[Felvtalk] FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus
If anyone is so inclined, might be good for them to hear from others. Laurie From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:38 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, I have emailed Dr. Mike about your concerns and he does not feel that the article is inaccurate. Although brief, it does not give the impression that FeLeuk is an automatic death sentence nor does it in any way encourage folks to euthanize upon diagnosis. She does encourage folks to provide good nutrition, maintain a low stress environment, and keep in touch with the vet at any sign of illness. Perhaps at some point in the future Best Friends will do a more lengthy article on Feline Leukemia. Thank you so much for your input. We appreciate that your experience has been dramatically different to what Dr Clemans described and are genuinely delighted for you and your cats. Our experience and statistics we have seen show that what Dr Clemans wrote is unfortunately more common. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 7:22 AM To: Estelle Munro Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article scaring people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats diagnosed with this disease. Will you consider printing my letter to present the other side and my own experience, please? Thank-you, Laurie Crawford Stone From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, There is a new article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Best Friends magazine on FIV. I think you'll find it more in line with your thinking. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro Assistant Editor -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Tue 1/26/2010 7:21 PM To: Estelle Munro Subject: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Editor: The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is inconsistent with my experience and, I believe, does a great injustice to cats diagnosed with this virus. Certainly not all cats diagnosed with FeLV have the health issues Clemans reports. I lived with two cats who were diagnosed with feline leukemia after I adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years. Squeaky lived to age 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15 years. They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what big boys they were. They were playful and fully engaged in life. Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved. Squeaky was never sick a day in his life until his final three weeks. Squeaky died from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' cause of death. My vets did not treat these cats any differently than other cats I have had. There was no alarm sounded when their tests came back positive. The information was given to me as part of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought this was a big deal. Certainly my vets did not think so. I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived to an old age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the time he was rescued. Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of love. She was rescued 3 years ago and was an adult cat at that time. She was anemic and had a high fever when rescued but these situations quickly resolved with medication treatment by an internal medicine specialist. Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties who test positive should be retested as there can be false positives (and false negatives). Their owners can find information and support groups on the internet (yahoo offers several groups for FeLV cat owners). In this group format they can talk to other people who live or have lived with cats with FeLV. They can get questions answered. They can learn about feeding a quality food, keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and treatments in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test positive will be as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to this disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive with this disease. Sincerely, Laurie Crawford Stone Cedar Rapids, Iowa ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline LeukemiaViirus
I'm looking for a link to the article... Gloria On Feb 10, 2010, at 9:33 AM, Laurieskatz wrote: If anyone is so inclined, might be good for them to hear from others. Laurie From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:38 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, I have emailed Dr. Mike about your concerns and he does not feel that the article is inaccurate. Although brief, it does not give the impression that FeLeuk is an automatic death sentence nor does it in any way encourage folks to euthanize upon diagnosis. She does encourage folks to provide good nutrition, maintain a low stress environment, and keep in touch with the vet at any sign of illness. Perhaps at some point in the future Best Friends will do a more lengthy article on Feline Leukemia. Thank you so much for your input. We appreciate that your experience has been dramatically different to what Dr Clemans described and are genuinely delighted for you and your cats. Our experience and statistics we have seen show that what Dr Clemans wrote is unfortunately more common. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 7:22 AM To: Estelle Munro Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article scaring people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats diagnosed with this disease. Will you consider printing my letter to present the other side and my own experience, please? Thank-you, Laurie Crawford Stone From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, There is a new article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Best Friends magazine on FIV. I think you'll find it more in line with your thinking. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro Assistant Editor -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Tue 1/26/2010 7:21 PM To: Estelle Munro Subject: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Editor: The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is inconsistent with my experience and, I believe, does a great injustice to cats diagnosed with this virus. Certainly not all cats diagnosed with FeLV have the health issues Clemans reports. I lived with two cats who were diagnosed with feline leukemia after I adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years. Squeaky lived to age 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15 years. They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what big boys they were. They were playful and fully engaged in life. Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved. Squeaky was never sick a day in his life until his final three weeks. Squeaky died from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' cause of death. My vets did not treat these cats any differently than other cats I have had. There was no alarm sounded when their tests came back positive. The information was given to me as part of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought this was a big deal. Certainly my vets did not think so. I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived to an old age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the time he was rescued. Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of love. She was rescued 3 years ago and was an adult cat at that time. She was anemic and had a high fever when rescued but these situations quickly resolved with medication treatment by an internal medicine specialist. Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties who test positive should be retested as there can be false positives (and false negatives). Their owners can find information and support groups on the internet (yahoo offers several groups for FeLV cat owners). In this group format they can talk to other people who live or have lived with cats with FeLV. They can get questions answered. They can learn about feeding a quality food, keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and treatments in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test positive will be as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to this disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive with this disease. Sincerely, Laurie Crawford Stone Cedar Rapids, Iowa ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
[Felvtalk] Best friends article
I sent the following to Estelle at BF: Dear Estelle: I am on a feline leukemia listserve with a woman who has beenconversing with you regarding the Clemans article on FeLV. Like her, Iam concerned about the way the article is written. I adopted 6 FeLV+cats and nothing about the article proved true with them. One was atleast 8 or 9 when she died, and the vets thought probably older (I hadher for over 6 years but she was a positive adult of unknown age when Iadopted her). Another lived to 6 years old, and two to 5 years old. Theremaining two died at just under 4 years and at 18 months. While theydid not live normal lifespans (though Patches, the oldest, lived longerthan the average housecat in the US), all but one lived far beyond theless than two years following diagnosis stated by Dr. Clemans. Moreover, none of the 6 cats were unable to fight off commoninfections or anemic from the FeLV. Two of them died of FIP and theother 4 of lumphoma. Until they got those diseases, they were healthy--when one brought in a URI to the rest, one course of clavamox got ridof it. Keeping them on Lysine then kept them healthy until they gotlymphoma or FIP years later. When the cats are well cared for in a home setting, versus a sheltersetting, this does not seem to be that uncommon (given the reports ofpeople on the listserve). I do object, like the other writer, toposting an article claiming that cats with FeLV are likely to getanemic and jaundiced and unable to fight off normal infections, andthat they are likely to live under two years past diagnosis, when it isbecoming more and more clear that this is not true outside of theshelter setting with proper care. Veterinarians just out of vet schoolhave reported to me that vet schools no longer teach that FeLV+ catsare likely to die within 2 years of diagnosis. That is apparently anold school thing that is proving to be untrue, and vet schools nowteach that the cats can live much longer with proper care. Best Friend is my favorite animal organization, and I am usuallythrilled with everything you do. I am, however, dismayed that thisarticle is posted on your website and encourage you to take it off.There are more updated and comprehensive articles on FeLV that can beposted instead. The article does a real disservice to positive catswaiting to be adopted. Best, Michelle Lerner -Original Message- From: felvtalk-requ...@felineleukemia.org To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wed, Feb 10, 2010 1:00 pm Subject: Felvtalk Digest, Vol 20, Issue 7 Send Felvtalk mailing list submissions to felvtalk@felineleukemia.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to felvtalk-requ...@felineleukemia.org You can reach the person managing the list at felvtalk-ow...@felineleukemia.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of Felvtalk digest... Today's Topics: 1. FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline LeukemiaViirus (Laurieskatz) -- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:33:50 -0600 From: Laurieskatz lauriesk...@mchsi.com Subject: [Felvtalk] FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline LeukemiaViirus To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Message-ID: 01caaa66$72a9d7c0$57fd87...@com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii If anyone is so inclined, might be good for them to hear from others. Laurie From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:38 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, I have emailed Dr. Mike about your concerns and he does not feel that the article is inaccurate. Although brief, it does not give the impression that FeLeuk is an automatic death sentence nor does it in any way encourage folks to euthanize upon diagnosis. She does encourage folks to provide good nutrition, maintain a low stress environment, and keep in touch with the vet at any sign of illness. Perhaps at some point in the future Best Friends will do a more lengthy article on Feline Leukemia. Thank you so much for your input. We appreciate that your experience has been dramatically different to what Dr Clemans described and are genuinely delighted for you and your cats. Our experience and statistics we have seen show that what Dr Clemans wrote is unfortunately more common. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 7:22 AM To: Estelle Munro Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article scaring people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats
Re: [Felvtalk] FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline LeukemiaViirus
I did write to her. I have the exact same email. I told her about my boy who lived for 8 years with this virus. I truly believe she just isn't willing to look anyone else's opinion other than this Dr. Mike. It really is sad for the many that have worked so diligently to provide education about this illness. -Original Message- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Laurieskatz Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 8:34 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] FW: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline LeukemiaViirus If anyone is so inclined, might be good for them to hear from others. Laurie From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 6:38 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, I have emailed Dr. Mike about your concerns and he does not feel that the article is inaccurate. Although brief, it does not give the impression that FeLeuk is an automatic death sentence nor does it in any way encourage folks to euthanize upon diagnosis. She does encourage folks to provide good nutrition, maintain a low stress environment, and keep in touch with the vet at any sign of illness. Perhaps at some point in the future Best Friends will do a more lengthy article on Feline Leukemia. Thank you so much for your input. We appreciate that your experience has been dramatically different to what Dr Clemans described and are genuinely delighted for you and your cats. Our experience and statistics we have seen show that what Dr Clemans wrote is unfortunately more common. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 7:22 AM To: Estelle Munro Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Thanks but this still does not address the issue of the FeLV article scaring people and the likely unnecessary euthanizing of cats diagnosed with this disease. Will you consider printing my letter to present the other side and my own experience, please? Thank-you, Laurie Crawford Stone From: Estelle Munro [mailto:este...@bestfriends.org] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00 PM To: Laurieskatz Subject: RE: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Laurie, There is a new article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Best Friends magazine on FIV. I think you'll find it more in line with your thinking. Best Wishes, Estelle Munro Assistant Editor -Original Message- From: Laurieskatz [mailto:lauriesk...@mchsi.com] Sent: Tue 1/26/2010 7:21 PM To: Estelle Munro Subject: Virginia Clemans article regarding Feline Leukemia Viirus Dear Editor: The article about Feline Leukemia Virus by Virginia Clemans is inconsistent with my experience and, I believe, does a great injustice to cats diagnosed with this virus. Certainly not all cats diagnosed with FeLV have the health issues Clemans reports. I lived with two cats who were diagnosed with feline leukemia after I adopted them. Stripes lived to age 16 years. Squeaky lived to age 22 years. They were robust boy cats who lived together for 15 years. They weighed 15-16 lbs. People always commented about what big boys they were. They were playful and fully engaged in life. Stripes had an occasional undiagnosed illness that always resolved. Squeaky was never sick a day in his life until his final three weeks. Squeaky died from oral cancer. We did not determine Stripes' cause of death. My vets did not treat these cats any differently than other cats I have had. There was no alarm sounded when their tests came back positive. The information was given to me as part of a routine exam. I had no idea anyone thought this was a big deal. Certainly my vets did not think so. I rescued two other cats who tested positive for FeLV. Ollie lived to an old age, asymptomatic except for some dental issues at the time he was rescued. Bella is still alive. She is a 13 lb ball of love. She was rescued 3 years ago and was an adult cat at that time. She was anemic and had a high fever when rescued but these situations quickly resolved with medication treatment by an internal medicine specialist. Feline Leukemia does not have to be a death sentence. The kitties who test positive should be retested as there can be false positives (and false negatives). Their owners can find information and support groups on the internet (yahoo offers several groups for FeLV cat owners). In this group format they can talk to other people who live or have lived with cats with FeLV. They can get questions answered. They can learn about feeding a quality food, keeping stress to a minimum and various supplements and treatments in the event of illness. Not all the cats who test positive will be as lucky as those I mentioned here, but there is another side to this disease and there are many cats who survive and thrive
