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Rescue Kitten FeLV

(16 posts)

Started 10 months ago by mione
Latest reply from butterfly29053

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FeLV

I need some reassurance and this is the first place I've felt a bit positive today so thank you!

I just rescued a kitten last night, Cali. She was bullied by a dog so was looking a little rough. She's 8 weeks old. Broke my heart when I found her in the state she was in and I couldn't leave her. On the drive home she stayed in my arms clinging close. We stopped and got her a can of food and nearly snarfed half of the thing down in one setting! She's a very happy kitten, little skiddish, but happy.
I took her to the vet today. She has a sore in her mouth and a bit of a runny nose and small fever. She tested positive for FeLV. My heart just dropped. I have an 8 month old kitten also, Joey, who tested negative when we got him, and am worried about his health. He's up-to-date on all of his shots, and the vet is not concerned about it spreading to him.

I've only had Cali for 24 hours and I'm already attached. I want to keep her, but am a bit worried about FeLV and Joey. I know I won't introduce the two until she's over her sniffles. She's in the spare bedroom all set up, and Joey is quite interested thankfully! Was afraid it'd be World War 3.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/fire_vixen/Cali.jpg The little girl

Just wondering if anyone has gone through anything similar and has some advice.

Posted 10 months ago by mione #
http://www.felineleukemia.org/

I have had FeLV+ cats. I have done fairly well with them. Please go to the site I have listed and join. There is a whole group that does nothing but cares for cats with FeLV. There is much that can be done. I do not want to discourage you but any vet that says you 8 month old that tested negative and has been vaccinated and is immune is simply wrong. This is a highly contagious virus. I had 2 cats, one a tabby and the other a Russian Blue, both had all their shots. I took in a kitten found in a truck engine, Sox. We found out at 9 months he was FeLV+, he died the day we found out. He only showed symptoms for 3 days, he died on the 3rd day. I brought in my 2 vaccinated every year cats. Teaser was fine, Basil, my Russian Blue, was FeLV+. I was told to put him down. I refused. He died 2 years later of kidney disease made worse by the FeLV. But they were 2 happy and healthy years. I always vaccinate my cats, but it is important to understand there are times that vaccinations do not work.

The good and best news is there are many that can help you through the process!! Please keep your chin up and check out the site I posted. Make sure you get on the list and there will be a wealth of information shared!!

Posted 10 months ago by SoxsMom #
And don't assume that because she tested positive so young, that she is positive. Have her retested in a few months.

Posted 10 months ago by CheetahBoysmommy #
Absolutely!!

Posted 10 months ago by SoxsMom #
Thanks guys. Yeah I know it doesn't mean he's immune, the vet said really the only time we'd have to worry is if there's biting. She wasn't too concerned if we had a positive baby and one negative. And! The more I read and see about the mother passing it on to the kitten, but the kitten not having it yet testing positive is making me feel a bit better.

On a good note! I went to feed her this morning and give her the antibiotics and she's becoming more social and playful! She'll stay out longer now. And the vet said her heart and lungs sounded good.

I've just been worrying if I'm crazy for wanting to keep a possible FeLV+ kitten while my other baby is not positive.

Posted 10 months ago by mione #
My understanding is that all FeLV+ cats should be retested, as some cats are able to clear the infection and can no longer transmit it; those that don't remain contagious. However, it is pretty contagious, and more so the younger the kitten. Check out the Cornell website http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

Unfortunately, many shelters will automatically put down FeLV+ cats. So if I found an FeLV+ cat, I think that I would consider rehoming the negative cat, for his safety, knowing that he has a better chance of finding a home than the positive one does. Except that I have four negative cats...

Is it possible to keep the two separated for a month or two, until she can be retested to see if she has cleared the virus? her chances of doing so are better as a well-fed housecat than a starving stray. But I know that this may very well be putting off a very difficult decision.

Posted 10 months ago by Kiplings_cat #
I had a FeLV+ kitty. He was two years old when when he died, and to this day I'm mad at myself for the reason why. I live in South Africa, and we are lucky enough to live on a property that is completely surrounded by electric fencing, so nothing gets in or out, and this means our kitties get to play outside to their heart's content, and we know that they are safe from exposure to other animals.

We didnt know about the FeLV, and chances would have been good that we would never have known, and Jack would have been fine, but we decided to adopt a new kitty (Skyron) from a shelter, and we didnt think to quarrantine her at all, we just let her mingle with our other cats right away - she looked healthy, and so were all our other cats. Skyron was carrying a very potent strain of herpes, and within a matter of 2 weeks all our cats, except for Sky (6 of them at the time) were in icu with severe respiratory infections.

They all recovered in time, except for Jack. The uri was what triggered his FeLV. Our vet said Jack would probably have cleared the virus entirely if we hadnt made the mistakes we did. The other thing we did when they all got better was to have them re-vaccinated with their annual shots, the vet said it would protect them from getting sick with uri's again. We didnt know Jack was still sick, he was just more sleepy than usual, and I believe that second blow to his immune system might have been what pushed him over the edge. We had our other cats tested after he died, and no one else tested positive. So it is possible to keep FeLV+ cats with non-positive kitties, but please please be careful with who & what you bring into your home. Learn as much as you can, that knowledge will help you provide a safer home environment for your kitty.

Posted 10 months ago by Skyron #
Cali is in a spare room and they haven't had any time together. I hate saying I'm more attached to Joey than Cali, because well I've had him for 8 months and he was my saving grace during a really rough time.

I'm not going to jump to conclusions. Cali will go back to the vet in 2 weeks to see if she's doing better. The vet said she'll find out how much the IFA test is and will let me know but her lungs and heart sounded good.

I woke up this morning hearing her play with one of her toys! She's getting leaps and bounds better in this short time we've had her at our house. She has a wonderful appetite, is getting less skiddish with my husband and I, and wants to play. Joey just sits in front of the door, pawing underneath wanting to see her. I don't want to possibly expose my boy to this though so they will stay separate until we know more.

I've read some things online and it scares the death out of me about FeLV. Then I read of others having a positive and negative cat in the house, and the negative never getting it, like you Skyron. And the vet says it won't be a problem, and I hope I can trust that but the internet gets me so twisted.

I keep telling myself, she's so young, it might still be the antibodies from her mom. I just hate the waiting.

Posted 10 months ago by mione #
Jack was a very mellow guy, he never fought or played rough with any of our cats. As long as your kitty doesnt bite or scratch anyone, i think you'll be ok. We have since gotten an fiv+ kitty, stumpie, and although he has since tested negative (false positive on the snap test), we had him mix right in with our other cats as well. From all the research i did with stumpie's fiv, it really looks like the 3 modes of transmission are from mom to baby, and then from fighting and biting.

Do you know if anyone has recently vaccinated your kitty? What happened with stumpie was that we tested him for fiv & felv 2 weeks after he had his first round of shots, and the snap test picked up the fiv antibodies from the vaccination, he didnt actually have it. If we had had him tested with the western blot test then & there (the more expensive test) we would have saved ourselves months of heart-ache. Stumpie lived like a little bubble-boy untill we found out he wasnt fiv+. He's making up for lost time though - we have a hard time getting him home for anything other than food . . . :)

Posted 10 months ago by Skyron #
Does this mean she only tested positive on the SNAP test? That isn't the most reliable but a good place to start. That test doesn't seem to have many false negatives, but there is documentation of false positives. Wonderful that you are retesting! Don't let it scare you, although I too was scared. I learned that you can mix with success if you are careful. I am glad that you are willing to learn about the virus.

Posted 10 months ago by SoxsMom #
Yes, the SNAP test has been the only one done. I know I'm a worry wart, so thank you for the reassurance! The thing I'm wondering now is the vet said she has FeLV yet was only worried about transmission by biting. That sounds more like FiV. I'll ask. The techs were reassuring me too that they'll be fine.
Man it's going to be a loooong two weeks till we go back to the vet to check on her sore tongue! Should I ask for another SNAP test or jump straight to IFA?

Joey is up to date with shots and everything. He's a big healthy 8 month tabby.
Cali is just 8 weeks old and I know we haven't given her any shots so I'm guessing she's never had anything done or been seen by a vet till I took her yesterday.

Just spent an hour with the sweet girl. Joey was pawing under the door, crying like crazy. She came over to check out the paws, looked like she was gonna try to play but chickened out. And she doesn't meow, so they trilled back and forth. Talk about melting my heart. And proof that she's warming up and feeling better - she tried to follow me out of the bedroom. Oh! And I have her on Viralys with the vet's advice.

Posted 10 months ago by mione #
The IFA test is much better. Rechecking is an excellent idea! In the meantime you are doing the very best and your kittens are lucky to be with you and have a vet working with you!! You have all the support I can give and I sure recommend the Cornell site I listed as the best support group available. As Kipling Cat said Cornell is a good site and their support group is excellent!

Posted 10 months ago by SoxsMom #
This is an excellent description excerpted from http://vetlab.ro/analiti/FeLV.htm
"FeLV Positive Results Interpretation

Positive ELISA results detect viral antigen in blood. Positive results should be confirmed by immediate IFA testing.

Positive IFA results detect viral antigen in cells and generally indicates infection of bone marrow.

The majority of IFA-positive cats remain persistently infected and viremic for life.

ELISA positive/IFA negative: discordant result.

Possibly due to early infection or false positive ELlSA.

Recommend recheck of ELISA in 30–60 days.

Positive results of any test should be correlated with signalment, history, and physical findings."

Basically the ELISA/SNAP detects early-stage (the cat may or may not fight off the virus) and late-stage infection and is more likely to give false-positives. The IFA detects late-stage disease. Unlike the FIV test, the FeLV tests for viral proteins not antibodies, so vaccination for FeLV will not affect the results.

Posted 10 months ago by Kiplings_cat #
Thank you guys for all the wonderful responses! I've been caught up with work lately, and giving sweet Cali so much attention (And when my Joey doesn't tackle me and claim mommy time). When we took her to the second vet, they said her heart and lungs sounded good and clear still. And Cali's temperature has already dropped back to normal. She didn't say anything about the sore on her tongue, but the sniffles and sneezes have gotten so much better in two days also. But the vet did say she sounded and looked good. She's on antibiotics to help clear that all up and she takes it like a trooper. She is such a different, happier little girl! And she's bathing! We did the IFA test, should get the results in a few days. I know, might be a bit too early for it, but I wanted to really check.

As for her food, she's eating Royal Canin Baby Cat Instinctive. Trying to get her on some good stuff. I'm already going to have to go get her more. And we also feed her this gel twice a day. I can't remember what it's called right now, got it from the vet, is supposed to help her immune system. Oh! She's gained 3 oz in two days also! She's a pig. Haha.

I'm glad I took her into a second vet, and will be switching to her. Having that second opinion helps, and they didn't completely sugar coat everything. I know I'm going to get attached to her, already am. And how I'm looking at this is: if I have her for 3 days or 17 years, I know I've made her life better, and she's made mine so much more wonderful.

Now it's just the waiting game.

Posted 10 months ago by mione #
Thrilled to see you on the FeLV site!! They have all been there and have practical advice, not to mention we share everything that is tried! You are a great caregiver to this little one!! I pray you have many more days than 3, but you are so correct in that statement!! May your bond grow!

Posted 10 months ago by SoxsMom #
I have a cat that is FeLV positive and I have two other cats who are not. They have both been vaccinated for it. Although there isn't a 100% guarantee that it wont spread it still helps. FeLV is contagious. A cat that has it can live a long healthy life. My cat is on steroids for it. Without the steroids his lymph nodes swell and he gets blood clots all over. But with the steroids hes a very happy cat! Talk to your vet about this. He is on prednisone. Good luck with your kitty!

Posted 10 months ago by butterfly29053 #

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