3 Year old cat has Leukemia (FeLV), possibly FHL

Status
Not open for further replies.

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Thank you all for your help so far. Well I got some bad news and kinda some good news this morning.

Good news is I don't have to put her down but bad news is that she only has 50/50 chance of living. The vet is going to keep her

-My cat has Leukemia ;( I have to think she got infected with it sometime in the rescue shelter or was born with the virus from her mom. She is a houscat and has no other companion cats to infect her with the virus. Either way i'm freaking out after reading this article:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

I'm scared because she couldn't have contracted this virus (according to that cornell article) anytime in the past 2 years. She was born 2 1/2 years ago and we adopted her after she had been in the shelter for a few weeks at minimum. Which would mean this virus has been in her body a long time now because she has never interacted with other cats since she left that shelter. She's the only cat in our house.

-We're not exactly sure about her liver yet but the vet said she had higher numbers than normal for her liver after looking at the blood test. He said if she makes it through this 2-3 days of treatment then we will still need to address her liver problem.

Looking at the description and symptoms of Feline Leukemia it seems like the symptoms are very similar to FHL. Does anybody know a place where I can find info on Leukemia? I read somewhere that she still wont be able to live more than a year or 2 if she has Leukemia...I don't want her to suffer through 1-2 more years if she is going to eventually lose out to this Cancer. I don't want her internal organs to just be a 'ticking time bomb' that could give out on her at any month but at the same I would like to keep her alive as long as possible. She's so young. Thank you for your help everybody.


I'm andrew btw, nice to meet you all. Quincy is my cats name. She is really unlucky to get all these diseases. She is not even 3 years old and somehow could have contracted Leukemia AND probably FHL? She doesn't deserve this. I'm so dumb, I should have checked her better and realized something was wrong earlier...I'll update once I talk to vet again today. Maybe he can explain how long she will be able to live if she somehow beats the odds.
 

darlili

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
3,310
Purraise
14
Location
Illinois
Quincy may be unlucky to have gotten all these illnesses, but she couldn't have been luckier with her human - many prayers for a more positive diagnosis, and for you as you care for Quincy.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
worst week of my life so far and its only Tuesday. I just want to hold my kitty again...

I noticed some people saying to leave a shirt with my scent on it at the Vet's office for her. Should I do this for her when I stop by today? I hope they let me see her.

The lasting image in my head of her is being held by an assistant in the backroom and the Vet telling me "your cat is not in good shape." She just seemed so far from me in that moment.
 

blueyedgirl5946

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
14,593
Purraise
1,695
I am so sorry you are going through this with Quincy. How did they diagnose the leukemia. It would probably help your cat to have something with your scent on it, so yes, I would take a shirt. Sending lots of prayers for Quincey.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946

I am so sorry you are going through this with Quincy. How did they diagnose the leukemia. It would probably help your cat to have something with your scent on it, so yes, I would take a shirt. Sending lots of prayers for Quincey.
Thank you for your gift! She needs some good love/karma after all this.

What do you mean by how did they diagnose her leukemia?

-he said that she tested positive for it over the phone this morning.
-I know there are 3 stages of it. A,B,C. I'm not sure which stage she would be in yet though. I am going to talk to him in a little while. I'll post on here later what exactly he tells me.
 

blueyedgirl5946

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
14,593
Purraise
1,695
Sorry, I was thinking of something else when I read your post. Just the same, I hope your cat is going to be okay. You are most welcome for the gift of the cat paw. Keep us posted.
 

darlili

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
3,310
Purraise
14
Location
Illinois
Yes, if you have an old tee shirt or something that you've slept in, or sweated in, that would be good - it may reassure Quincy to have something that smells familiar and loved nearby.

Again, prayers for some good news later.
 

farleyv

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
4,796
Purraise
36
Location
New York State
I am sending up prayers for your girl and you. Don't be so hard on yourself. This is such a lot to deal with.
 

okie89

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
183
Purraise
1
Location
Florida
Originally Posted by afp89898

Looking at the description and symptoms of Feline Leukemia it seems like the symptoms are very similar to FHL. Does anybody know a place where I can find info on Leukemia? I read somewhere that she still wont be able to live more than a year or 2 if she has Leukemia...I don't want her to suffer through 1-2 more years if she is going to eventually lose out to this Cancer. I don't want her internal organs to just be a 'ticking time bomb' that could give out on her at any month but at the same I would like to keep her alive as long as possible. She's so young. Thank you for your help everybody.
Hi Andrew, it's a pleasure to be introduced to you and your baby, Quincy. I'm sorry she's not feeling well, and I hope she will get better soon!

Just so you know for your information, Feline Leukemia is a viral infection, not a cancer... it's a common misconception with human's leukemia being cancer... it's completely different, though.


A diagnosis of feline leukemia is not a death sentence. I've seen a cat live 18 years with feline leukemia. This is rare for them to live that long, but it has happened. If properly cared for, she can live a reasonably normal life. Now, she should definitely be kept indoors and away from other kitties, and should take extra precautions to prevent wounds (as they are harder to heal with FeLv), and/or infections. You may want to find a vet who can do theraputic treatments, as well, such as interferon, to help boost her immune system.

I hope things look up for her! Keep your chin up!


Okie
 

allmycats

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
529
Purraise
1
Location
US
I'm so sorry that your kitty is sick
I hope that she can get over this hump and have many more years with you!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Ok well today I got to see her! She looked to be in a better state than when we left her yesterday. Hopefully it's a good sign.

According to the vet she tested positively for leukemia. Her blood tested weakly though which I guess is a good sign. I still don't really understand how this disease works though. He says it's possible for her to survive and still be a carrier of it.

The good news from today was that the vet told me she doesn't have FHL! Which is Really relieving to hear. Her liver still had high numbers in the blood test though so we still need to address that if she fights through this rough spell.

The bad news today is really hard for me to take because she could have and should have gotten shots for distemper but somehow she never receive those shots. So distemper is what she is fighting for her life with at the moment. From what I've read on it she has 50% chance of surviving.

Her white blood cell count was really really low according to the bloodwork. She also had a high temperature 103.9 I think ;(

they are keeping her for 2-3 more nights and will continue to give her the necessary treatment and with any luck she will come through this.
 

katiemae1277

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 28, 2005
Messages
20,445
Purraise
17
Location
NE OH
Hi Andrew, I'm very sorry to hear of Quincy's diagnosis


Okie is right in that FeLV is a virus, a retro-virus, much like HIV or FIV. It is also true that they can live quite awhile. My longest is 5 years, but kitties don't have the luxury of being only kitties. I have adopted FeLV+ kitties exclusively for, geez, the last 10 years. I'll be straight with you, FeLV is the most unpredictable disease ever created. It basically compromises a kitty's immune system, and at the same time makes a cat more susceptible to a host of other ailments such as cancer. When an FeLV kitty gets sick, it requires aggressive treatment as they can go downhill faster than you can believe.

As for info on FeLV, the cornell site you linked is a very good one, another good website is www.felineleukemia.org. I have a couple more but they are saved on my work computer
I'll try to get on here and post them tomorrow. There is a lot of conflicting info out there and it's hard to sift thru it, to be honest, I don't think the veterinary profession knows very much about leukemia, simply because it has no rules, no typical pattern.

Quincy is in good hands at the vet's and I truly hope that she responds to the treatment, the liver problems are very troubling however
That I know of, I have never had a cat develop liver issues, but, again, to be blunt, I honestly don't really know what some of my cats die from.

One question, what do you mean by FHL? I don't think i have ever seen that abbreviation.
If you have any questions about FeLV, please feel free to PM me and I wll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
I'm sorry I confused you with the abbreviation. FHL stands for feline hepatic lipdosis. That is the fatty liver disease I thought she had yesterday. But the vet told me that isn't her problem. The distemper issue is what she needs to beat. Until I hear back from the vet I guess we'll just have to pray...

Thanks for all your guys help and if anybody has ever had a cat contract distemperment and can share some info with me about it that'd be great.
 

taryn

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
930
Purraise
2
Location
O'Fallon, IL
My 2 indoor and 6(or at least 5 of them) outdoor cats all have leukemia. No one is suffering, they are all loving life and living it to it's fullest. So far I haven't lost one to the virus(it is NOT cancer, it's a retrovirus, like human or feline AIDS.) It can cause cancer, like like human AIDS does.

Mama who is the oldest is at least 3, most likely older, and the only health issue she has needed vet care for was a prolapsed rectum which has 0 to do with leukemia. She lives outside with one of her daughters and 3 of her grand kids(I have 2 of her other grand kids inside.) Attitude my inside girl has feline herpes(it isn't leukemia related) which causes her to have a runny goopy eye, but I give her lysine and she is fine. They are all very healthy.

My inside ones are Attitude who is female and Nuts who is male. They are both over 10 lbs(in fact Attitude has been put on a diet because she's fat, Nuts weight is proportional to his overall size.) Both are strong and healthy and live for chasing each other around and play fighting. This is not a death sentence some cats do better with it than others. Both Attitude and Nuts are very faint positives and neither has any problems with it and neither do any of the ones outside. I know that at least the little ones Attitude, Nuts, Runt(little boy), Goldie Jr(also a little boy) and Half-tail(girl) who are 9-10 months old have had it since birth and none of them has an issue in the world.

They say 50% die within a year or 2 but Biter(Mama's daughter) who was a kitten in winter of 2008 is still here and fine and she most likely got it at birth as well. Mama had an owner at one point(she knows what a litter box is and knows how to use it and when indoors will only use a litter box) so I'm not sure when or even how she was infected but as I said she is older than 3 and she has no issues with her health. Mama and even Biter, her sisters Goldie and Callie and another black kitten were here before we were so this was their turf to begin with and every cat that either is in the neighborhood or who shows up(people love to dump their cats here when they are done with them) is going to end up with it(unless they are immune or their immune system fights it off) as mine are not the only cats here(there are at least 2 others that I have seen recently and a third that is lost, none will allow us near them) it's endemic here, there is no stopping it, and they are all very happy outside and are not house cats, they hate being inside and since they were here first I'm not going to torture them by forcing them to be in a house where they are going to be miserable(not to mention I don't have room for every cat that shows up.) The outside ones aren't really my(or anyone elses) pets, I just feed them and get them spayed and provide vet care when necessary but they don't really 'belong' to anyone. I do call them mine however and I love them all and worry when one doesn't show up or if I haven't seen one of them that day.

It's just hard to know who is and who isn't going to do well with the virus but mine will be here as long as they can be. They all have leukemia but they are not suffering, they all love to play and run around. Mama and Biter were playing a chase game the other day so they are loving life.

With any animal you don't get any guarantees on their health and how long they will be around, my(purebred) Old English Sheepdog Abby lived to be 11 1/2 which is old before she crossed the bridge, Paul's dog Molly(jack russel terrier chihuahua mix) lived to be at least 17, which is very old for any dog before she crossed, but Paul's cat Maude died at 10(which is young) due to liver failure(she was leukemia negative) and my MIL lost her dog at 5 due to bone cancer, she also recently had to have a 4 year old dog put down due to her vomiting blood that they think was caused by a tumor on her heart. I had a friend whose kitten just died one day, it was healthy it just died. All of these were animals that didn't have leukemia and they all lived varying amounts of time. I could get a perfectly healthy kitten and have it get run over and die tomorrow or have it get sick or Attitude or Nuts could live to to be 20 despite the leukemia, there are no promises on how long any animal or human for that matter will live.

Vets also live on gloom and doom statistics, and honestly no vet can tell you how much time Quincy has, they don't know and I wouldn't trust any vet who would be willing to answer that question with anything other than a "I don't know." No one knows how long a cat will live with leukemia any more than you know how long a healthy animal will live.

Let Quincy live whatever life she has. Don't let a diagnosis decide how long she will live. I forget that all mine have leukemia most of the time, it's a non-issue. I treat like I do any other animal, healthy or not, I let them live whatever life they have and they will let me know when they are ready to cross the bridge. Like I said I forget mine are positive most of the time, it's good to know but it doesn't define anything about them especially how long they live.

Just feed her a high quality food(which you should do with any animal), get her vet care when needed(which you have to do with any animal) and let her live her life. As long as she is happy and has a quality of life there is no reason for any diagnosis to define how long she lives.

Taryn
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Taryn, thanks for your info on leukemia. We want quincy to live as long as possible as well. When she recovers from this distemper (because I know she will recover!) she will live the best possible life until that time comes to cross the bridge. It's so hard to know she has this virus within her, she is a tough kitty though. I just want to have her back with me, by my side


does anybody know what I should feed her once she comes back home? Anything I can give her to improve her liver that's safe for cats? Or is there anything I can do for her leukemia? I guess there really isn't any "treatment" but is there something I should feed her? Same thing applies for hr distemperment. Any and all info you guys have would be greatly appreciated.
 

booktigger

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
4,520
Purraise
3
Location
UK
I dont know what test your vet did, but in the UK, positive cats should be retested after 3 months, as they can come into contact with the virus and fight it off, and there is a snap test available here that has a high incidence of false positives (the university that does the most accurate testing found 42% to be false positives when rechecked with their testing method). I think the fact it was a very weak positive is a good thing, and maybe it is false with the distemper. Fingers crossed she beats the distemper, and if you do get her retested, that it was a false result. HEr liver values might also go down after this as well.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Yeah, I will definitely have to re-test her once this whole ordeal is over. We will have to keep both of our eyes on her from now on.

So Taryn, If my cat has had Leukemia her inside her body since birth or since she was less than 6 months old your telling me she isn't any more likely to be effected by it than a cat who say, just picked up the Leukemia last week from fighting another cat?

Do you get what i'm saying?

And I'm going to see her in a few hours...hopefully she is feeling even better today.

I don't know how to post pictures on here so here is her page and photo: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/cat...cat&catid=2614
 

darlili

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
3,310
Purraise
14
Location
Illinois
Oh, she's so pretty - and if being loved can give her strength to fight this, she's going to make Hercules look like a weakling.

I hope your vet has some good news for you - I think all health care folks tend to be conservative, but it sounds like no one is giving up on your Quincy.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

afp89898

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
56
Purraise
1
Location
Los Angeles & OC
Just visited her for a while...I dont know. She seemed a little more out of it today. She didn't stand up for me this time. Just lay there and let me pet her. Sounded like she tried to purr but it wasn't very strong


The Vet told me that her having both Leukemia and Distemperment was not a very good thing for her because the Leukemia was most likely making it harder for her to defend herself against the distemperment and weakening her immune system (which was weak coming out of the shelter when we adopted her.)

It's pretty much last chance saloon for my Quincy these next 2 days. He told me that she could possibly live another few weeks or a month back at our house even if she doesn't show signs of improving but it would be in her best interest to probably put her down instead so she doesn't have to suffer.

Please say your prayers for my Quincy and for myself (I cant stop crying when I think of her and I NEVER cry). I'm trying to stay positive but things are not really improving the way I wished they would.

Please god, heal Quinn.

Thanks for all your help too. you guys are helping me through 1 of the worst weeks of my life thus far.

-Andrew
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top