Feline Leukemia Diagnosis and symptoms?

Several months ago we rescued a kitten from an abuse situation. The goal was to get her adopted until we realized that due to the mistreatment there was no way she was ever going to be able to be adopted out. I had learned from the person who brought her to us that she had been tested and vaccinated by the pet store she was purchased from. 

She hadn't always been the healthiest cat and recently she took a real turn for the worse, pale gums and nose, loss of appetite, stomach a bit bloated, and slight trouble walking (her hind quarters seemed like they hurt her).

I brought her into the vet and they asked if she had been tested for FeLV/FIV. She had been, and tested negative (she was around 8 weeks old when tested). The vet did all the normal checks, checked and felt the stomach ect., and drew some blood. They retested for FeLV/FIV. Needless to say the FeLV test came back very positive.

The vet prescribed Interferon, which we started right away, but I am still concerned about some of her symptoms.

I started researching right away and I just can't place some of the symptoms she has with being FeLV positive. I was hoping that some of you with FeLV cats could shed some light.

The most troubling symptom that I can't place being due to FeLV is her trouble walking. Her hind legs seem so week and painful, she walks very slowly and growls whenever she moves. 

The other is her stomach is bloated. The vet did check the stomach and bowels and didn't feel anything. She did poop normally a day and a half ago and peed twice yesterday (once in the litter box and one in the carrier on the way home from the vet). nothing so far today though.

The loss of appetite seems spot on and we did syringe feed her today about 30ml of cat food/water puree. 

I will be calling the vet on Monday to ask her specifically about the painful walking and bloated stomach again, but was hoping some of you might have some first hand experience.

I'm sorry your cat is not doing well.

It is important that you find out exactly what vaccinations she received at the pet store.  If you can find out the sponsoring organization, you can contact them for that information.  Some vets/shelters may give a vaccination for FeLK; if that is the case, the cat will always test positive for FeLK. 

That doesn't explain his other symptoms, like the limp, but would explain why she would test positive for FeLK and not have it.  And certainly in an abuse situation, who knows what she was exposed to.  She could be unlucky enough to have both FeLK and something else going on.

Did you have blood work done and if so, what were the results.  And if she didn't have blood work done, I 'd get some done.

How old is your cat, and when did she first show symptoms.  And, how was her health while in a shelter situation? 

We didn't bring her in from a shelter... it was a friend of my nieces who had the cat dumped on them by these people. The friend said that the kitten (she is just barely a year old ) had her 4 in 1 and FeLV and we got her rabies and boosters when she was spayed (she was not tested at that time due to us being told that she had been tested already). Our vet however told us that young kittens can test negative and still have it, not showing a positive until after 4 months of age. 

They did run a complete blood panel and all her other signs looked good. No indication of kidney or liver problems. Her symptoms started just a few days ago. That's the frustrating part, her symptoms don't seem typical of what I am seeing for FeLV, but it could be a suppressed immune system compounding the issue. About 1 week ago one of our younger cats had similar symptoms, listless and tired and seemed to be walking a lot slower like it hurt. Vet said he it could have been something viral he picked up and to wait it out. Within 2 days he was completely back to normal. If it was viral, she could have picked it up since the two of them are close playmates. We did keep him quarantined for those two days, but she could still have gotten it prior.

As for testing positive due to vaccine, I believe that is FIV that will always test positive from the vaccine. That was the first thing I researched when we found out. 

So now we have to have all of our cats retested in about 30 days All had tested negative when we brought them in the house (always kept our newbies separate until we could test). And the only cat that came in after her was an older stray who tested negative when we got him neutered, so we know she didn't pick it up from any of ours. Her playmate kitty will be going in tomorrow for retest right away due to the fact that, while she avoided our other cats, she really loves him. He is also still a kitten and the vet said even if vaccinated, he could be more susceptible to the virus. 

I will say I am kicking myself now for not having her retested, but even though this was a mistreatment case (she was allowed to be mistreated by a young member of the household because it was funny and cute) she had regular vet care so we didn't think it necessary.

First of all, thank you for rescuing this kitty. :heart2:

You're correct. FIV is the vaccine where they will test positive when vaccinated, not FeLV.

I've never heard that kittens can take four months before they test positive for it IF they've tested negative. I know that if they test positive for it, it may only be antibodies from the mom, and they may clear it after 4-6 months. I also know that it can take 4 -6 weeks once infected with the virus to test positive for it.

But if you've run blood work and everything is normal - and she's tested negative for FeLV, then I'm thinking this is the virus. :dk:

Of course, it's a good idea to have everyone retested.

Does she have any signs of a URI? I know the feline calcivirus can cause limping... http://www.fabcats.org/owners/cat_flu/limping_syndrome.html

She tested positive for the FeLV this time around. Her first time (prior to 8 weeks old) she tested negative (at least this is what we were informed). 

The vet thinks these are all symptoms of the FeLV, but I can't seem to find anything that says these symptoms, other than the anemia and loss of appetite, are typical FeLV symptoms. 

The vet put her on Prednisone and an iron supplement to help with the anemia. She still won't eat or drink on her own and the pain/weakness in her back end seems to be getting worse. I also noticed she seems to be leaking out of her behind. I have been carrying her to the litter box so she can pee, but still no poop since the watery diarrhea the day before, but to be fair she has only had liquefied food and I didn't give her any yesterday to see if the pred would make her hungry enough to eat on her own. I did notice yesterday when I put her in the box to pee, that she looked like she was trying to poop, but nothing but dribble came out, and not even very much at that. Today I force feed her some pate to see if maybe she might have a more solid poop when she has to go.

She has no signs of a URI, eyes/nose clear, no wheezing. She is actually very alert, just not moving around because walking seems to be painful.

Oh poor baby, she sounds so uncomfortable. :rub:

I hate to add to the bills, but an x-ray may be in order if she doesn't poop soon. Sometimes a blockage can cause that little bit of diarrhea - it can just be constipated stool, but then other, more liquid stool (diarrhea) is forced around it.

Whether her food is liquefied or not shouldn't affect the consistency of her stool - in fact, if this is diarrhea, not watery stool squishing around some type of blockage, the more moisture you get into her to prevent dehydration, the better.

You might want to chat with the vet about how to proceed. If it backed up stool, I think miralax would be the way to go (or she may need an enema). If it is diarrhea, she may need children's unflavored pedialyte and probiotics.