kitten tested positive for FELV...

Sorry but this is a long story...

          Hello everyone! so i adopted my closest buddy in the world last may at only 3 months old. It was a very exciting day because i had never been a pet owner before, and i moved to a new city and needed a companion to keep me company. she was so adorable, i named her Caroline and quickly began researching everything that i needed to know about proper care for felines. After receiving the paperwork i made sure to ask the folks at the humane society if she was up to date with her shots. she only needed a few more which i took care of as soon as possible.

           I refused to get her declawed, so i clipped her nails once a month myself. she received a monthly bath as well (which surprisingly she got used to). i made sure she got the best dry food (per recommended by the vet) and cleaned her food and water bowls twice a week. sifting the litter box everyday, and a complete change once a month with a complete scrubbing of the whole box. i brushed her coat to reduce shedding once a week. 

          Most of my friends that own cats thought i was being over excessive compared to how they took care of their cats, which was just filling up the food bowl everyday and cleaning out the litter box every other week. i explained to them that this little girls life is in my hands, and i wanted her to have the best and cleanest environment to prevent sickness or bacteria.

she never developed any bad habits, and she was so playful! we cuddled in bed every night, she was never skiddish when i had guests over and was always the life of the party.

Sadly two days ago i noticed she didn't greet me at the door like she usually did when i came home from class. i found her in my bed still, but i figured that she had grown used to me coming home at that time everyday. as i carried on into my homework i noticed she was lying in bed for most of the day. this was very odd behavior. the next day was the same story, and i noticed she hadn't touched her food all day. not only that but she wasn't playful one bit. I got scared, but i assumed maybe she had a blockage or something fairly simple, so i made an appointment with the vet for the next day.

The vet checked for a blockage but there wasn't one. he checked her temp and found that she was running a 103.5 fever. he gave her a shot to reduce the fever then drew some blood in a vile and showed it too me. her blood was almost as thin as water... my heart sank, but i figured if she was anemic then i could change her diet and all would be well. The next day he called me when the results came back and i couldn't believe what he told me... my baby girl has leukemia.... it could have been anything else, why leukemia??? immediately i told him it couldn't be, the humane society tested for it when she was a kitten! he told me sometimes most kittens wont show positive for it until they are 6 months of age. So why didn't the humane society tell me that?! i would have gotten her re-checked as soon as i could!

it kills me to see her so down... its as if she knows shes doomed not to live a normal full life. and what surprised me the most was how quickly it set in! i mean its as if it happened over night! little appetite, very lethargic, not playful at all, and because of her anemia she sleeps under my lamp all day because shes cold . just jumping up the bed or onto the furniture wears her out... The vet said i shouldn't even try changing her diet to help with her anemia because the leukemia is causing it...

Sorry for the long story guys, but i wanted to ask if there is anything that i can do to help her fight this... i understand that there is no cure, but there has to be something helpful...  

I am so very sorry!!  Unfortunately, I have no experience with FeLV, but I did a search for you and found a lot of info on the site.  Maybe this will help you until someone more helpful comes along.

http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch?search=Feline+Leukemia

Thank you so much for looking around for me, its been such a long day :/

I'm sure it has been!  I know there are people on TCS who have experience with this and I know kitties can live good lives with FeLV, but it does require a lot of study.  I say tonight, you just love on your kitty and try to get some rest so you can attack the whole thing in the morning.

I'm so sorry to hear about Caroline.  This news has to be so shocking!

I did find this article that said 1/3 of the cats that are infected "gain full recovery within weeks", 1/3 become carriers, and only 1/3 get the active form.  Here's the article I read that from:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-leukemia-virus-felv

Now,I also know of a few cats here on this board who are living quite well with FeLV, and some even live among a LOT of other cats   

As far as treating the anemia, there ARE certainly things that can be done to treat that, and if your vet isn't interested in treating it because she has another health issue, then I would get another Vet.  Anemia certainly isn't anything to mess around with, and is very dangerous by itself, but there are drugs to try to raise her numbers, even blood transfusions, if I'm not mistaken. 

I'm going to pm one of our members who has an FeLV cat, and also had a cat with anemia because of cancer and see if she will offer her two cents on this. 

So very sorry to read about your problems. But in the midst of the sadness, your story of how you adopted and take care of Caroline is heartwarming - almost brought a tear to my eye.

I agree, rest up tonight, give her lots of hugs and set to work doing research in the morning.

And yes, as someone mentioned above, you can easily get a blood transfusion for an anemic kitty and it does not cost that much (not cheap, but not as pricey as I imagined it would be). And there are drugs to help too. If time is of the essence, a good vet would offer you a blood transfusion asap to buy you time while you forge a management plan for her condition. So I would look into your options as far as that goes.

Best wishes to you both.

I am so, so, so sorry about Caroline's diagnosis. You are a wonderful and loving kitty momma and she is so very lucky to have you. Now, I agree with Sally that there are quite a few FeLK kitties living quite well with their disease with proper medical attention and treatment of secondary infections. But, still, it is so devastating to get that kind of news and then trying to learn how to live with it. I don't have much experience either but will see what other threads I can find on the subject and/or articles. We are here for you and we care and I am just very sorry for you, hun..

I have some experience with FIV, not FeLV. But I asked the FIV yahoo group I belong to if anyone had any information. Apparently there isn't an FeLV Yahoo group, but someone suggested looking into this treatment: http://tcyte.com/

Apparently it is more effective with FeLV than with FIV.

Given your vet's feelings about not even attempting to provide supplements or change diet, I think I'd find a new vet, one more willing to work with you, perhaps do some research if they're not already "up" on FeLV. Call around, ask questions. You want someone to effectively partner with you because you don't want to just give up on your kitty. :heart2:

I did find this site, and it looks like it may be very helpful.

My only other suggestion is to search to see if you can find a vet trained in some type of alternative medicine: homeopathy or Chinese Medicine. They should have both traditional methods to help AND be familiar with alternatives that may help. :rub: You can search here: http://www.ahvma.org

My thoughts go with you and your buddy. I also don't accept that there is nothing to do. :heart2:

LDG said:

....
Given your vet's feelings about not even attempting to provide supplements or change diet, I think I'd find a new vet, one more willing to work with you, perhaps do some research if they're not already "up" on FeLV. Call around, ask questions. You want someone to effectively partner with you because you don't want to just give up on your kitty.

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I definetly agree with @LDG  above in that you should call around  to find another vet who has had experience in treating Felv+ cats.

In my case I am still having regrets in not getting a second opinion,...it may not have changed my cat's outcome, but atleast I would have been able to say that I had tried everything possible at the time.

There is another member who posted here, http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272848/feline-leukemia-anemia....and her cat is also suffering from anemia, but I do not know how you can get in touch with her, unless by private message.

I also found this yahoo group but I am not a member so I would not know if it is helpful or not. It is at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FeLVPositiveCats/info 

I hope your Caroline pulls through, because my vet had said that some cats who are felv+ and fiv+ can still reach old age, they just have to respond to treatment.

From what I have read on TCS, there is that experimental drug called LTCI in the United States and also another one in Europe. There is also blood transfusions to buy time, and feeding tubes, and Iron Supplement called Pet Tinic.

I think the key would be to find a vet who knows all about this.

cat nap said:

From what I have read on TCS, there is that experimental drug called LTCI in the United States and also another one in Europe. There is also blood transfusions to buy time, and feeding tubes, and Iron Supplement called Pet Tinic.

I think the key would be to find a vet who knows all about this.

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I posted a link to it: http://tcyte.com/

I am so so sorry you are going through this.  I did find this website that seems to be helpful.  http://www.felineleukemia.org/  I agree with the above poster who mentioned trying to find a vet who has treated Leukemia cats before.  There are a lot of different options out there to help your kitty.

Hello @Mike taylor  and I'm so sorry you have joined this site under such tragic circumstances.

I hope members here are able to offer some help, at the least, some comforting, as we are all quite good with this, knowing all the ups and downs that occur with our beloved furry friends.

I do have experience with felv. (unfortunately)

I have a cat rescue group, so kittens and cats come to us from all areas, in all conditions, etc.

I won't sugar coat this, but sadly, it's not good.

From the felv positive cats I've had, and the positive kittens, here is what I have found.

Now I am not basing my observations from anything except my own personal experiences okay? But it appears to me that when kittens test positive, despite their healthy, spunky, you'd never know anything was going on with them-type behaviors, the majority do not make it to adulthood.

The kittens' acquired this from their mom most likely, highly unlikely that they had exposure in any other way of course. I think this is what it has to do with, them not making it through, as well as their smaller bodies, their immature immune systems, and so on. They were developing in an felv positive mom, and were born with it.

Of 2 seperate litters of 3 kittens each who tested positive, only one from each litter is still alive and doing well, the others suddenly, at random ages, went from doing great and showing no signs what-so-ever, to going downhill, fast too. Within weeks they were gone from the point of symptom onset.

Now I've had grown adults come who tested positive, all came extremely sick, knocking at death's door literally, but with time and heavy meds and care, good food, etc. they all had recovered. To this day as far as I know, they are all still alive and well too.

One of the adults was Baby, who I have a thread on here about.

So my theory is, when an adult contracts felv, probably during the mating process, since they were homeless cats, they're alot tougher than the young kids are, and it's not that a cat's immune system decides if they will succumb to it or not but more on the exposure of it, is why kittens seem to have the highest chance of not making it.

I really hated saying that to you, and I'm sorry. There's no point in not telling it the way I see it, and I am so damn sorry.

Now as I said, there may be things the vet can do, such as blood transfusions, etc to help. I don't know. I only know that as soon as my kittens fell sick, they were doomed.

I should also mention this, of the 2 who are alive and well....they have never fell sick like the others. And they may not for many years, I don't know. They may overcome it? Possible.

There is a statistic of cats contracting the felv disease, but many who have will work it through their bodies somehow and when retested turn up negative.

I have never seen a kitten retest negative, they all retested positive at 6 and 7 months, after first test was done at 2 months.

Like I said, when the disease in born into them, I don't think there's a chance of them working it through and out of them ever.

Hi Mike, I'm not here to give you false hope but I had a kitten test positive for feline leukemia. He was 16 weeks old and was very sick, with high fever and congestion. That being after 7 yrs he got a bladder blockage and while at the vets they tested him again. He tested negative. I later learned that it's common to
get a false positive, especially if they had vaccination for this. My baby lived 16 1/2 yrs with no feline leukemia. I would take the safety precautions and have him tested again.

Also if his mother was vaccinated at one time, her kittens can end up testing falsely positive. I pray for this.

JodieThierry64 said:

Hi Mike, I'm not here to give you false hope but I had a kitten test positive for feline leukemia. He was 16 weeks old and was very sick, with high fever and congestion. That being after 7 yrs he got a bladder blockage and while at the vets they tested him again. He tested negative. I later learned that it's common to
get a false positive, especially if they had vaccination for this. My baby lived 16 1/2 yrs with no feline leukemia. I would take the safety precautions and have him tested again.

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What my guess with your kitty would be is the common false positive snap test. At 16 weeks chances of him being infected in any way would be slim to none, and would have been born to a pos momma.

In which case, as Iwas mentioning prior, kittens who are born positive usually are unable to ever be rid of it, and will also be unable to live for so many years with no symptoms at all.

Glad you got so lucky!

Thank you everyone for all of the positive feedback! I must appoligize for not responding or keeping up with the thread. the past week and a half have been quite hectic, so i will bring you guys up to date with Carolines condition!

Before i start, Caroline has miraculously taken a turn for the better!

Those who said i should consult a different vet were right on the money. After contacting my vet multiple times (i think he got annoyed with me) i realized he wasnt willing to help Caroline or look into alternate treatments for her. I became frustrated with him, all he told me was to keep her happy and take note of her food and water intake and give her the antibiotic each day. He told me many times that this is all we can do, and sometime very soon i would lose my little girl. I called 4 different vets in the area to see if they would use the T-cyte treatment and they all refused.

Refusing this utter BS from him and the others i started to think for myself. I noticed Caroline was having a hard time eating her dry food because of the lack of energy, so i bought her a few cans of science diet wet food (she'd never had wet food before) thinking that it would be easier for her to eat. not only that but it would be more appetizing, and it would also hydrate her. I looked into ways to help with her anemia, so i bought multivitamins for her. I crushed one and mixed it into a half can, which is what i serve to her.

3 days ago i noticed her appetite sky rocketing! i mean, upon initial diagnoses she was barely eating at ALL or making trips to the litter box. I am happy to say that she is eating a whole can of wet food a day, and leaving plenty for me to clean up in the litter box . 2 days ago i noticed that she had much more energy and was no where near as lethargic as before, and yesterday she played with some of her toys! This morning she jumped into bed with me and was purring as she crawled on my face. even as i am typing this she is exploring the room and pounced onto the couch to peak out the window.

Although she is not as playful or energetic as she used to be, she is definitely fighting the virus and showing so much progress! I dont know if its possible for her blood numbers to return to normal on there own, but it seems like her anemia is going away if that's possible...

Is it normal for Felv positive cats to rebound like this? I have read that cats can fight off the virus and just be carriers without any symptoms, i really hope that's the case here. If she continuous this progress I will bring her to a new vet to get another blood test done. i want to know what her numbers are and if there is a different diagnoses.

Again, thank you guys for all the help!!! i will be in touch, for sure!

This is wonderful news!!

My guess would be due to your intervention with vitamins, the canned food, and your love

She likely is coming around, eating better and overall feeling better because the anemia is getting handled, she is hydrated and feels so much better.

GREAT job!!

After reading this awesome update, I went back through and re-read your posts, and you hadn't mentioned her age.

I know you got her around 3 months old.

Hi Mike, as I wrote earlier I had a very sick kitten, Perkins, who was diagnosed at 16 weeks. The vet told me at the time that he could get sick and die from it , get sick off and on through out life but not die or just carry it and never get sick. At 7 yrs old when he was retested, he was neg. I've been told he must of had a false positive reading but he was a very ill kitten and that's why the vet tested him to begin with. I would love to believe it was a miracle. I pray for that same miacle for your little one.

I am so happy Caroline appears to be getting better Keep up the good work.  You might try adding in some egg yolks to her food too as they are a great source of protein and other nutrients. 

That update cheered me up!! Hurrah for you and Caroline!!

And good for you for not listening to overly pessimistic vets who don't seem to want to deal with trickier cases.

You should post a photo of Caroline - she sounds delightful. What colour is she??