Feline Leukemia - need suggestions for postive cat living with negative cat.

1) Take the shelter up on their offer of IFA--absolutely necessary to verify
Elissa test results--remember, Elissa can test + while cat is fighting off
infection...
2) talke a look at http://www.felineleukemia.org join their 'Talk List" &
you can get some real concrete advice about this condition...
3) don't seperate them---the little guy's already been exposed--if he is -,
make sure he has FELV vaccine...

I just found out that my 5 1/2 year old indorr (from rescued outdoor kitten)
is +--she is basically asymptomatic

"Morac" wrote in message
om...
3 weeks ago I adopted two 4-5 month old kittens (male and female from
same litter) from an animal shelter. They had already been
spayed/neutered and the shelter said that the tests for all 3 deadly
cat virus (includ FeLV) came back negative. At the time the cats were
sniffling a little, but I was told they were getting over a "cold" (I
later learned cats don't get colds and that they were getting a
respitory infection but I digress). I took the 2 cats to the vet for
a checkup but since they had just gotten shots a short time ago and
they were sick I was told to bring them back in two weeks.

During the two weeks the female's stools were constantly soft and both
were sneezing. The male's sneezing was more violent (often shooting
out bloody snot) and more often and he had congestion problems
(especially when the AC was on). Today I brought them to the vet and
the vet decided to do a blood test even though both cats had
previously tested negative. Well the FeLV ELIZA test came back
positive on the female, but negative on the male. The vet recommended
a retest in a month.

Well, the male and female have been sharing food, water and litter
boxes since I got them (and probably before that). They have been
(playfully) biting each other and sneezing on each other a lot. This
means most likely that the male is already infected and will become
positive at some point.

So now I'm stuck with a problem. The vet officially recommended
separating the two in my house, but he and I both agreed that isn't
feasible. The alternative is to get rid of one of the cats, but
because they've been together so long neither of them could be placed
in another house with cats nor could they go back to the shelter
(where the positive cat would most likely be killed). Remember both
were already sick to begin with.

So my question is, what should I do now? Should I give up the
positive cat (which might recover) to save the negative cat (which may
already be infected) or just stick to the norm and hope things work
out? Or is there another solution that I'm not seeing?

Any suggestions?



P.S. -
They are indoor cats and have not come in contact with other cats
since leaving the shelter so my assumption is that she was infected at
the shelter so I contacted them. They want to run their own ELIZA
blood test and if that comes back postive then run a IFA test (free of
charge). I'm not sure what would happen after that.

I believe you are referring to FIV vaccine, not FELV vaccine--big
difference....

"Cat Protector" wrote in message
news:iwPVc.123254$sh.7140@fed1read06...
If you got the FELV shots then it is possibly a false negative since I
have
heard this happen before with it. It sounds like the cats had an upper
respiratory infection. I have to wonder if your vet is out to make a
little
money here by giving you another test. I would find a more credible vet
and
have this re-checked as something doesn't sound right here.

"Morac" wrote in message
om...
3 weeks ago I adopted two 4-5 month old kittens (male and female from
same litter) from an animal shelter. They had already been
spayed/neutered and the shelter said that the tests for all 3 deadly
cat virus (includ FeLV) came back negative. At the time the cats were
sniffling a little, but I was told they were getting over a "cold" (I
later learned cats don't get colds and that they were getting a
respitory infection but I digress). I took the 2 cats to the vet for
a checkup but since they had just gotten shots a short time ago and
they were sick I was told to bring them back in two weeks.

During the two weeks the female's stools were constantly soft and both
were sneezing. The male's sneezing was more violent (often shooting
out bloody snot) and more often and he had congestion problems
(especially when the AC was on). Today I brought them to the vet and
the vet decided to do a blood test even though both cats had
previously tested negative. Well the FeLV ELIZA test came back
positive on the female, but negative on the male. The vet recommended
a retest in a month.

Well, the male and female have been sharing food, water and litter
boxes since I got them (and probably before that). They have been
(playfully) biting each other and sneezing on each other a lot. This
means most likely that the male is already infected and will become
positive at some point.

So now I'm stuck with a problem. The vet officially recommended
separating the two in my house, but he and I both agreed that isn't
feasible. The alternative is to get rid of one of the cats, but
because they've been together so long neither of them could be placed
in another house with cats nor could they go back to the shelter
(where the positive cat would most likely be killed). Remember both
were already sick to begin with.

So my question is, what should I do now? Should I give up the
positive cat (which might recover) to save the negative cat (which may
already be infected) or just stick to the norm and hope things work
out? Or is there another solution that I'm not seeing?

Any suggestions?



P.S. -
They are indoor cats and have not come in contact with other cats
since leaving the shelter so my assumption is that she was infected at
the shelter so I contacted them. They want to run their own ELIZA
blood test and if that comes back postive then run a IFA test (free of
charge). I'm not sure what would happen after that.

I believe you are referring to FIV vaccine, not FELV vaccine--big
difference....

"Cat Protector" wrote in message
news:iwPVc.123254$sh.7140@fed1read06...
If you got the FELV shots then it is possibly a false negative since I
have
heard this happen before with it. It sounds like the cats had an upper
respiratory infection. I have to wonder if your vet is out to make a
little
money here by giving you another test. I would find a more credible vet
and
have this re-checked as something doesn't sound right here.

"Morac" wrote in message
om...
3 weeks ago I adopted two 4-5 month old kittens (male and female from
same litter) from an animal shelter. They had already been
spayed/neutered and the shelter said that the tests for all 3 deadly
cat virus (includ FeLV) came back negative. At the time the cats were
sniffling a little, but I was told they were getting over a "cold" (I
later learned cats don't get colds and that they were getting a
respitory infection but I digress). I took the 2 cats to the vet for
a checkup but since they had just gotten shots a short time ago and
they were sick I was told to bring them back in two weeks.

During the two weeks the female's stools were constantly soft and both
were sneezing. The male's sneezing was more violent (often shooting
out bloody snot) and more often and he had congestion problems
(especially when the AC was on). Today I brought them to the vet and
the vet decided to do a blood test even though both cats had
previously tested negative. Well the FeLV ELIZA test came back
positive on the female, but negative on the male. The vet recommended
a retest in a month.

Well, the male and female have been sharing food, water and litter
boxes since I got them (and probably before that). They have been
(playfully) biting each other and sneezing on each other a lot. This
means most likely that the male is already infected and will become
positive at some point.

So now I'm stuck with a problem. The vet officially recommended
separating the two in my house, but he and I both agreed that isn't
feasible. The alternative is to get rid of one of the cats, but
because they've been together so long neither of them could be placed
in another house with cats nor could they go back to the shelter
(where the positive cat would most likely be killed). Remember both
were already sick to begin with.

So my question is, what should I do now? Should I give up the
positive cat (which might recover) to save the negative cat (which may
already be infected) or just stick to the norm and hope things work
out? Or is there another solution that I'm not seeing?

Any suggestions?



P.S. -
They are indoor cats and have not come in contact with other cats
since leaving the shelter so my assumption is that she was infected at
the shelter so I contacted them. They want to run their own ELIZA
blood test and if that comes back postive then run a IFA test (free of
charge). I'm not sure what would happen after that.

So my question is, what should I do now? Should I give up the
positive cat (which might recover) to save the negative cat (which may
already be infected) or just stick to the norm and hope things work
out? Or is there another solution that I'm not seeing?

It sounds like they both need to be treated for their upper respiratory
infections. Then give them a month or so and retest. False positives are
common. I personally would keep them together. One would have probably given it
to the other by now if they had it. I read an article in Cat Fancy that said
1/3 can clear the virus, 1/3 can always be positive and live a normal life, 1/3
will die from it in a couple of years. I have a cat that tested positive three
times then negative two times.

So my question is, what should I do now? Should I give up the
positive cat (which might recover) to save the negative cat (which may
already be infected) or just stick to the norm and hope things work
out? Or is there another solution that I'm not seeing?

It sounds like they both need to be treated for their upper respiratory
infections. Then give them a month or so and retest. False positives are
common. I personally would keep them together. One would have probably given it
to the other by now if they had it. I read an article in Cat Fancy that said
1/3 can clear the virus, 1/3 can always be positive and live a normal life, 1/3
will die from it in a couple of years. I have a cat that tested positive three
times then negative two times.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 04:09:45 UTC, itty (Sherry )
wrote:

I would get a second opinion though regarding the FELV test. It's very
A simple CBC with Diff can give pretty conclusive
results. A depressed white count, excessive lymphs
and nucleated RBC's pretty much tag it.

LT

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 04:09:45 UTC, itty (Sherry )
wrote:

I would get a second opinion though regarding the FELV test. It's very
A simple CBC with Diff can give pretty conclusive
results. A depressed white count, excessive lymphs
and nucleated RBC's pretty much tag it.

LT

No, I am talking about the FELV vaccine which isn't really effective in
preventing the disease and can throw up a false positive.

"Chris" wrote in message
k.net...
I believe you are referring to FIV vaccine, not FELV vaccine--big
difference....

No, I am talking about the FELV vaccine which isn't really effective in
preventing the disease and can throw up a false positive.

"Chris" wrote in message
k.net...
I believe you are referring to FIV vaccine, not FELV vaccine--big
difference....

Not to be contrary, I had posted this question once several months ago and
got many replies saying that it was the FIV vaccine that could show a false
positive. Also, did my own research and confirmed that on various vet
school sites, including Cornell...
"Cat Protector" wrote in message
news:BX5Wc.126473$sh.85315@fed1read06...
No, I am talking about the FELV vaccine which isn't really effective in
preventing the disease and can throw up a false positive.

"Chris" wrote in message
k.net...
I believe you are referring to FIV vaccine, not FELV vaccine--big
difference....