We just had our adult cat tested for FIV and Feline Luekemia and Scooty
tested negative; I was curious when the vet recommended against having
the kitten and cat innocculated against FIV, and I was hoping you could
shed a little more light on this subject for us.

Specifically, what our vet said was that the FIV was not "that
effective," and should the cat get out (both are indorr-only cats)
and someone finds them and takes them to the vets, the vets would be
inclined to put the cat down, since the innoculation would give a false
positive (because of antibodies from the innoculation) that are
indistinguishable form the actual FIV antibodies from real infection.
What do you think? I do not know this vet well, yet she seems to
really "care" about the animals, and does not seem to "only be doing
her job." We are new to this area.

What does everyone think?

Thank you.

On Nov 24, 3:33 pm, "wjcollins" wrote:
From the positive reactions I have read from Phil, BZ and yourself, andfrom the demeanor that Jan got from the vet, I am now a little bit more
hopeful that Pearl has not actually become infected -- At this stage I
can only hope. She still is a lively kitten, and I want to thank
everyone from their help and support in this matter. I will try to
keep you informed time passes on. My next step is to fiance's older
cat, Scooter, tested for the same thing (FIV and Feline Leukemia).
Scooter was never tested because she was an indoor only cat, and Jan
(and myself) always were of the notion that if a cat was infected, that
was pretty much the end, therefore we felt it was better not to know.
the vet recommendd that we have Scoot tested, and if both cats test
negative for F leukemia, have them innoculated against it.

To be honest, had Carol not told me of the mother's infection, I would
not have thought about having Pearl tested. What are your feelings on
this subject, that is, having cats/kittens tested for FIV if they seem
to be healthy? Is there actually anything that we can do (if the
cat/kitten) is infected that will help? Jan and I always thought that
if they had this dreaded disease, that was it. Are my fiance' and I
incorrect in our thoughts on this?

Thanks again for all of your support!

Bill C



Wendy wrote:
"wjcollins" wrote in message
snip
Approximately 2 or 3 months ago a friend at work told me that she had 7
kittens that she needed to give away; a stray cad delivered her litter
almost in my friend's arms. Carol cared for the mom and kittens and
overall they seemed very healthy. My fiance' and I took a beautiful...
snip
...posts that were valid, there was some jerk testing his/her ability to
flame. I decided to go with a gentler crowd :-) Have a nice day.

Thank you!

Bill

We rescued 3 kittens from the flooding along the Delaware River last summer.
All three tested positive for FIV when we first brought them in . We had
them tested again a month or so ago and all three are now negative.

W