Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Thank you, Chris, that's very reassuring! Jenn K > Well, she's been around my other 3 cats for all her life & they were never > vaccinated. They were all neg & I vaccinate them every year & mix everybody > including Big Boy, the adult stray I brought in. I think that the pos are > probably more at risk of catching something from the other cats then they > are of catching FELV from them
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi, other Jenn! ;-) Thanks for the links and advice. I had thought FeLV was very contagious, but from your post, it seems less likely that Midnight will contract it. I am really attached to Tess already, but I really don't want anything to happen to Midnight if I can help it cause it would break my daughter's heart! I really hope she turns negative as you mentioned, but I guess the vet says her chances of that are slim cause she was positive on the IFA? But like I said to the vet, it's a good week for long shots! Jenn K > I would not worry about mixing this kitten with your cat because of her > FELV+ status, however, I WOULD keep them separate until the kitten's Upper > Respiratory Infection clears up, because those are VERY contagious. The > chances of a healthy non-immune suppressed adult cat contracting FELV from > another cat is less than 1%, in fact, it's never been proven to be possible > at all. All of the known cases of FELV transmission have occurred in kittens > under a year of age, or cats with immune suppression, such as FIV+ cats who > are then exposed to FELV. Still, just to be extra safe, and for peace of > mind, I would go ahead and give your older cat the vaccine before allowing > them to mix, that way you can be sure the immunity exists.
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi Nina, > Tessa sounds like a darling. I know it's tough to keep them separated, > but you'll feel better about > making sure you've taken the necessary precautions. Oh, we're definitely keeping them seperate until the vaccine kicks in, I was mostly wondering if it was safe after that, cause I'm hoping Tessa lives a very long time, and am not looking forward to keeping her in the one room all that time. :-) > I'm not quite clear on what the seclusion arrangements are at your > house. Does Midnight have the run of the house, except your daughter's > room, or is she sequestered in another room as well? No, Midnight has the run of the house except OUR room. She generally prefers my daughter's room (and the kitchen), so I didn't think it would be a problem, but apparently she doesn't like the closed door and has decided that she has to be in our room. (Until Tess came, she never bothered with our room, as long as my daughter wasn't in there.) > your daughter belongs to Midnight :-) Good way of putting it, lol! > It might help to install a screen door in the bedroom where > you have Tess confined. That way she won't feel so isolated and > Midnight can see what's going on. :-) Midnight is infamous for her hatred of screens - she destroys them regularly. We have to watch her constantly when windows are open in our house, or she scratches her way outside. Good thought, though. > Why was Midnight running a temp when you took her to be tested and > vaccinated? What was her temp? Does she have any other symptoms of > illness? I don't know, the vet said it was slight, and I think they wanted to make sure she hadn't caught Tessa's cold before they vaccinated her? She hasn't had any other symptoms, but she sneezed once at the vet, and with the slightly elevated temp they wanted to make sure she wasn't sick before they gave the shot, I guess? She's been fine, since. > Vita C is good to add as an immune booster. I also add L-Lysine, > occasionally Co-Q10, and if someone isn't feeling well, I'll add > Transfer Factor to their food. The interferon that your vet is talking > about, (sounds like a good vet by the way!), is Interferon A, or human > interferon. There is also something called Feline Interferon Omega, > that a couple of us on the list have tried. More about that later, if > you're interested. Just the human versions of the supplements? Or is there somewhere to get cat versions? How much of each? Thanks so much for all your input! Jenn K
Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi! I hope it's okay to just jump in here. I found this mailing list while searching for information about FeLV. About three weeks ago, I adopted a 6 month old kitten who was tested FeLV negative by the rescue I got her from. Tessa started sneezing a lot after I got her, and I took her to the vet to be checked out. During the course of the visit, they did another FeLV test (because they have a combo of that with FIV, and the shelter hadn't tested for FIV) and she was positive. (We're talking tests a literal week apart - the shelter had her tested when she was spayed the weekend before I got her.) Anyway, we had just lost a beloved cat to a sudden stomach hernia, and Tessa had already slid right into the empty hollow in my heart (and at my feet), so there was no question of sending her back to the rescue. But, we have an older cat (about 3 years old) who is attached at the hip to my eight year old. They love each other to distraction. When we found out that Tessa was infected, we rushed Midnight, the older cat right in to the vet (although she had only been exposed to Tessa for four days). Midnight, thankfully, was still negative. We've scheduled her to be vaccinated (she was running a temp at the last appointment and we couldn't get it done then). Here's my concern. At the moment, Tessa is isolated in our bedroom. She's on about 4 different drugs to rid her of an upper repiratory infection and a yeast infection in her ears. The vet is also talking about starting her on Interferon. But, she is a very social kitty. She wants to be where I am, and is constantly trying to escape the bedroom. Meanwhile, Midnight is used to having the run of the house, and though my daughter's room is her "natural habitat", the closed door is irritating her, since we never close doors. So she keeps trying to get in. We're just dealing with it until Midnight is vaccinated, but it's hard to imagine keeping them totally isolated for however long Tessa is with us. Do you have any advice about + and - cats together? Will the vaccine and Midnight's adult age protect her sufficiently? Or should I keep tossing them back in their own areas every time I open the door? Will Tessa have a crummy life living in just one room? Also, does anyone know how a cat could test negative one week and then positive on both the vet and lab (IFA) tests a week later? Isn't IFA an indicator of a later stage of infection? Is there anything important I should know right away to help Tessa live as long as possible? She is adorable, by the way - soft and gray, yellow eyes, ridiculously long tail. She loves on me and my husband, purrs louder than any cat I've heard, loves to play with anything dangling and attack my feet in bed, will sit on my arm or lap for hours to be petted and is basically the most perfect cat ever. (Since my Dot passed on, anyway!) Phew. Sorry for the long message, I just have so many questions!!! By the way, I'm Jenn, but I'm used to having lots of Jenns on mailing lists, so you can call me Jenn K if that helps. Jenn K
