Adopting a kitten and introducing to another cat- question about feline leukemia

I'm not sure where this should go, so sorry if I put the question on the wrong board. I am adopting a 15 week old male kitten. I currently have a two and a half year old female, who is negative for feline leukemia. My kitten tested negative for feline leukemia at the shelter, but I have read many times that the test is not reliable for cats under 6 months old.

My question is, is it safe to adopt this kitten and bring him into my household? Do I need to have my other cat vaccinated against FeLV before she is around him? He will be in a separate room for at least the first week or so until they are introduced and he has been to the vet. I am not sure if this is a dumb question or not, because I know many people adopt kittens without knowing for certain. But my current cat is my first cat and I don't know very much about it and just want to make sure she is as safe as possible. Thanks.

I've adopted numerous kitties over the years, (who tested negative for FeLV) and introduced them to my cats with no problems. I know you just wanna be on the safe side though. I'm not much help as I don't have any experience with FeLV, but here is a useful website - http://www.felineleukemia.org/.

Jen.

More from the Winn foundation:

http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/pages/felv_web.pdf

Was under the impression a negative test was fine, but a positive could be a false positive in a kitten.  Might be wrong though!

Have you discussed this with the shelter?

If the test is negative, you can rest easy. If the test was positive it could mean either the kitten is still carrying the mother's antibodies, or the kitten is positive for FeLV, the kitten would be retested at 6 months old.

I understand your fears, but I think your new baby is safe to bring home. Set up an appointment with your own vet for a complete check up (and retest, to ease your mind if you want), and also wait a few days before making introductions to resident kitty. Shelter cats often come home with URI (upper respiratory infections) that don't show up until the stress of the new home brings it out.

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new family member and hurray for you for adopting a shelter kitty!

Thanks for responding everyone. I've been away from a computer for the past few days. I think I was just confused and didn't realize only positives may be false. He's home now and I'll have him tested at the vet tomorrow just to be safe.