[Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
Hi, I finally was able to join your list and am so excited to be able to check in for advice and any questions I might have for my cat Leo. Some history- I trapped Leo last summer to TNR for a neighbor who offered to keep/feed him outdoors. He seemed feral, and was an elusive neighborhood stray for about 3 years prior. We think we know where he was born, as we rescued kittens that were probably younger than him at that time, and they look very similar, from a house where the owners moved and left the cats behind. :-( He has been chased out of yards and finally had a yard to call home with this person, but he tested positive for FeLV last summer and the neighbor would not commit to more in-depth care even though he said he would continue to feed him outdoors in his yard. So, I ended up keeping him as an indoor cat, and he is tame now after housing him in a taming cage that I learned about from the feral cat yahoo group. He is afraid of new things, but is very sweet and gentle. Right now I am keeping him separate from my other 3 indoor cats who are not vaccinated for FeLV, and one has some pretty bad aggression issues Back on July 19, 2012, he was tested with a snap test for FeLV/FIV/heartworm, he tested weak positive for FeLV, neg for the others. The test used was slightly expired by a few months (was a test kit from our rescue group, and I would have liked to have retested that day with a fresh in date kit, but I didn't find out results until the end of that day when he was wide awake and still assumed to be feral...) I tried to bring him in a few days after that to a different vet to get retested, but the vet clinic shook him out of the carrier and freaked him out chasing him around the room, and he bit the tech through a towel and had to be quarantined for 10 days for rabies, since his vacc. was less than 10 days old. I was so upset wondering if that was the time he could maybe throw the virus off, and he would be under so much stress as a feral cat in quarantine. :-( He had to go to a vet again, in Nov, 2012 because I thought he had a urinary blockage, but he ended up being OK. Anyway, this vet retested him because he was very cooperative, with a SNAP 2 test (no heartworm), and I asked them to use serum, assuming first vet used blood but I was not certain of that at the time. It was positive again. So, now it's a year later, he is seemingly healthy, teeth look good, good appetite, he is about 4 years old. I am wanting to do an IFA test. Do you think that he could still be negative after this long? At his check up yesterday, he received a Rabies Purevax vaccine, and I haven't done an FVRCP booster yet. He had one FVRCP last summer. The vet suggested adding Lysine powder, so I have that now, and she mentioned that they can add Interferon to ringers solution and that one bag would last a long time, haven't done that yet. Just would love to get some thoughts on retesting and Interferon. Also, he initially was said to have a grade 3 heart murmur while under anesthesia for his neuter, but it hasn't been heard since... So, with 2 positive SNAP tests (first one with slightly expired test kit)- is a neg. IFA still a possibility? Do you give FVRCP vacc. to your cats? Thoughts on using Lysine and Interferon? Thanks so much! Shelley ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
Hi Shelley - First of all, thanks for giving this guy a chance not immediately putting him down. 1) A negative IFA does NOT mean the cat is not FeLV positive. It simply means the virus is not replicating in his bone marrow. If a cat has a positive SNAP test, he is still positive. If you do get an IFA it is positive, it simply means he will not throw the virus off. 2) Those 3-way SNAP tests that test for heartworms are notoriously unreliable. Our shelter stopped using them after we had a slew of cats test postitive for FeLV. They were retested on the 2-way test twice, and came up negative. 3) It is too late now, but I would never give an FelV cat an FVRCP vaccine. I did that once to 2 sisters I had. One immediately became ill (she had been healthy up until then) died shortly afterward. Her sister died soon after. I have heard of other FeLV cats getting sick right after FVRCP vaccines. Not need to stress their immune systems out unless there is some seriously good reason why you need to vaccinate. 4) I don't think L-Lysine can hurt. It's pretty cheap you can get it in a powder form you can sprinkle over their food. 5) I have used Interferon in the past, but from what I understand it takes a long time to work. I stopped because I felt like I was stressing the cats out too much with the daily medicine routine. Plus you have to give it to them the right way. You can't just squirt it randomly in their mouths. 6) I think the best thing you can do is feed a high-quality food keep stress down. Good luck! Beth Don't Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org From: Shelley Theye ve...@bellsouth.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 9:12 AM Subject: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions Hi, I finally was able to join your list and am so excited to be able to check in for advice and any questions I might have for my cat Leo. Some history- I trapped Leo last summer to TNR for a neighbor who offered to keep/feed him outdoors. He seemed feral, and was an elusive neighborhood stray for about 3 years prior. We think we know where he was born, as we rescued kittens that were probably younger than him at that time, and they look very similar, from a house where the owners moved and left the cats behind. :-( He has been chased out of yards and finally had a yard to call home with this person, but he tested positive for FeLV last summer and the neighbor would not commit to more in-depth care even though he said he would continue to feed him outdoors in his yard. So, I ended up keeping him as an indoor cat, and he is tame now after housing him in a taming cage that I learned about from the feral cat yahoo group. He is afraid of new things, but is very sweet and gentle. Right now I am keeping him separate from my other 3 indoor cats who are not vaccinated for FeLV, and one has some pretty bad aggression issues Back on July 19, 2012, he was tested with a snap test for FeLV/FIV/heartworm, he tested weak positive for FeLV, neg for the others. The test used was slightly expired by a few months (was a test kit from our rescue group, and I would have liked to have retested that day with a fresh in date kit, but I didn't find out results until the end of that day when he was wide awake and still assumed to be feral...) I tried to bring him in a few days after that to a different vet to get retested, but the vet clinic shook him out of the carrier and freaked him out chasing him around the room, and he bit the tech through a towel and had to be quarantined for 10 days for rabies, since his vacc. was less than 10 days old. I was so upset wondering if that was the time he could maybe throw the virus off, and he would be under so much stress as a feral cat in quarantine. :-( He had to go to a vet again, in Nov, 2012 because I thought he had a urinary blockage, but he ended up being OK. Anyway, this vet retested him because he was very cooperative, with a SNAP 2 test (no heartworm), and I asked them to use serum, assuming first vet used blood but I was not certain of that at the time. It was positive again. So, now it's a year later, he is seemingly healthy, teeth look good, good appetite, he is about 4 years old. I am wanting to do an IFA test. Do you think that he could still be negative after this long? At his check up yesterday, he received a Rabies Purevax vaccine, and I haven't done an FVRCP booster yet. He had one FVRCP last summer. The vet suggested adding Lysine powder, so I have that now, and she mentioned that they can add Interferon to ringers solution and that one bag would last a long time, haven't done that yet. Just would love to get some thoughts on retesting and Interferon. Also, he initially was said to have a grade 3 heart murmur while under anesthesia for his neuter, but it hasn't been heard since... So, with 2 positive SNAP tests
Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
Hi Beth, Thank you so much for the fast reply! I should give credit to the vet that neutered him too. She said that she would never put a cat down just because he/she tests positive. I guess that is why she didn't call me right after she tested him that morning, and waited until I went in to pick him up at the end of the day to let me know. That is not the same mindset as other vets around here. So, just to follow up, if IFA turned out to be negative, does that mean he could still possibly throw off the virus? Or does that only happen very early on? I was reading a flow chart for testing, and it sounds like testing can go on for months and months if the SNAP and IFA don't match with either both pos. or both neg. results? Thank you so much for letting me know about the FVRCP vaccine. He was given that vaccine at his initial visit last year. She actually wanted to give him a 4 week booster back then, but I didn't go back and do it at that time, because he was still 'feral' and I didn't want to add any stress, and wasn't really sure if more than one was needed for an adult. Now I will NOT get him another FVRCP at all. I only asked for Purevax Rabies yesterday, not wanting to do 2 vaccines in one office visit either way. I will try to bring him in again for the IFA test, since this clinic is only a few miles away, and they also blend holistic and traditional, which is why I am also trying them for Leo. Thanks so much! By the way, if Leo was related to the other kittens from the abandoned house, they all were negative when tested. That owner took the 2 mom cats with him eventually, so I don't know if they both were neg. But I am guessing that he acquired this as an adult or he wouldn't have lived this long? Shelley Shelley Theye ve...@bellsouth.net On Aug 8, 2013, at 9:45 AM, Beth wrote: Hi Shelley - First of all, thanks for giving this guy a chance not immediately putting him down. 1) A negative IFA does NOT mean the cat is not FeLV positive. It simply means the virus is not replicating in his bone marrow. If a cat has a positive SNAP test, he is still positive. If you do get an IFA it is positive, it simply means he will not throw the virus off. 2) Those 3-way SNAP tests that test for heartworms are notoriously unreliable. Our shelter stopped using them after we had a slew of cats test postitive for FeLV. They were retested on the 2-way test twice, and came up negative. 3) It is too late now, but I would never give an FelV cat an FVRCP vaccine. I did that once to 2 sisters I had. One immediately became ill (she had been healthy up until then) died shortly afterward. Her sister died soon after. I have heard of other FeLV cats getting sick right after FVRCP vaccines. Not need to stress their immune systems out unless there is some seriously good reason why you need to vaccinate. 4) I don't think L-Lysine can hurt. It's pretty cheap you can get it in a powder form you can sprinkle over their food. 5) I have used Interferon in the past, but from what I understand it takes a long time to work. I stopped because I felt like I was stressing the cats out too much with the daily medicine routine. Plus you have to give it to them the right way. You can't just squirt it randomly in their mouths. 6) I think the best thing you can do is feed a high-quality food keep stress down. Good luck! Beth Don't Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org From: Shelley Theye ve...@bellsouth.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 9:12 AM Subject: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions Hi, I finally was able to join your list and am so excited to be able to check in for advice and any questions I might have for my cat Leo. Some history- I trapped Leo last summer to TNR for a neighbor who offered to keep/feed him outdoors. He seemed feral, and was an elusive neighborhood stray for about 3 years prior. We think we know where he was born, as we rescued kittens that were probably younger than him at that time, and they look very similar, from a house where the owners moved and left the cats behind. :-( He has been chased out of yards and finally had a yard to call home with this person, but he tested positive for FeLV last summer and the neighbor would not commit to more in-depth care even though he said he would continue to feed him outdoors in his yard. So, I ended up keeping him as an indoor cat, and he is tame now after housing him in a taming cage that I learned about from the feral cat yahoo group. He is afraid of new things, but is very sweet and gentle. Right now I am keeping him separate from my other 3 indoor cats who are not vaccinated for FeLV, and one has some pretty bad aggression issues Back on July 19, 2012, he was tested with a snap test for FeLV/FIV/heartworm, he tested weak positive for FeLV, neg
Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
Hi. I have had experience with three FeLv+ cats turning to negative. You have to keep them for about 3 months, then retest with the SNAP non heartworm test. I had no idea that the three way test can cause a false positive. Anyway, have him retested with a fresh SNAP test and if it's negative, it's negative. I have three mixed in with my other cats and no problems so far. One has been there for six years and is getting old but that's the only problem he has experienced in his entire life after I took him in about 5 years ago. As for Interferon or any other major medication, if Leo is not having any symptoms, you don't have to stress him out with a whole lot of medication. The Lysine is a good preventive for several problems in cats so do give him that. There is a formula made just for cats. I tried dumping a 500mg capsule divided into their 4 water bowls and the result was a boycott of the water. I tasted some of the lysine powder and it was awful, bitter. So much for an easy solution. ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
The Lysine powder for cats can actually come in flavors. The gel is not bad tasting at all, either. In fact I wouldn't mind taking it. I sprinkle the powder on the dry food they have no problem with it. Beth Don't Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org From: Lee Evans moonsiste...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 10:43 AM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions Hi. I have had experience with three FeLv+ cats turning to negative. You have to keep them for about 3 months, then retest with the SNAP non heartworm test. I had no idea that the three way test can cause a false positive. Anyway, have him retested with a fresh SNAP test and if it's negative, it's negative. I have three mixed in with my other cats and no problems so far. One has been there for six years and is getting old but that's the only problem he has experienced in his entire life after I took him in about 5 years ago. As for Interferon or any other major medication, if Leo is not having any symptoms, you don't have to stress him out with a whole lot of medication. The Lysine is a good preventive for several problems in cats so do give him that. There is a formula made just for cats. I tried dumping a 500mg capsule divided into their 4 water bowls and the result was a boycott of the water. I tasted some of the lysine powder and it was awful, bitter. So much for an easy solution. ___ 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] introduction and some questions
Kudos to your vet. I was lucky to have a great vet when I found my 1st FeLV cat. She never even mentioned euthanizing. She just laid out a plan for integrating them into the household. If the IFA is negative he could still throw off the virus. In my experience most cats born with FeLV do not live much more than a year. I do have one right now that I got as a 3 month old kitten. I don't know for sure if she was born with it. She lived outside an empty house. No idea what happened to mom. But she is about 3 years old doing great. Fingers crossed :) Beth Don't Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org From: Shelley Theye ve...@bellsouth.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 10:30 AM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions Hi Beth, Thank you so much for the fast reply! I should give credit to the vet that neutered him too. She said that she would never put a cat down just because he/she tests positive. I guess that is why she didn't call me right after she tested him that morning, and waited until I went in to pick him up at the end of the day to let me know. That is not the same mindset as other vets around here. So, just to follow up, if IFA turned out to be negative, does that mean he could still possibly throw off the virus? Or does that only happen very early on? I was reading a flow chart for testing, and it sounds like testing can go on for months and months if the SNAP and IFA don't match with either both pos. or both neg. results? Thank you so much for letting me know about the FVRCP vaccine. He was given that vaccine at his initial visit last year. She actually wanted to give him a 4 week booster back then, but I didn't go back and do it at that time, because he was still 'feral' and I didn't want to add any stress, and wasn't really sure if more than one was needed for an adult. Now I will NOT get him another FVRCP at all. I only asked for Purevax Rabies yesterday, not wanting to do 2 vaccines in one office visit either way. I will try to bring him in again for the IFA test, since this clinic is only a few miles away, and they also blend holistic and traditional, which is why I am also trying them for Leo. Thanks so much! By the way, if Leo was related to the other kittens from the abandoned house, they all were negative when tested. That owner took the 2 mom cats with him eventually, so I don't know if they both were neg. But I am guessing that he acquired this as an adult or he wouldn't have lived this long? Shelley Shelley Theye ve...@bellsouth.net___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] introduction and some questions
For some reason I did not receive the latest messages, so I am just sending a new email since I saw that Lee and Beth responded in the archives... Thanks Lee and Beth. I don't think my L- Lysine is the cat only version, but I sprinkled some on Leo's canned food and he ate it right up. Afterwards, he licked and licked the little peel off part of the lid that came on the new container, so he must like the flavor OK! Thanks for sharing about your kitties, and I hope they continue to thrive. :-) Glad to hear the there might be a chance Leo can still throw this virus. Shelley ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
