FeLV experiences

Katie should chime in on this, as she has a household of FeLV rescues and has been working with them for many years.

My experience with FeLV was very limited. I had a feral cat deliver 2 litters of FeLV+ kittens. I asked the vet to test the first litter before I brought them into my home and through some mix up, failed to do so. I didn't catch that they were positive until they were about 8 months old, and by then mom had a second litter (I didn't trap her before she disappeared after the previous litter). Unfortunately, nearly all kittens born with FeLV die before they are 12 months old and I lost all the kittens. Of the 5 of them, 2 from the first litter were seriously ill and I euthanized 3 from the younger litter because they still lived in the feral colony and I couldn't risk all of those cats getting ill.

I had a very large household of healthy cats when the original 2 kittens came into my home. Even though vaccinated, 1 of my adults caught it and I had to isolate him from the rest of the cats. Ruby was about 3 when he caught it, and being the highly sociable cat that he was, went into a deep depression when I isolated him from the other cats. I lost him about 6 months later. His depression lowered his resistance to disease.

If you can keep a happy, fully enriched environment for them, I have seen cats with chronic diseases lead a much longer life than what a vet would suggest. When my Bob was diagnosed with lung cancer in early February, the vet gave him 2 weeks to live. He finally crossed in September when the cancer spread into his bones and the pain became to much for him. My Stumpy has been living with an auto-immune disease for 13 years now. Many cats don't live more than 2-3 years with this disease.

I had a kitty with this about 18 yrs ago - and while he had times where he was quite sick, MOST of the time it was quite easily managed.

You need to listen to your heart, and talk to your kitty - I honestly think they tell us when they have had enough if we really listen/pay attention to them.

If your girl has a UTI that isn't crazy bad, treat it and take it one day at a time,... that is really all you can do.

If she is eating, playing and going potty - and doesn't appear to be suffering more than - say a NON FeLV - kitty who might have a UTI (such as my guy) then putting her down is not necessary. Weigh her quality of life and happiness.

You will need to weigh every time she gets sick, how much she is suffering - what her prognosis is - how she is acting and feeling...

As for crossing the bridge - that is never an easy thing no matter how it happens but I will say when push comes to shove, it is better to have hurt feelings and do the right thing to put kitty at peace when she is past the point of a good life - rather than prolong their suffering so our hearts don't break.

Unfortunately these decisions are always heart wrenching

My kitty lived a pretty darn long life - 10 or so yrs - before he needed to cross that bridge. Up to that point when he got sick it was no worse than a healthy kitty getting sick. He would feel lousy, have meds, and recover. He did get sick more OFTEN but I learned what to look for to have him treated as fast as possible.

I recommend pet insurance if you haven't got it (( if money is an issue )) they really make a difference when you are in a crisis. It can take the stress of money out of the already horrible decision making factor.

Hang in there, I hope she feels a bit better soon.

ps - great photo of her sink surfin

I think every cat that has FeLV is different, it really doesn't "act" the same way in all kitties I've had cats that were chronically ill, they had the sniffles all the time no matter how many rounds of anti-biotics I put them on, and I've had others that were absolute pictures of health. I've had some that died very early (before their first birthday) but right now I've got a household of 3+ year olds, Pandora is coming up on 5 years old

I've always looked at each cat as an individual because of how unpredictable FeLV is, that is, I watch each one very carefully for changes in behavior, eating and socialness. One of the big clues to me that their time is approaching is an unwillingness to eat, I knew that when they stopped eating, something very serious was going on, this one clue is pretty much the only consistent thing I've had going and sometimes they will have no other symptoms then not eating

I've found thad a lot of vets are not very knowledgable on leukemia and most of those are not willing to try...not to be more educated really, but to give these kitties a chance. I went thru a couple before I found one that really wanted to work with me. My advice is if it is possible, try a couple more vets to find out what their approach is regarding these cats until you find one that is on the same page.

Also, you know your babies, you will know when it is time. If Attitude is still being active and eating, then by no means is it time. I've had some very sick kitties in the past, and sometimes I can pull them thru, sometimes I can't, but I always try. A URI is not a death sentence, I personally have never had a cat die from a cold. As far as anti-botics, they do usually require a stronger one: clavamox really does not cut-it, I have had good results from clindamyacin and the covena shot

Having these kitties is a tough job, there is no doubt about that I'm going on over 10 years now of having FeLV cats exclusively and honestly, even thru all the heartbreak and frustration and yes, even anger, I would not change a thing. I've said it before and I will continue to say it, these cats are the best kitties ever, they seem to know that they have a limited time and must cram all the love of a lifetime into that period

If you ever have any questions please feel free to shoot me a PM, I'll answer the best I can based on my experiences. I've studied a lot of the info out there on leukemia, and it can be very confusing- one place says this and another place will say the exact opposite so I go on my personal experience more than anything else

Something that I never really see anyone talk about on here is that there are three strains of FeLv. A, B, and C. A, by itself, can be a little less worse on some cats. Others get the mutated B or C along with A and will end up much sicker.
This probably counts for part of why it behaves so differently.


I've only had one FeLv cat as a child. He had always been vaccinated yearly yet that's what the vet (who vaccinated him) claimed caused his death.

Not my direct experience, but a close friend (now the new mom of 2 of Sybil's kittens).

She adopted her FeLV baby 7 years ago when he was 2. He'd been a stray so she had no idea when he contracted it. He lived a happy, healthy life with no complications until this past spring when he succumbed to it at age 9. Up until about a month before the FeLV finally got him, you would never have been able to tell he was sick.

I think that it is not mentioned because the standard tests that are done to detect FeLV do not differentiate between them, in order to find out which strain your cat has requires more extensive testing, which, in all honesty, really doesn't make much of a difference. If a cat is FeLV positive, it is FeLV positive, no matter which strain they have.

Here a couple articles that talk about the strains
http://www.suite101.com/content/feli...a-virus-a77276

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...st.html?cat=70

But that does account for the variance in severity. Maybe if there's ever a successful treatment for it this will become more important.

For those with positive kitties. Hope it's A and stays that way, those cats can have a bit better luck living with it.

we took finley wynn in 2 years ago. we'd been feeding him outside the window of our loft downtown. we were the only ones watching out for him, so when we moved to a house, we trapped him and brought him along. he was my first experience with a truly feral cat. i had thought he'd friendly up to me in a week or so ... ha!
anyway, we kept him in our spare bedroom exclusively and worked with him slowly. after we'd had him for a month, we had him fixed and tested. he was negative. since he was fixed and not that crazy about human interaction, i decided to let him go outside as he pleased. i probably let him out 3 times and then decided my heart just couldn't handle not knowing where he was. finley showed up at our loft the day before my father died, and i've always felt we have a special connection somewhere somehow.
so i kept him indoors only in that bedroom and just started working a lot harder on socializing him. about 3 months later, i decided he was probably ready for introductions with my own indoor clowder. my vet suggested i have him tested again -- just in case.
wouldn't you know it? this time he tested positive. (and tested positive again 3 months later.)
i was thrown for such a loop ... i'd never really read anything about FELV, it just sounded like a death sentence. i cried my eyes out for him and me and the other cats that i'd let have tiny interactions with him. (luckily everyone else tested negative). i thought i'd just invited death inside to claim every one of my cats.
it's been 2 years and finley is totally and completely healthy. i've tried to get him to eat a more holistic food, like the rest of my clan, but he will only eat fancy feast. we went for about 2 months of mixing in tons and tons of health supplements to strengthen his immune system, until one day he literally foamed at the mouth when he started eating his dinner. poor kid. he eats only fancy feast now.
he looks gorgeous and has had only 2 minor health issues. back when i suspect he initially got the virus, he came inside with very red gums and a scratch on his nose. this was the last time i had let him out. over the course of 2 days, all his front bottom tiny baby teeth fell out. he stopped eating for about 24 hours, but then started up again and his gums looked normal within a week.
about 1 year ago, he caught the cat cold that everyone else in my house had. he was miserable for those first few hours. i hysterically called my vet after hours, asking for antibiotics. he was so sickly, i thought i'd lose him for sure. now, finley was still feral enough that giving medicine was no easy task. all efforts included, i probably got 1 and a half doses down his throat. total. but he fought it off himself within 4 days. he handled it better than all my non-FELV cats did!
i think it's a total crapshoot. there are some odd things that have changed in finley. i remember how stiff his stomach seemed in the first few months of my knowing he was positive. these days, it's soft and mushy, like any old cat. he never ever has a diarrhea or puking issue. the cat seems solid as a rock to me ... i often contemplate getting him tested again, as i know it's possible he faught it off or repressed it. but then i'm almost too scared to know either way.