A cat forum. CatBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CatBanter forum » Cat Newsgroups » Cat health & behaviour
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

FIV - Any information would be helpful



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old November 21st 06, 07:52 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
wjcollins
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful

From: Phil P. - view profile
Date: Fri, Apr 19 2002 5:33 am
Email: "Phil P."
Groups: rec.pets.cats.health+behav


Hi - my name is William Collins, I am a 43 year old college student
working on my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Networking. I know that
the preface was somewhat off-topic, however, my professor gave me an
assignment in which I was to post six or more times. I also have
searched for this topic and have found most of the information already,
so please understand that even though I have found this information in
the newsgroup, it was several years old, so I suppose that I am asking
for "updated" information." Any replies would be greatly appreciated
not only for my assignment, but so that I have more current information
about Pearl. Here is my story:

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
grey kitten, Pearl, and have had her for about 6 weeks-she is
wonderful! Carol just told me that she took the mother to the vets for
regualr testing/spaying/nueturing (I really do not know which is which,
sorry) and said that the mom cat tested positive for FIV. Since had an
appt for Pearl anyway for the regular innoculations, we had her tested
too, and of course the results were positive.

Above I copied the header of one of Phil P's posts concerning FIV,
false positive tests, and longetivity of life, and I was hoping to get
some more info concerning FIV from the people who know. I was not the
one who went to the vet with Pearl, but from what my fiance' explained
to me, the demeanor of the vet was almost one of non-concern. My
fiance' told me that, according to the vet, many times newborn kittens
will have FIV antibodies in their blood if the mother herself had FIV.
The vet went further, saying that the test seemed to be "weak," and
that we should have her tested the next time we are in and gauge
Pearl's progress, for she seemed to convey that the kitten most likely
was not infected, but is currently carrying the antibodies from her
mother's milk, etc... Is this possible? From reading earlier posts I
learned that FIV is a slow moving virus, and that Pearly may live her
entire life (or at least a good portion of it) without actually
becoming infected with the virus. Is it true that the antibodies may
"be flushed out of her system" ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I again want to apologize
for bringing up a topic that was already covered earlier -- If any of
the regular posters have been to school/college lately, then you
understand how hard it is to "pick a topic," and with the entire 25,000
newsgroups from which to choose, well I had to narrow the field
I started in the computer groups, but it seemed that for every few
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

  #2  
Old November 22nd 06, 07:14 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Phil P.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,027
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful


"wjcollins" wrote in message
oups.com...


My
fiance' told me that, according to the vet, many times newborn kittens
will have FIV antibodies in their blood if the mother herself had FIV.
The vet went further, saying that the test seemed to be "weak," and
that we should have her tested the next time we are in and gauge
Pearl's progress, for she seemed to convey that the kitten most likely
was not infected, but is currently carrying the antibodies from her
mother's milk, etc... Is this possible?



Its not only possible-its probable. Kittens of FIV-infected queens usually
acquire antibodies to FIV by passive transfer in colostrum without ever
becoming infected themselves.



From reading earlier posts I
learned that FIV is a slow moving virus, and that Pearly may live her
entire life (or at least a good portion of it) without actually
becoming infected with the virus.


Actually, kittens don't usually become infected with FIV from their
mothers-- or other cats for that matter.


Is it true that the antibodies may
"be flushed out of her system" ?



Yes. Maternally-derived FIV antibodies usually start to dissipate by 5 or 6
months. Most kittens clear all maternally-derived FIV antibodies by 8
months.

If you're really worried about your kitten actually being infected, your vet
can send a blood sample to Dr. Whittier at UC-Davis for FIV DNA testing.
This new PCR assay detects the viral genome directly. The test was
developed to differentiate FIV-infected cats from FIV-vaccinated cats. But I
really don't think its necessary.

I decided to go with a gentler crowd :-)


This is a gentle crowd, alright! lol

Have a nice day.


Thanks- you too.


Thank you!


You're welcome.

hth,

Phil


  #3  
Old November 22nd 06, 02:54 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
BZ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful

In 1995 I had a full slate of blood tests done on my cat, and it came
back positive for FIV. The vet told me that no cat he knew of had ever
lived more than five years after becoming infected. Since my cat hadn't
had an FIV test since I first got him as a kitten four years earlier, he
might have as little as one year left to live. The vet sold me a bottle
of blue pills that might prolong my cat's life a little, but my cat
didn't take the pills well (what cat does?), so I quit giving them to him.

Fast forward 11 years to 2006. My cat is 15 years old and doing just
fine. (And going to a different vet.)

So I dunno. Maybe the test wasn't so hot back then, or maybe the virus
isn't as predictable as they thought, or maybe the fact that HIV/AIDS
was a bigger news item in 1995 played into it somewhat, but it was much
ado about nothing for us.
  #4  
Old November 24th 06, 01:19 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Wendy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 398
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful


"wjcollins" wrote in message
oups.com...
From: Phil P. - view profile
Date: Fri, Apr 19 2002 5:33 am
Email: "Phil P."
Groups: rec.pets.cats.health+behav


Hi - my name is William Collins, I am a 43 year old college student
working on my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Networking. I know that
the preface was somewhat off-topic, however, my professor gave me an
assignment in which I was to post six or more times. I also have
searched for this topic and have found most of the information already,
so please understand that even though I have found this information in
the newsgroup, it was several years old, so I suppose that I am asking
for "updated" information." Any replies would be greatly appreciated
not only for my assignment, but so that I have more current information
about Pearl. Here is my story:

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
grey kitten, Pearl, and have had her for about 6 weeks-she is
wonderful! Carol just told me that she took the mother to the vets for
regualr testing/spaying/nueturing (I really do not know which is which,
sorry) and said that the mom cat tested positive for FIV. Since had an
appt for Pearl anyway for the regular innoculations, we had her tested
too, and of course the results were positive.

Above I copied the header of one of Phil P's posts concerning FIV,
false positive tests, and longetivity of life, and I was hoping to get
some more info concerning FIV from the people who know. I was not the
one who went to the vet with Pearl, but from what my fiance' explained
to me, the demeanor of the vet was almost one of non-concern. My
fiance' told me that, according to the vet, many times newborn kittens
will have FIV antibodies in their blood if the mother herself had FIV.
The vet went further, saying that the test seemed to be "weak," and
that we should have her tested the next time we are in and gauge
Pearl's progress, for she seemed to convey that the kitten most likely
was not infected, but is currently carrying the antibodies from her
mother's milk, etc... Is this possible? From reading earlier posts I
learned that FIV is a slow moving virus, and that Pearly may live her
entire life (or at least a good portion of it) without actually
becoming infected with the virus. Is it true that the antibodies may
"be flushed out of her system" ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I again want to apologize
for bringing up a topic that was already covered earlier -- If any of
the regular posters have been to school/college lately, then you
understand how hard it is to "pick a topic," and with the entire 25,000
newsgroups from which to choose, well I had to narrow the field
I started in the computer groups, but it seemed that for every few
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


  #5  
Old November 24th 06, 09:33 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
wjcollins
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful

From the positive reactions I have read from Phil, BZ and yourself, and
from 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


  #6  
Old December 4th 06, 01:12 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
wjcollins
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful


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


  #7  
Old December 4th 06, 07:58 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Wendy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 398
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful

Unless you let your cats out to roam and they might get into fights and
other 'activities' I don't see why either the FIV or FeLV vaccines are
necessary. FIV or FeLV isn't something you can drag in on your shoes.

I have also been told that a vaccinated cat will test positive. That puts it
at risk of being euthanized right off the bat if it ever gets out and is
picked up and tested. I applaud the vet for giving you the straight story
and not trying to drum up extra bucks by charging you for a shot that the
cat doesn't need.

W




"wjcollins" wrote in message
ps.com...

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




  #8  
Old December 4th 06, 08:18 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Phil P.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,027
Default FIV - Any information would be helpful


"wjcollins" wrote in message
ps.com...

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?


He's right. The present FIV Snap and immunoblot (Western Blot) tests can't
differentiate infected cats from vaccinated cats. The new FIV DNA test that
does differentiate infected cats from vaccinated cats isn't readily
available yet and there isn't an in-house version- and I doubt there ever
will be since it involves PCR technology.



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
General information David Stevenson Cat community 7 February 11th 07 10:31 PM
General information David Stevenson Cat health & behaviour 6 February 11th 07 10:31 PM
OT Strange & Amazing Helpful Hints Matthew AKA NMR \( NO MORE RETAIL \) Cat anecdotes 2 March 17th 06 02:45 PM
Low-phosphorus cat food Charlie Wilkes Cat health & behaviour 227 February 22nd 06 06:43 AM
Berfert Information Julie Cook Cat anecdotes 11 December 24th 04 12:53 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CatBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.