated
My Bailey didn't do well on the interferon either, he was lethargic and didn't eat well, he also was on the 7 on, 7 off, I finally stopped using it and he was fine for years until he passed from pancreatic cancer. Bailey was positive at 5 months of age when he found me, so pretty young too. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... http://bemikitties.com http://BelindaSauro.com ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
