Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me/ flow charts for testing
An IFA will tell you if the virus is replicating in the bone marrow. Once that happens the virus will not go away, so If you want to be sure he is positive will not throw off the virus you could do that. It does cost close to $100 if I remember correctly. Even FeLV kitties who are initially sick can get better stay healthy for awhile. Most of mine were strays not in good health to begin with. You just never know. Some I've had for a week, some for years. Beth Don't Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:07 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me/ flow charts for testing I'm sorry I haven't figured out how to reply to specific threads, maybe because I receive a digest instead of each post. I'm using this site http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org to access the threads. If someone can point me in the right direction about how to properly use this site I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is somewhere in the intro msg but I'm not thinking too clearly. When I have a sick animal, I get very upset. Anyway, I wanted to throw out what the vet who diagnosed this stray kitten using a elise test that was sent to a lab (not done at her office) told me today.. She said she called to find the latest protocols about retesting and said that one way is to wait 30 days and repeat the test but the other way is to do an IFA now and I would know once and for all if the kitten is truely positive. I questioned her about what I was reading on the internet about waiting a longer period to see if the cat reverts or sheds, but she said this is what she was told is the latest protocol. I did read some of you about your cats coming back negative after retesting and this gave me hope. Mitt (for Mittens) b/c he has them is eating well and his bad breath went away I guess from the antibiotics he is on. but tonight I saw he has dandruff/scaling in his fur on the outer ear. Now I fear he does have a compromised immune system and a skin disease. So I am bringing him back to the vet on thurs to get this IFA test and for her to look at the skin and tell me what it is. I'm not sure I can handle a chronically ill cat again. I took care of one of my older cats in the final stages of kidney failure for a year, including giving fluids but there was no issue of keeping separate and fear of spreading illnesses to my other cats. My remaining 4 cats were former strays/ferals that were over a year old when i took them in. I got them sterilized but never kept up on shots and testing b/c I kept them inside and figured since they all lived outside more or less together if they had something they all probably had it by then. I've had them all over 11 years. I have yet to find a really good vet where I live. Most just push vaccinations and flea treatments. Most don't deal with stray cats. I've been calling around cat rescues and those that take positive cats are full and apparently the protocol here is that when they bring in strays/ferals to be sterilzied, they give them a SNAP test (is that an elise test) and if they test positive, they euthanize them apparently b/c they will not return them to the colonies to spread the disease. So most don't have experience treating cats with this illness. Anyway, thanks to anyone who made it thru this msg and has any further comment. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 8:33 PM Subject: Re: stray kitten positive any advice for me thank you all for responding so quickly. when i have more time I will review all archives. I hope i am posting correctly by sending these emails. I see my post is all chopped up (at least in my display ). Thanks for your advice. I guess i will take things day by day. thanks also for the advice to get the other test as a follow up.i can only hope it turns out negative. I am worried about the redness of his gums which he is on an antibiotic for. Vet attributed it to gingivitis and teething but this was pre finding out the positive test results. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 6:52 PM Subject: stray kitten positive any advice for me I came across this site, having just been informed by the vet that the abandoned kitten I took in three weeks ago. Before I took it to the vet, I have been keeping it in a separate room but admit that since it seemed so healthy I let it out for little walks. I have 4 cats over 12 years old. Other than walking on the same floors, they have not had contact with this kitten. In our short phone call, the vet basically said that she would understand if I euthanized
Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me/ flow charts for testing
I'm sorry I haven't figured out how to reply to specific threads, maybe because I receive a digest instead of each post. I'm using this site http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org to access the threads. If someone can point me in the right direction about how to properly use this site I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is somewhere in the intro msg but I'm not thinking too clearly. When I have a sick animal, I get very upset. Anyway, I wanted to throw out what the vet who diagnosed this stray kitten using a elise test that was sent to a lab (not done at her office) told me today.. She said she called to find the latest protocols about retesting and said that one way is to wait 30 days and repeat the test but the other way is to do an IFA now and I would know once and for all if the kitten is truely positive. I questioned her about what I was reading on the internet about waiting a longer period to see if the cat reverts or sheds, but she said this is what she was told is the latest protocol. I did read some of you about your cats coming back negative after retesting and this gave me hope. Mitt (for Mittens) b/c he has them is eating well and his bad breath went away I guess from the antibiotics he is on. but tonight I saw he has dandruff/scaling in his fur on the outer ear. Now I fear he does have a compromised immune system and a skin disease. So I am bringing him back to the vet on thurs to get this IFA test and for her to look at the skin and tell me what it is. I'm not sure I can handle a chronically ill cat again. I took care of one of my older cats in the final stages of kidney failure for a year, including giving fluids but there was no issue of keeping separate and fear of spreading illnesses to my other cats. My remaining 4 cats were former strays/ferals that were over a year old when i took them in. I got them sterilized but never kept up on shots and testing b/c I kept them inside and figured since they all lived outside more or less together if they had something they all probably had it by then. I've had them all over 11 years. I have yet to find a really good vet where I live. Most just push vaccinations and flea treatments. Most don't deal with stray cats. I've been calling around cat rescues and those that take positive cats are full and apparently the protocol here is that when they bring in strays/ferals to be sterilzied, they give them a SNAP test (is that an elise test) and if they test positive, they euthanize them apparently b/c they will not return them to the colonies to spread the disease. So most don't have experience treating cats with this illness. Anyway, thanks to anyone who made it thru this msg and has any further comment. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 8:33 PM Subject: Re: stray kitten positive any advice for me thank you all for responding so quickly. when i have more time I will review all archives. I hope i am posting correctly by sending these emails. I see my post is all chopped up (at least in my display ). Thanks for your advice. I guess i will take things day by day. thanks also for the advice to get the other test as a follow up.i can only hope it turns out negative. I am worried about the redness of his gums which he is on an antibiotic for. Vet attributed it to gingivitis and teething but this was pre finding out the positive test results. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 6:52 PM Subject: stray kitten positive any advice for me I came across this site, having just been informed by the vet that the abandoned kitten I took in three weeks ago. Before I took it to the vet, I have been keeping it in a separate room but admit that since it seemed so healthy I let it out for little walks. I have 4 cats over 12 years old. Other than walking on the same floors, they have not had contact with this kitten. In our short phone call, the vet basically said that she would understand if I euthanized the cat and that she wasn't sure about false positive and whether retesting would be worthwhile. The cat also has hookworms. When I took the cat in, she suggested that I give it its vaccinations before waiting for test results. I asked if the cat turned out postitive, wouldn't this harm its immune system. she said no. Now when she called she said she was surprised that the cat tested positive since, other than the sore gums, which she attirbuted to teething and bad breath, she said it seemed healthy. It does seem healthy , eats well and plays. and is the sweetest cat, loving and intelligent. I am heartbroken about this. I'm sorry I haven't had time to read all archives but I work from home and
Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me/ flow charts for testing
I guess the fact of the matter is, is that your kitten can live a very healthy life. If she tests positive, it doesn't necessarily mean that she will be chronically ill. I really think that good nutrition also plays an enormous role in keeping them healthy. It's a very tough decision. I feel for you. Best of luck to you and your little one. Marcia Sent from my iPhone On Nov 8, 2011, at 5:07 PM, dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com wrote: I'm sorry I haven't figured out how to reply to specific threads, maybe because I receive a digest instead of each post. I'm using this site http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org to access the threads. If someone can point me in the right direction about how to properly use this site I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is somewhere in the intro msg but I'm not thinking too clearly. When I have a sick animal, I get very upset. Anyway, I wanted to throw out what the vet who diagnosed this stray kitten using a elise test that was sent to a lab (not done at her office) told me today.. She said she called to find the latest protocols about retesting and said that one way is to wait 30 days and repeat the test but the other way is to do an IFA now and I would know once and for all if the kitten is truely positive. I questioned her about what I was reading on the internet about waiting a longer period to see if the cat reverts or sheds, but she said this is what she was told is the latest protocol. I did read some of you about your cats coming back negative after retesting and this gave me hope. Mitt (for Mittens) b/c he has them is eating well and his bad breath went away I guess from the antibiotics he is on. but tonight I saw he has dandruff/scaling in his fur on the outer ear. Now I fear he does have a compromised immune system and a skin disease. So I am bringing him back to the vet on thurs to get this IFA test and for her to look at the skin and tell me what it is. I'm not sure I can handle a chronically ill cat again. I took care of one of my older cats in the final stages of kidney failure for a year, including giving fluids but there was no issue of keeping separate and fear of spreading illnesses to my other cats. My remaining 4 cats were former strays/ferals that were over a year old when i took them in. I got them sterilized but never kept up on shots and testing b/c I kept them inside and figured since they all lived outside more or less together if they had something they all probably had it by then. I've had them all over 11 years. I have yet to find a really good vet where I live. Most just push vaccinations and flea treatments. Most don't deal with stray cats. I've been calling around cat rescues and those that take positive cats are full and apparently the protocol here is that when they bring in strays/ferals to be sterilzied, they give them a SNAP test (is that an elise test) and if they test positive, they euthanize them apparently b/c they will not return them to the colonies to spread the disease. So most don't have experience treating cats with this illness. Anyway, thanks to anyone who made it thru this msg and has any further comment. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 8:33 PM Subject: Re: stray kitten positive any advice for me thank you all for responding so quickly. when i have more time I will review all archives. I hope i am posting correctly by sending these emails. I see my post is all chopped up (at least in my display ). Thanks for your advice. I guess i will take things day by day. thanks also for the advice to get the other test as a follow up.i can only hope it turns out negative. I am worried about the redness of his gums which he is on an antibiotic for. Vet attributed it to gingivitis and teething but this was pre finding out the positive test results. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 6:52 PM Subject: stray kitten positive any advice for me I came across this site, having just been informed by the vet that the abandoned kitten I took in three weeks ago. Before I took it to the vet, I have been keeping it in a separate room but admit that since it seemed so healthy I let it out for little walks. I have 4 cats over 12 years old. Other than walking on the same floors, they have not had contact with this kitten. In our short phone call, the vet basically said that she would understand if I euthanized the cat and that she wasn't sure about false positive and whether retesting would be worthwhile. The cat also has hookworms. When I took the cat in, she suggested that I give it its vaccinations before waiting for test results. I asked if the cat turned out postitive,
Re: [Felvtalk] stray kitten positive any advice for me/ flow charts for testing
Good nutrition, paying attention to sniffles, etc and most of all, lotsf love Marcia marciabmar...@gmail.com wrote: I guess the fact of the matter is, is that your kitten can live a very healthy life. If she tests positive, it doesn't necessarily mean that she will be chronically ill. I really think that good nutrition also plays an enormous role in keeping them healthy. It's a very tough decision. I feel for you. Best of luck to you and your little one. Marcia Sent from my iPhone On Nov 8, 2011, at 5:07 PM, dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com wrote: I'm sorry I haven't figured out how to reply to specific threads, maybe because I receive a digest instead of each post. I'm using this site http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org to access the threads. If someone can point me in the right direction about how to properly use this site I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is somewhere in the intro msg but I'm not thinking too clearly. When I have a sick animal, I get very upset. Anyway, I wanted to throw out what the vet who diagnosed this stray kitten using a elise test that was sent to a lab (not done at her office) told me today.. She said she called to find the latest protocols about retesting and said that one way is to wait 30 days and repeat the test but the other way is to do an IFA now and I would know once and for all if the kitten is truely positive. I questioned her about what I was reading on the internet about waiting a longer period to see if the cat reverts or sheds, but she said this is what she was told is the latest protocol. I did read some of you about your cats coming back negative after retesting and this gave me hope. Mitt (for Mittens) b/c he has them is eating well and his bad breath went away I guess from the antibiotics he is on. but tonight I saw he has dandruff/scaling in his fur on the outer ear. Now I fear he does have a compromised immune system and a skin disease. So I am bringing him back to the vet on thurs to get this IFA test and for her to look at the skin and tell me what it is. I'm not sure I can handle a chronically ill cat again. I took care of one of my older cats in the final stages of kidney failure for a year, including giving fluids but there was no issue of keeping separate and fear of spreading illnesses to my other cats. My remaining 4 cats were former strays/ferals that were over a year old when i took them in. I got them sterilized but never kept up on shots and testing b/c I kept them inside and figured since they all lived outside more or less together if they had something they all probably had it by then. I've had them all over 11 years. I have yet to find a really good vet where I live. Most just push vaccinations and flea treatments. Most don't deal with stray cats. I've been calling around cat rescues and those that take positive cats are full and apparently the protocol here is that when they bring in strays/ferals to be sterilzied, they give them a SNAP test (is that an elise test) and if they test positive, they euthanize them apparently b/c they will not return them to the colonies to spread the disease. So most don't have experience treating cats with this illness. Anyway, thanks to anyone who made it thru this msg and has any further comment. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 8:33 PM Subject: Re: stray kitten positive any advice for me thank you all for responding so quickly. when i have more time I will review all archives. I hope i am posting correctly by sending these emails. I see my post is all chopped up (at least in my display ). Thanks for your advice. I guess i will take things day by day. thanks also for the advice to get the other test as a follow up.i can only hope it turns out negative. I am worried about the redness of his gums which he is on an antibiotic for. Vet attributed it to gingivitis and teething but this was pre finding out the positive test results. From: dppl dppl dppl1...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 6:52 PM Subject: stray kitten positive any advice for me I came across this site, having just been informed by the vet that the abandoned kitten I took in three weeks ago. Before I took it to the vet, I have been keeping it in a separate room but admit that since it seemed so healthy I let it out for little walks. I have 4 cats over 12 years old. Other than walking on the same floors, they have not had contact with this kitten. In our short phone call, the vet basically said that she would understand if I euthanized the cat and that she wasn't sure about false positive and whether
