leukemia

my kitty has just been diagnosed with feline leukemia , she was supposed to have been fully vaccinated by the breeder we got her from but nothing we can do now .
she is on antibiotics for what the vet thinks is cat flu so she is not to good at the moment , she is also very tiny .
has anyone been through this if so how long did your kitty live ?
it is breaking my heart at the moment i dont want her to suffer but cant bear to have to have her put to sleep .
she is only 1 yr old and she is just beautiful

I have no advice or info for you all I can send are some
I'm sure when America wakes up there will be people who can help answer your questions.

thank you anacat

Goodness, that is a terrible thing for you to have to deal with. I know there are some members here that have had experience with it, I'm sure they'll be along as the day gets later here in the US.

katiemae1227 cares for a number of leukemia kitties, she will have some advice I am sure.

In the meantime, like Anakat, all I can offer is

Awww, your poor girl

I am so sorry..I have no advice but wanted to offer support and hugs

again, no experience but offering support and hugs.

There is an article on TCS that may help you a little

There is a feline leukemia yahoo group that has a lot of useful information and people with first hand experience, as I know Katiemae is away this week and she has more experience than most on the board

Chloe's Web also has a list of treatments to discuss with your vet and lots of helpful links

Not all breeders/owners agree on vaccinating against FELV (Charlie's breeder told us to never vaccinate against it - and her husband is a vet too). They test all their cats and as long as they remain FELV and the cat never comes into contact with a positive cat, you don't need to vaccinate against it.

The breeder you got your cat from either had a FELV positive cat or your cat came into contact with one (is it an outside cat?). I'm sorry that your kitty is so sick - I have no idea how long they last, but just do whatever you need to do to make kitty happy for as long as you have him.

I'm sorry about your kitty!

What I've learned from Katie is that FeLV is a stupid horrible disease. It takes your beloved kitty whenever it feels like. Your kitty could well live to be 15 years old, or die soon. I'm sorry.

First of all, to you.

I lost a cat to FeLV that was not born with it and was fully vaccinated against it. Vaccinations are not 100% effective and in fact, if you read enough literature on it, about 10% of vaccinated cats can contract the disease if sufficiently exposed to the virus. My FeLV boy had been living with a FeLV positive kitten for over 6 months before he became ill (long story on how a FeLV+ kitten made it past our screening tests).

If a kitten is born with the disease, vaccinations will not help. Some kittens successfully fight off the disease (usually in the first few months of life) but most are unable to do so. If the breeder didn't test the mom, she might have given the vaccination without knowing it wouldn't help.

You didn't mention the test that you ran, but if all your vet ran was an Elisa test in his/her office, suggest that you bring her back and ask for an IFA test. The Elisa test is only a screening test for exposure to the virus and does not test for the presence of the actual disease in their bloodstream. Only an IFA test can conclusively test for the disease. It takes a full vial that is typically sent to a lab. Most vest office don't have the equipment to run that test.

FeLV is a strange disease. Cats are exposed to it everyday and some will successfully fight it off. Others do not. Life expectancy for kittens born with it is on the average under 2 years, but you never know. 95% of kittens born to a FeLV+ mom will contract the full disease. Adult cats that contract it have been known to live long lives, but others succumb quickly.

You can keep them relatively healthy if you learn all you can with the disease and give them the best food, a regime of the proper medication, and keep them stress free. Someone posted about a FeLV support group. That would be a great start to learn more about it (once you have the IFA test run).

And for the sake of others, if you baby is truly FeLV+, you need to talk to the breeder and ask that her queen be tested. If she is, it will only bring more heartbreak to others if she continues to produce sick kittens.

Please keep us posted on what you find out!

thank you all so much for your replys

phoebe is an inside cat she is a 1 year old sphynx she has never been outside so i think this must have come from the breeder

she had a blood test at the vets and the vet repeated the test but i will definatly ask about having another test sent away to the labs

i have another cat who is at the moment in isolation until he has had his second vaccination (he was leukemia negative) then the vet said he should be ok to be with phoebe again

we have got her on royal canin kitten food and hills science diet a/c soft food

we were told yesterday that she has also got cat flu ( she has been coughing and sneezing) and a bacteria in her gut so she is on 2 different types of antibiotics , fingers crossed that they will help her

thank you again all you lovely people for your replys and hugs

I would definitely contact the breeder so they can contact the other people who bought kittens from them and test their own cats.

Hopefully the antibiotics help with the other problems and she goes on to live a healthy life

I am so sorry

I am sorry to hear the news. I have heard some cats can live a long healthy life and some don't. I wish you the best of luck.