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2 FeLuk positive cats at differnt stages, can they be put together?

post #1 of 6
1/22/10 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
We have a cat (Peepers) at our shelter who is FeLuk positive. He is showing some of the clinical signs of Fe Luk. Then at Christmas time we got a kitten who tested positive. We had her retested last night after six weeks, and sadly the test is still positive. She is healthy as any other kitten, and shows no signs of illness. People have been asking me if they can be kept together. I am a little worried that his advanced FeLuk may affect her. I have no idea if this is a warrented concern. As the Veterinary Care Coordinator, it is my job to make sure that they get the best medical care. I'll be doing research, but I know there are people here who have much more experience. Any advice on how best to handel these two would be helpful. They are obviously kept separate from the cats that test negative. I'm just worried about their health and their happiness.
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post #2 of 6
1/22/10 at 7:13pm
I don't think it would be a problem to keep them together- by clinical signs of FeLV, what exactly do you mean?

I believe that FeLV got it's name because it manifests itself sometimes in the form of a bone marrow disorder, I for the life of me cannot remember the name of it , but it's when the bone marrow stops producing red blood cells, or drastically reduces that production, leading to anemia, lethargy, not eating which in turn leads to weight loss, etc. Since Leukemia in humans involves white cells, I think that's here the leukemia moniker comes from, even though Feline leukemia is a virus, not a cancer. Anyhoo, unless Peepers is ill with a contagious something, than it wouldn't be a problem to keep the 2 together. Any other questions, feel free to PM me
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post #3 of 6
1/22/10 at 8:03pm
Rang, I will defer to Katiemae or Momofmany on this topic - they have much more experience than I do in this area - but I was wondering whether it would be worth testing the kitten one more time before putting the two cats together, just to be on the safe side. If you did this, though, you would probably want to use the IFA test; I'm not sure whether that's available to you.
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post #4 of 6
1/25/10 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
We do have the IFA test available; however, the vet recomended just doing the snap test the second time. Is there a benifit to the IFA test & if so, please explain.

Peepers, have visibly lost weight since he has been with us. He eats, and drinks, but has lost weight. He constantly looks like he is blowing his coat. He also has something strange with his eyes. His pupils do not have a distinct edge to them. It is hard to explain, but the colored part of his eye is turning black. His eyes apear to be getting worse. The vet did some blood work, and checked him for toxoplasmosis. This was done when he first came to us. Everything was within normal limits. So that is what is going on with Peepers.
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post #5 of 6
1/25/10 at 9:46am
My understanding is that the IFA test is more accurate, although again, I defer to members with more experience.

The reason I brought up the possibility of a third test is that I do know someone whose kitten tested positive twice when the SNAP test was used, but then tested negative when the IFA test was done. That was two years ago, and I don't know whether a fourth test would have been advisable in this case, but the kitten is now a healthy, full-grown cat.

All that is anecdotal (not to mention second-hand), and I don't mean to give you false hope if the kitten in your case is truly FeLV positive. I realize that it's also expensive to run multiple tests! For all I know, what happened to my acquaintance is very rare. In her case, she had strong reasons to question the diagnosis (her kitten was not a rescue), which is why she wanted a third test.

In short, I sympathize with your situation! This is a very confusing virus, and having multiple cats only complicates things.
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post #6 of 6
1/25/10 at 9:55am
When FeLV+ kitties came in here - they were tested via IFA, and tested 3x. The first time they tested +, the second time (after 30 days) they tested +, but to be sure they re-tested a 3rd time after another 30 days....and they did test positive that 3rd time. But the person who saved them had to be sure.
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