FeLV Vaccine & Fostering?

I know this has been covered a zillion times....but....I'm considering foster bottle babies. Just have to get the OK with the rest of the family first. Obviously....they will not be FeLV tested. I could bring home FeLV+ babies.

I know the FeLV vaccine isn't 100% effective & I've searched the forums & read up on it before....but in your pesonal opinion, should I vaccinate my 5/6 for FeLV?

I'm going to be keeping the kittens in the downstairs bathroom & there is that chance that they will come in contact with my cats. I mean, if we're talking under 4 weeks, they'll be with me 24/7. Have a heating pad/hot water bottle, etc.

Well, unless your crew is sharing their litterbox and/or grooming the kittens, I wouldn't really bother, but if it makes you feel better/safer, than by all means go ahead

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

Well, unless your crew is sharing their litterbox and/or grooming the kittens, I wouldn't really bother, but if it makes you feel better/safer, than by all means go ahead

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I don't think they'll be doing any grooming or shape LBs....but my big concern is Ophelia & how she's gonna respond. Just on the off-chance that she goes all psycho over a kitten....

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I know this has been covered a zillion times....but....I'm considering foster bottle babies. Just have to get the OK with the rest of the family first. Obviously....they will not be FeLV tested. I could bring home FeLV+ babies.

I know the FeLV vaccine isn't 100% effective & I've searched the forums & read up on it before....but in your pesonal opinion, should I vaccinate my 5/6 for FeLV?

I'm going to be keeping the kittens in the downstairs bathroom & there is that chance that they will come in contact with my cats. I mean, if we're talking under 4 weeks, they'll be with me 24/7. Have a heating pad/hot water bottle, etc.

Click to expand...

If you ever consider fostering on a regular basis, then I would definitely recommended vaccinating your cats. With the vaccine, the odds of your cats catching full blown FeLV (after prolonged contact) drops from about 60% to 10%.

The FeLV virus isn't very hardy so its not like you would carry it from the kittens in the bathroom to your crew (if the kittens have it). And at 4 weeks, any test on the kittens would probably be inaccurate anyway.

The last orphaned litter that I bottle fed happened to come into my house at the same time FeLV hit my feral colony. 2 of the positive cats lived inside (the vet was supposed to test them and didn't but that's a long story) and 1 of those cats actually came nose to nose with the bottle feds a couple of times in spite of the fact that I tried to keep them separated. Nothing ever came out of it. It was too brief of a direct contact to spread the disease. One of my vaccinated cats did catch it, but he was best buddies (grooming, sleeping, playing) with the 2 positive cats from the colony for about 6 months before he caught it.