So I work at a veterinary office and I came in on Thursday around 1pm. First thing I hear when I walk in the door is about some poor kitty needing a home or it was going to be euthanized! Story is, these people find this young male cat outside their house. It seems friendly enough, so they bring it in their house overnight--they already had an appointment for one of their existing cats to come in to our hospital the next day so they called and asked if they could bring the new addition too.
So they get to our hospital and first thing, they do the FIV/FelV combo test and he comes up positive for FelV. So at this point, the owners are called and informed and they decide they can't keep the cat because he puts their cats at risk and they are given the option to euthanize(which is apparently a common first choice with this virus) and they choose to do it.
This is where I come in...so it's a young cat, about 8 months old--has every parasite under the sun: ear mites, fleas, hookworms, roundworms, it's torn it's ears up scratching at the mites and it's Feline Leukemia positive. The owners are so grateful for me taking him--they felt bad about putting him down, but didn't know what to do. But he seems healthy and energetic right now so I take him. I don't have other cats, just a small dog and ferrets.
He's doing well with me, very friendly, playful, we've treated the worms, mites and fleas. Put soft paws on him. Gets along with my dog ok. He's getting neutered this week. We vaccinated him for everything, including Feline Leukemia--the Dr. advised it, she says she's read some indication that the vaccine can help suppress the virus and that if he's going to be vaccinated it should be while he has a good immune system and is healthy. My question is directed at people with experience with Feline Leukemia. The Drs. I work with tell me he has maybe 3 years and that he'll eventually develop cancer and that I should look out for upper respiratory distress and other symptoms. Any owners here have information for me?
So they get to our hospital and first thing, they do the FIV/FelV combo test and he comes up positive for FelV. So at this point, the owners are called and informed and they decide they can't keep the cat because he puts their cats at risk and they are given the option to euthanize(which is apparently a common first choice with this virus) and they choose to do it.
This is where I come in...so it's a young cat, about 8 months old--has every parasite under the sun: ear mites, fleas, hookworms, roundworms, it's torn it's ears up scratching at the mites and it's Feline Leukemia positive. The owners are so grateful for me taking him--they felt bad about putting him down, but didn't know what to do. But he seems healthy and energetic right now so I take him. I don't have other cats, just a small dog and ferrets.
He's doing well with me, very friendly, playful, we've treated the worms, mites and fleas. Put soft paws on him. Gets along with my dog ok. He's getting neutered this week. We vaccinated him for everything, including Feline Leukemia--the Dr. advised it, she says she's read some indication that the vaccine can help suppress the virus and that if he's going to be vaccinated it should be while he has a good immune system and is healthy. My question is directed at people with experience with Feline Leukemia. The Drs. I work with tell me he has maybe 3 years and that he'll eventually develop cancer and that I should look out for upper respiratory distress and other symptoms. Any owners here have information for me?
