Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Moogie just faded away really, nothing too dramatic. She was dehydrated, depressed, had mouth ulcers, and had begun to hemorrhage a little from her nose. I had her euthanised, rather than prolong her suffering with transfusions that would only have bought her a few months at best. I think that the stress of pregnancy and delivery can often make a FELV+ queen go from inactive to the active stages of FELV quickly. It is an added stressor to their systems, you know? It's probably common for FELV+ queens to die not long after giving birth, though Bob (Moogie's momma) lasted about 6 months or so after Moogie was born. Jenn ~~~Jenn,So, you're not only an exemplary cat-mom, your an excellent girlfriend too! I'm sorry to hear about Moogie and her Momma. What were Moogie's complications? I lost my Jazz at 18 mos too. I'm guessing the fur-mom of my pos litter also died. Before I knew their status, I used to wonder what kind of cold-blooded person would dump a box of 2 1/2 week old babies. How much trouble is it to let mom take care of them until they're weaned? After I found out about the FeLV, I figured Momma must have died. So sad.Nina No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.8 - Release Date: 5/10/2005
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi Jenn, I'm sure you've got a lot of replies already. If I were in your situation I would keep them separated until your 3 year old cat gets the felv vaccine and booster. Then wait maybe 2 more weeks after that, and let the cats be together. That's what I have done with no transmission so far (about 10 years). tonyaJennifer Korin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi!I hope it's okay to just jump in here. I found this mailing listwhile searching for information about FeLV. About three weeks ago, Iadopted a 6 month old kitten who was tested FeLV negative by therescue 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 thevisit, they did another FeLV test (because they have a combo of thatwith 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 testedwhen she was spayed the weekend before I got her.)Anyway, we had just lost a beloved cat to a sudden stomach hernia, andTessa had already slid right into the empty hollow in my heart (and atmy 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 thehip to my eight year old. They love each other to distraction. Whenwe found out that Tessa was infected, we rushed Midnight, the oldercat right in to the vet (although she had only been exposed to Tessafor four days). Midnight, thankfully, was still negative. We'vescheduled her to be vaccinated (she was running a temp at the lastappointment 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 repiratoryinfection and a yeast infection in her ears. The vet is also talkingabout starting her on Interferon. But, she is a very social kitty. She wants to be where I am, and is constantly trying to escape thebedroom. Meanwhile, Midnight is used to having the run of the house,and though my daughter's room is her "natural habitat", the closeddoor is irritating her, since we never close doors. So she keepstrying to get in. We're just dealing with it until Midnight isvaccinated, but it's hard to imagine keeping them totally isolated forhowever long Tessa is with us. Do you have any advice about + and -cats together? Will the vaccine and Midnight's adult age protect hersufficiently? Or should I keep tossing them back in their own areasevery time I open the door? Will Tessa have a crummy life living injust one room?Also, does anyone know how a cat could test negative one week and thenpositive on both the vet and lab (IFA) tests a week later? Isn't IFAan indicator of a later stage of infection?Is there anything important I should know right away to help Tessalive as long as possible?She is adorable, by the way - soft and gray, yellow eyes, ridiculouslylong tail. She loves on me and my husband, purrs louder than any catI've heard, loves to play with anything dangling and attack my feet inbed, will sit on my arm or lap for hours to be petted and is basicallythe 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 mailinglists, so you can call me Jenn K if that helps.Jenn K
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Jenn, So, you're not only an exemplary cat-mom, your an excellent girlfriend too! I'm sorry to hear about Moogie and her Momma. What were Moogie's complications? I lost my Jazz at 18 mos too. I'm guessing the fur-mom of my pos litter also died. Before I knew their status, I used to wonder what kind of cold-blooded person would dump a box of 2 1/2 week old babies. How much trouble is it to let mom take care of them until they're weaned? After I found out about the FeLV, I figured Momma must have died. So sad. Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks!! I try. Not easy with a full time job, and a boyfriend in two bands that I have to get to practices and gigs and be a roadie for! Since I'm re-replying to this thread, I'd just like to add that I had a negative household, then I took in a stray who was positive, and she had positive kittens. The stray died, but I kept one of the kittens (Moogie), and she lived in my household for 18 months (until she died) with my negatives, including Doobie, who was her surrogate "mamma" and cleaned her butt and everything, and NONE of my negative cats have EVER tested positive, with NO separation of any kind between them and the positive cats who have been here. Like I said, the chances of a healthy adult cat getting FELV are slim to none, and I'm speaking from professional studies AND personal experience. Jenn ~~~ "Did you check out Jenn's website. Damn, she spent a lot of time putting that together, (you go girl!)." No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.8 - Release Date: 5/10/2005
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Thanks!! I try. Not easy with a full time job, and a boyfriend in two bands that I have to get to practices and gigs and be a roadie for! Since I'm re-replying to this thread, I'd just like to add that I had a negative household, then I took in a stray who was positive, and she had positive kittens. The stray died, but I kept one of the kittens (Moogie), and she lived in my household for 18 months (until she died) with my negatives, including Doobie, who was her surrogate "mamma" and cleaned her butt and everything, and NONE of my negative cats have EVER tested positive, with NO separation of any kind between them and the positive cats who have been here. Like I said, the chances of a healthy adult cat getting FELV are slim to none, and I'm speaking from professional studies AND personal experience. Jenn ~~~"Did you check out Jenn's website. Damn, she spent a lot of time putting that together, (you go girl!)." No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.8 - Release Date: 5/10/2005
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi JennK, Oh, we're definitely keeping them separate 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 wish I could reassure you that there is NO risk in mixing. I've just decided that with all the other risks that come with being alive, I'd rather take my chances and have as harmonious a lifestyle as possible. I also give my positives supervised time in the backyard everyday. A definite no no because I maintain a feral colony and I know they frequent my yard at night. It's possible that my + could pick something up, but it's another chance I've decided to take because they love their outside jaunts so much. :-) 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.> Your Midnight sounds like quite a character! I guess you'd have to get one of those heavy metal security screen doors! 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.> I really like the sound of your vet. He's absolutely right to not vaccinate someone with ANY symptoms. >Just the human versions of the supplements? Or is there somewhere to get cat versions? How much of each?> I use the human versions. I also bought a cat multi vitamin by Vetri-Science called Nu-Cat. I don't know how much good the Vita C does, actually, I don't know how much good any of it does, but it can't hurt and it makes me feel like I'm doing something to help their immune system stay strong. I used to give them the sups everyday, but they started to refuse their food. Now I give them a few times a week, or if I see behavior that indicates they aren't feeling perfect. Kerry usually sends out an email full of good info about diet and supplements, has she sent it to you yet? Did you check out Jenn's website. Damn, she spent a lot of time putting that together, (you go girl!). The Transfer Factor is something that 'Sally from San Jose' turned me on to. So far, I've gotten it through her, I'm pretty sure there are other list members who have been using it. Nina
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
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi JennK, and welcome. I'm glad you found us. The people on this list are as special as their cats, I don't know what I'd do without them. Tessa sounds like a darling. I know it's tough to keep them separated, but Jenn, (our other Jenn!), is right, there's no sense in letting them pass that URI back and forth. Besides if you wait until Midnight has been vaccinated, (there's a waiting period after that as well, I seem to remember 2 weeks, but you could ask your vet), you'll feel better about making sure you've taken the necessary precautions. We've had the "mixing" discussion many times. Vets usually recommend keeping them separate, which from their standpoint makes sense. Less interaction means less chance of transmission. Personally, I could no sooner restrict any of my cats access to the house than I could a human member of the family. From all I've read and heard, the chance of a healthy, immunized, adult cat becoming infected is very small. It's not a very hardy virus, someone once described it as "when it dries, it dies". I didn't discover that a litter of bottle babies I rescued were + till they were about Tessa's age. By then they had been living mixed in my household long enough to transmit the disease to anyone anyway. My + is now over a 1 1/2 yrs and none of my negs has turned up pos. 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? If your daughter belongs to Midnight, I would probably bring Tess into your room instead. 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. You could also use a "kid gate" positioned so that you can still close the door. That way you have a fraction of a second longer to catch the fleeing cat when you open the door! 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? 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. I'm sorry about your recent loss, I know it never gets easier to say goodbye. Congratulations on your new addition, though! I'll say a prayer that Tessa has a speedy recovery from her URI. It sounds like she chose well, when she chose you. Nina Jennifer Korin wrote: 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
RE: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
My Tucson tested neg as a kitten & positive 5 years later Vet says she had it all along & she was retested almost as a fluke by my former vet ( a very sharp man!) when I brought her in because she just didn't seem well. 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 I have to add though, that all my cats are now adults though two of them came in as stray kittens after I got Tucson so they were exposed to her from a very young age Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jennifer Korin Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 10:30 PM To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: 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
Re: Advice for a Newbie Appreciated
Hi Jenn K! (I told everyone they could call me UCATJenn) 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. As far as helping Tessa live as healthy of a life as possible, the other members of this list are great with helping create treatment plans, and will probably know all the dosages better than me, but if you want to just look things up yourself, I have quite a few links about FELV and it's treatments on my webpage at http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Good luck with her, and I think it's great that you did not decide to turn your back on her as soon as you discovered her status. Oh, and about her status, do re-do the FELV tests every 2 months until she is over a year old. She may fight it off and end up being negative eventually (It happens). She very likely may have become exposed to FELV at the shelter, and she might now be in the active phase where her body is fighting it off as we speak. Not all kittens exposed become carriers, some do manage to fight the virus off on their own if given a chance. Try adding a bit of vitamin C to her diet (maybe add a general multi-vitamin/mineral supplement too if you're not feeding a super-premium food), that may help boost the immune system now, when she really needs it. Jenn ~~~I collect KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil, a 3 yr old special needs cat who must live on a liquid diet for the rest of his life.Bazil's caretaker collects labels and sends them to KMR, where they add up until she earns a free can of formula!PLEASE save your KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil! If you use KMR, even just one can, please ask me for the mailing address you can send them to, to help feed Bazil! No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.6 - Release Date: 5/6/2005
