Re: New to the list - hello.
Elizabeth,I think if your other cats are vaccinated they are either fine, or possibly already positive. Being with an felv cat at this point won't make a difference if they've been vaccinated. Lots of times people test as kittens and get a negative result and vaccinate. Well, the cat was positive all along. It just didn't show because the kitten had been too recently exposed.Good luck. It sounds like you're doing everything you can. And I would do exactly the same as you've done. I've been on the list around 10 years now tootonya[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to give some background information in the hope that some of you with more experience may have recommendations. First and foremost - thank you for being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a catfamily member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close - my heart is with you.Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side. The next morning, I took her to my vet's office. On a gut feeling, I asked them to test her for FeVL. Although she had been vaccinated a little over a year ago, she tested positive. The vet and the vet tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day. She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune system to run a fever.(She was initiallya feral cat who adopted me two years ago and blessedme with 12 kittens. My vet saidthat was a record)Iam notready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is time. Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but sheseems to have a decentquality of life. She ran up the steps to greet me the next day with tail straight up in the air. I don't want to selfishly keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but myheart says it isn't time.I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable. They gaveher ammoxi dropsand 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood. I told them toexpect me to have a lot of questions and they were very understanding. Itook offwork the rest of the day...came home and did my research. That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website. Thanks totheinformation provided, I found out about Acemannan - a drug my veterinarian had never heard about. I tracked down the manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it and asked if this would be a reasonable course of treatment and if he would assist me. My vet was also able to find information about this drug and he got it here in 2 days. We began treatment yesterday.Since my vet is not familiar with this drug - he told me that he really didn't know what to expect in terms of how she would feel after the shot so I've been watching her closely. It may be a coincidence but since she got the shot - she's been eating more than I've seen her eat in a while. For days I've been trying to get her to eat a teaspoon of canned foodseveral times a day without muchsuccess and she wouldn't touch her dry food. Yesterday after her first treatment, she ate dry food and also about half a can of canned food. I'm trying not to have false hope but I couldn't help but be encouraged.All the kids hereeat 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' cat food. I have a feeling that nutrition is going to play a huge role inhelping her to copewith thisand so I am currently looking for diet and supplementation information too.I'm trying to keep a level head - which isn't easy when it's your baby - and I know and accept that realistically, the oddsmay not bein our favor...but I believe I would be remiss if I didn't try. One concern is that this is an eight cat household. Entirely too many cats..but that is another story.While this number will not increase - giving up even one is not an option. They live inside. Everyone elsehas been vaccinated and is in good health. MK is in the habit of being outside in the day and inside at night...but she doesn't leave the yard (truly an extraordinary cat person). Since she's been sick though - I've been keeping her inside except for brief periods in the afternoon when she wants to sunbathe on the front porch. I am concerned about infecting the other indoor cats who range in age from 2-7.Any information or recommendation would be most welcome.Thank you, elizabeth
Re: New to the list - hello / Re: To Elizabeth
Thank you so much to everyone who responded to my first post. The encouragement means everything to me. Wendy, I would definitely like to have a copy of the manual - thank you. Acemannan is an Aloe Vera derivative. It is manufactured by Vererinary Products Laboratories. Here is a link to the information about this drug on their website: Veterinary Products Laboratories (http://www.vpl.com/product.php?catmain=mainkey=pid=80key=carravetcat=Wound%20Management) The drug has been approved and there have been some studiesconcerning the efficacy of this drug. There are other applications of this drug aswell. The VPL website also has a link to distributors.The treatment for FeVLis ashot once a week in the tummy (but only under the skin). A typical course of treatmentis six weeks. This article was encouraging to me (although I am leery of articles by companies selling products): FELINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS - TREATED WITH ALOE VERA (ACEMANNAN) (http://www.aloevera.co.uk/felinelv.htm) All of MK's (Mama Kitty)kittens who have been tested have been negative. One of my cats, Tori, was the runt of her litter and is she is healthy and doing very well. A little over a year agoMK did get a very bad bite near the base of her tail which abscessed and required surgery. I can't help but wonder if this isn't how she acquired this disease. From what I've been able to determine, the nearest holistic veterinarian is about a 90 minute drive one way (same for a veterinary specialist). I don't know anything about that person and it may not be practical to make the drive. I was, however, able to find an interesting website that you may already be familiar with called 'Only Natural Pet Store': Only Natural Pet Store - Dogs Cats Holistic Supplies Products Food Treats Vitamins Medicine Supplements (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/) From there I've ordered some 'New Life Colostrum Plus' for MKand the 'Only Natural Pet Super Daily Feline Multi-Vitamin Mineral' supplement for all of my cats. They have an interesting range of products there. I got disgusted with Science Diet ayear or two agoand that is when I started having 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' delivered here every month - as that product is not available where I live. The ingredients seem to be very high quality and the kids do like it. I've been checking out the Innova too since it's been mentioned here and it also has a very good ingredient list. The company that delivers the CSCLSalsohas that product available. I really appreciate all the good tips and insight. Since we started the Acemannan on Friday and haven't missed a dose of ammoxi drops or pet tinic...MK is much perkier. I don't know if this is due to the treatment or due to the unpredictable nature of the disease but I am hopeful. She's eating much better than she was before and just seems to sparkle when she 'talks'. I'm making everyeffort to sterilize water and food bowls more frequently and washing bedding more often in very hot water just in case it will be beneficial. I've used ImmunoRegulin on the man of the house, Phelix, for his allergies. The shots were very reasonable - I'll discuss this with my vet when I return. I'll keep you all posted on how this treatment goes. Thank you all again for the encouragement, insight, and stories of your own experiences. I've only been here a day or two but I already believe I have gained some valuable information.
Re: New to the list - hello / Re: To Elizabeth
Where are you located (generally)? Some of us may know a closer holistic vet. I understand the distance problem. The one I use is over 3 hours away. Dixie doesn't see her very often--maybe every couple of months--and Betty is always available if I need to check something out over the phone. She has Dixie on some drops (sorry, I forget what all she put together for her a long time ago) which seem to be keeping the virus at bay. Good luck. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 2:16 PM Subject: Re: New to the list - hello / Re: To Elizabeth Thank you so much to everyone who responded to my first post. The encouragement means everything to me. Wendy, I would definitely like to have a copy of the manual - thank you. Acemannan is an Aloe Vera derivative. It is manufactured by Vererinary Products Laboratories. Here is a link to the information about this drug on their website: Veterinary Products Laboratories (http://www.vpl.com/product.php?catmain=mainkey=pid=80key=carravetcat=Wound%20Management) The drug has been approved and there have been some studiesconcerning the efficacy of this drug. There are other applications of this drug aswell. The VPL website also has a link to distributors.The treatment for FeVLis ashot once a week in the tummy (but only under the skin). A typical course of treatmentis six weeks. This article was encouraging to me (although I am leery of articles by companies selling products): FELINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS - TREATED WITH ALOE VERA (ACEMANNAN) (http://www.aloevera.co.uk/felinelv.htm) All of MK's (Mama Kitty)kittens who have been tested have been negative. One of my cats, Tori, was the runt of her litter and is she is healthy and doing very well. A little over a year agoMK did get a very bad bite near the base of her tail which abscessed and required surgery. I can't help but wonder if this isn't how she acquired this disease. From what I've been able to determine, the nearest holistic veterinarian is about a 90 minute drive one way (same for a veterinary specialist). I don't know anything about that person and it may not be practical to make the drive. I was, however, able to find an interesting website that you may already be familiar with called 'Only Natural Pet Store': Only Natural Pet Store - Dogs Cats Holistic Supplies Products Food Treats Vitamins Medicine Supplements (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/) From there I've ordered some 'New Life Colostrum Plus' for MKand the 'Only Natural Pet Super Daily Feline Multi-Vitamin Mineral' supplement for all of my cats. They have an interesting range of products there. I got disgusted with Science Diet ayear or two agoand that is when I started having 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' delivered here every month - as that product is not available where I live. The ingredients seem to be very high quality and the kids do like it. I've been checking out the Innova too since it's been mentioned here and it also has a very good ingredient list. The company that delivers the CSCLSalsohas that product available. I really appreciate all the good tips and insight. Since we started the Acemannan on Friday and haven't missed a dose of ammoxi drops or pet tinic...MK is much perkier. I don't know if this is due to the treatment or due to the unpredictable nature of the disease but I am hopeful. She's eating much better than she was before and just seems to sparkle when she 'talks'. I'm making everyeffort to sterilize water and food bowls more frequently and washing bedding more often in very hot water just in case it will be beneficial. I've used ImmunoRegulin on the man of the house, Phelix, for his allergies. The shots were very reasonable - I'll discuss this with my vet when I return. I'll keep you all posted on how this treatment goes. Thank you all again for the encouragement, insight, and stories of your own experiences. I've only been here a day or two but I already believe I have gained some valuable information.
New to the list - hello.
I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to give some background information in the hope that some of you with more experience may have recommendations. First and foremost - thank you for being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a catfamily member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close - my heart is with you. Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side. The next morning, I took her to my vet's office. On a gut feeling, I asked them to test her for FeVL. Although she had been vaccinated a little over a year ago, she tested positive. The vet and the vet tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day. She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune system to run a fever. (She was initiallya feral cat who adopted me two years ago and blessedme with 12 kittens. My vet saidthat was a record) Iam notready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is time. Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but sheseems to have a decentquality of life. She ran up the steps to greet me the next day with tail straight up in the air. I don't want to selfishly keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but myheart says it isn't time. I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable. They gaveher ammoxi dropsand 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood. I told them toexpect me to have a lot of questions and they were very understanding. Itook offwork the rest of the day...came home and did my research. That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website. Thanks totheinformation provided, I found out about Acemannan - a drug my veterinarian had never heard about. I tracked down the manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it and asked if this would be a reasonable course of treatment and if he would assist me. My vet was also able to find information about this drug and he got it here in 2 days. We began treatment yesterday. Since my vet is not familiar with this drug - he told me that he really didn't know what to expect in terms of how she would feel after the shot so I've been watching her closely. It may be a coincidence but since she got the shot - she's been eating more than I've seen her eat in a while. For days I've been trying to get her to eat a teaspoon of canned foodseveral times a day without muchsuccess and she wouldn't touch her dry food. Yesterday after her first treatment, she ate dry food and also about half a can of canned food. I'm trying not to have false hope but I couldn't help but be encouraged.All the kids hereeat 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' cat food. I have a feeling that nutrition is going to play a huge role inhelping her to copewith thisand so I am currently looking for diet and supplementation information too. I'm trying to keep a level head - which isn't easy when it's your baby - and I know and accept that realistically, the oddsmay not bein our favor...but I believe I would be remiss if I didn't try. One concern is that this is an eight cat household. Entirely too many cats..but that is another story.While this number will not increase - giving up even one is not an option. They live inside. Everyone elsehas been vaccinated and is in good health. MK is in the habit of being outside in the day and inside at night...but she doesn't leave the yard (truly an extraordinary cat person). Since she's been sick though - I've been keeping her inside except for brief periods in the afternoon when she wants to sunbathe on the front porch. I am concerned about infecting the other indoor cats who range in age from 2-7. Any information or recommendation would be most welcome. Thank you, elizabeth
Re: New to the list - hello.
Hi Elizabeth, I'm sorry that you and your cat (MK?) are going through this, but it does sound like you're doing the right things. I think you should consider testing and vaccinating the other cats. I'd definitely test everyone, but the vax part is a bit more iffy. You won't deal with that decision until the other felines come back as negatives. If it's possible to isolate MK without too much stress to her and everyone else, that might also be something to consider as a temporary measure until you figure out the status of the other cats. Nutrition is important, and Chicken Soup... seems to be a pretty good brand of food. My FeLV+ girl has been on their dry food and on Innova EVO canned. We'll probably be going to an all Innova EVO diet this weekend or early next week (our Chicken Soup... is about to run out). My Ember is also on Transfer Factor (the feline version), and while I don't know if it's helping anything yet (she has not begun to show symptoms yet), it doesn't seem like it could hurt. I'll be interested to hear more about what you see happening with the Acemannan. It sounds like it's helping out your girl. My vet doesn't seem to think much of it, but I was also pretty interested in it. We're using low dose human interferon (1cc/day; 5 days on/5 days off). Ember tolerates it just fine, and it is non-invasive. Before she realizes that anything is going on, we've gotten the interferon down her throat, and she'll often just stay cradled in my arms for half a minute afterwards. Please keep coming back here with any questions you have, and keep us updated on how your feline family members are doing. Take care. Lance
Re: New to the list - hello.
First, don't let yourself be talked into killing her just because someone else has quality of life issues. You and she will know if and when it is time for her to leave this world with help. She may do like Kitty Katt and leave on her own. And that may be years and years from now. When Kitty was diagnosed with cancer the experts expected her to live a very few monthsshe lived 15 months and the quality of life was wonderful until the last 2-3 weeks. Listen to your heart and trust her to help you. She will. Dixie Louise Doodle was diagnosed with FeLV + a year ago. She is also just fine. We are having minor tooth problems but nothing you would not expect from a cat who was thrown away and lived pretty much on her own for several months. Given Kitty and Dixie I strongly suggest you forget about odds. The odds of being killed crossing a street are very small--unless you are the person killed then the odds are 100%. Concentrate on loving and caring for all your cats. Enjoy every minute with them (ok, almost every minute--sometimes it is hard). I like EVO myself and so does my holistic vet-by the way, holistic vets are great with FeLV+. I don't know where you are but my holistic vet is E A Boswell in Louisville KY. She has treated two of my dogs and two cats. She has definitely improved their lives and mine. Good luck. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 9:50 AM Subject: New to the list - hello. I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to give some background information in the hope that some of you with more experience may have recommendations. First and foremost - thank you for being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a catfamily member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close - my heart is with you. Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side. The next morning, I took her to my vet's office. On a gut feeling, I asked them to test her for FeVL. Although she had been vaccinated a little over a year ago, she tested positive. The vet and the vet tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day. She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune system to run a fever. (She was initiallya feral cat who adopted me two years ago and blessedme with 12 kittens. My vet saidthat was a record) Iam notready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is time. Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but sheseems to have a decentquality of life. She ran up the steps to greet me the next day with tail straight up in the air. I don't want to selfishly keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but myheart says it isn't time. I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable. They gaveher ammoxi dropsand 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood. I told them toexpect me to have a lot of questions and they were very understanding. Itook offwork the rest of the day...came home and did my research. That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website. Thanks totheinformation provided, I found out about Acemannan - a drug my veterinarian had never heard about. I tracked down the manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it and asked if this would be a reasonable course of treatment and if he would assist me. My vet was also able to find information about this drug and he got it here in 2 days. We began treatment yesterday. Since my vet is not familiar with this drug - he told me that he really didn't know what to expect in terms of how she would feel after the shot so I've been watching her closely. It may be a coincidence but since she got the shot - she's been eating more than I've seen her eat in a while. For days I've been trying to get her to eat a teaspoon of canned foodseveral times a day without muchsuccess and she wouldn't touch her dry food. Yesterday after her first treatment, she ate dry food and also about half a can of canned food. I'm trying not to have false hope but I couldn't help but be encouraged.All the kids hereeat 'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' cat food. I have a feeling that nutrition is going to play a huge role inhelping her to copewith thisand so I am currently looking for diet and supplementation information too. I'm trying to keep a level head - which isn't easy when it's your baby - and I know and accept that realistically, the oddsmay not bein
Re: New to the list - hello.
Hi Elizabeth and welcome. I'm sorry your baby isn't feeling well and has tested pos for felv. We've all been were you are right now and understand how upset you must be. Of course you're not ready to say goodbye! I'm so glad you are willing to fight for her! Take a deep breath, there are things you can do to help her. If you've had MK for two years, it doesn't make any sense to create added stress by separating her from the rest of your cats, (imo). Feeding a good supplemented quality diet and keeping the stress level low are the two best ways to help keep her asymptomatic. If your other cats were going to contract felv from her, they probably already have. You could have them all tested for your peace of mind, or test them if they become sick. Since MK doesn't venture from your backyard and doesn't have contact with neighborhood cats, (felv is a "social" type disease, they have to have direct contact with a carrier to become infected, she wouldn't get it from the environment. "When it dries, it dies".), chances are she's had it all along. Most healthy adult cats, esp if vaccinated, either don't contract it when exposed, or have strong enough immune responses to fight it off and clear the virus. I have no experience with Acemannan, so I can't help you with that. One thing I would strongly suggest is for you to find a board certified Internist to help you. Felv is so darn unpredictable. It's not the Felv itself that our kitties succumb to, it's the secondary illness and cancers that take hold because their immune systems have been compromised. Bolstering their immune response and treating any sign of illness immediately are your best weapons. An Internist will be knowledgeable in kitty diseases and you won't waste time with GP vets that would have to refer you to a specialist at some point anyway. If she's showing symptoms of anemia, pale gums, licking concrete, lethargy etc, you need to find out what the reason for the anemia is and treat for that. The abx that your vet prescribed isn't a broad spectrum, it may or may not help. Have you run blood tests? Has she been tested for blood parasites? My Grace had problems with anemia and even though the Hemobartinella, (blood parasites), test came back negative my Internist was intuitive enough to put her on Doxycycline anyway, it saved her life more than once. I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice from the group. Weekends are notoriously slow for us. Hang in there and post as many times as you like about anything at all that you feel like talking about. This is the nicest, best informed group of people you'll ever run across. I'm so glad you found us. Keep your chin up and give your babies a head bump from me. One other thing... You mentioned that MK had a litter of 12 kittens. Do you have contact with any of them? If she has been infected since you got her, she very well may have passed the felv on to her babies invitro. You might want to contact anyone that you can and tell them about her status. Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to give some background information in the hope that some of you with more experience may have recommendations. First and foremost - thank you for being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a catfamily member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close - my heart is with you. Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side. The next morning, I took her to my vet's office. On a gut feeling, I asked them to test her for FeVL. Although she had been vaccinated a little over a year ago, she tested positive. The vet and the vet tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day. She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune system to run a fever. (She was initiallya feral cat who adopted me two years ago and blessedme with 12 kittens. My vet saidthat was a record) Iam notready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is time. Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but sheseems to have a decentquality of life. She ran up the steps to greet me the next day with tail straight up in the air. I don't want to selfishly keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but myheart says it isn't time. I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable. They gaveher ammoxi dropsand 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood. I told them toexpect me to have a lot of questions and they were very understanding. Itook offwork the rest of the day...came home and did my research. That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website. Thanks totheinformation provided, I found out about Acemannan - a drug my veterinarian had never heard about. I tracked down the manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it and asked if
