feline leukemia questions and opinions needed.

Many years ago I faced a similar problem, and I made the same choice that you have. It was the best choice for everyone. The positive ones didn't all show symptoms.
I'm glad you have made peace with your decision.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Jenn,

I have no advice or judgement, just that everything goes as well as possible for your and your babies.

It is more than evident by your posts that this awful event is tearing you up and your love for your furries will guide you in the best decision for your home.

I wish you all the luck in the world and hope that you get some good news along the way. I can't imagine being in your shoes.

Jen

Jenn,

I have no advice for you, because thank God I've never had to deal with Feline Leukemia.
But I agree 100% with your decision.
You've given all of these cats a happy home with lots of love and attention..something that they'd never known until they found you and Juan.

If I were in your shoes I'd have made the same decision.
Bless your heart, I'm be keeping you, Juan and all the furbabies in my Prayers

Fingers crossed for them - but cats can shed FeLV, and they do build up a natural immunity to it. Another thing you need to be aware of is that the FeLV vacc is only 85%, which is the same as their natural immunity. I do think you are doing the right thing, and to be honest, i am not sure about testing them, as even if one tests positive now, it could have just come into contact and be dealing with it, especially if you are only doing a saliva test. It can take up to 3 months for them to fully deal with it, so unless you retest any positive cats, you might not have an accurate picture.

i plan on resting a few times a year........... the negative ones...

And thank you everyone for the support. It has brought tears to my eyes. I was expecting an onslaught of negativity due to my decision.. This site never ceases to amaze me....

I love you all.........

Originally Posted by booktigger

I do think you are doing the right thing, and to be honest, i am not sure about testing them, as even if one tests positive now, it could have just come into contact and be dealing with it, especially if you are only doing a saliva test. It can take up to 3 months for them to fully deal with it, so unless you retest any positive cats, you might not have an accurate picture.

Click to expand...

This is a very good point that I'll expand upon. If you really aren't going to do anything differently with the negatives and the positives, then why bother testing them? Whether they come up negative or positive at this time, that can change. The positives could just be fighting off the virus and will turn negative, and the negatives could eventually be exposed to the true positives and turn positive.

Vaccinations are not fully effective and remember that about 10% of vaccinated cats can contract it under the right conditions (fighting, mating or very prolonged contact).

You know we all support your decision on this.

The difference is huge....... with current vaccinations. I can't even fathom NOT testing them. What is only one cat test is positive??? I will make a decision based on that one cat... If there are 15 positive, then I vaccinate the rest. But if only one is positive, I will probably put that one down. The tests are very important.

The shot averages about 85 percent success rate and mine have been vaccinated but they are not current.

In a closed in environment, such as a house , the chance of catching it -- if not up to date on the vacc's -- has a 40 percent higher chance than normally. And by normally, I mean unvaccinated cats that are around feline positive cats. And with that scenerio, t here is I think a 30 percent change of contracting it. Those same cats in a house, IF NON VACC, have a 70 percent change of getting sick. With vacc's it drops to 10-15 percent even in a house in a closed environment. I am not willing to play russian roulette with my pistol fully loaded. I plan on having it at least half empty. I want them to live.... not exist to die. There is a difference.

There is no way I am not going to test them. That would be very foolish on my part.

Look at those sweet little faces. They are counting on me and I am going to do the right thing by them -- like I always have. Vaccinations are a part of life when you have animals. The saliva tests have a 97.9 percent accuracy. That is right along beside the blood test. There is only a slight difference. And if it's in their saliva, they are spreading it. I will know what is going on and I will make my vaccination decision based on that. It is nothing but a thing to retest later in a few months to see if any change has taken place.

It is your decision, but not sure whether the saliva test will tell you whether they just have antibodies or whether they have the illness, I have never heard of it, I just know there are 2 different blood tests - one can show a 42% false positive. Also, if I remember rightly, once they have come into contact with it and dealt with it, they are immune for life, regardless of vaccinations. I do hope for your sake there is only one positive, but I do think with that number of cats, you will never know the true extent of it.

i know............ there is a lot of uncertainty...

But for now, this is the test I can afford so I can do them all at one time...... It is just the beginning.

And I have not read about a lifetime immunity.. I have read about immunity for an undetermined length of time however.

I am still reading everything I can get my hand on.... Most stuff is copycat info but some of it is really good. I am still in a learning mode.

And I did not mean to sound harsh in my earlier post. It's just that I have to vaccinate. I have to. That is not optional in my mind.

Also, I am doing a little research on a vitamin C diet. The lady at the place in MN told me a man in UTAH turned a colony around with this particular diet and a local lady there in MN has been using it for TEN year with excellent healing results.

So...... I will post more on this as I gain info. She is sending me some stuff about it. I will post more after work.

I am fully supportive of your decision. I can relate to wanting to at least get a handle on what is going on. If you have one positive then you can go further and get the in depth blood work. But if you have 5 or 15 then you have to come up with a different strategy. But it has to be something you can live with.
If you know which ones tested positive then you can keep an extra eye out.
I understand the logic of not testing but I also understand a need to know too.

Sending you loads of positive vibes.

I made the same decision over 6 years ago. I took in two 4 week old kittens with my crew of Max,Simon,Trouble and Samantha. I kept them separated for two weeks and had them tested. Test came back negative.

Fast forward a year. Buttons, one of the kittens was sleeping I would say 20 hours out of the day. It just wasn't normal for a one year old. Took her in and she was positive feline leukemia she also had an enlarged heart. Vet told me all of my cats needed testing. Any coming out positive I needed to put down. I think I cried for days.

Max, Simon and Trouble all came out negative and were re-vaccinated. Samantha and Scardy Cat the other kitten were positive. Neither one were showing any signs of the FIV. Against my vets advice I made the decision to keep them together. I retested at six months and again at a year. All those who were negative remained negative.

I lost Scardy Cat first and Samantha shortly after but I never regretted my choice in keeping them together. I think each person has to make the right choice for their family. In cases like this I don't think there are any wrong choices.

I agree with what you said about having to test them and needing to know. Many many vibes for you and your crew.

I can understand your need for testing, and here is a link to a very informative website - it is one of only two places in the UK that can do the accurate FeLV testing, so very comprehensive, and it does mention immunity to FeLV. I have attached the link to that page, but you might want to read the whole section, I do from time to time in case they have found out anything new.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/vet/c...dacatbetested/

Thank you all....

and on my way to theh book site..

ok, I can already tell I ama going to love reading there.

I hope my cats become immune or already are.......

thank you tigger.......

I do hope so - after reading some of the pages though, I am not sure how much the saliva test is going to tell you - it isn't mentioned on there (and they do lots of testing and research), as it depends on a certain bit of the virus. The bit about mixing is quite positive though.

I also forgot that our website has a very good article written about FeLV, here is a link to it

http://www.catactiontrust1977.co.uk/FelV.html

has anyone ever tried this

http://www.petstruly.com/1988.html

and thanks tigger........ I am reading and researching like crazy.

If any of the others are positive, the vaccine wont do them any good, and would be wasting your money. I wouldnt vacc by myself (not sure you are even allowed to do that in the UK), so cant give you any advice on that, but I know you will do your best.

i'm only vacc-ing the neg ones... and yes it's legal.