1 year old with Feline Leukemia. New to this and terrified.

I just found out today that my sweet baby boy Rumi has FeLV and I'm in shock.  He tested negative as a kitten and ended up at the vet today because he's having problems with anemia.  They retested him, I didn't even know they were going to, and now he's positive.  

I have five other cats, four from the same litter as Rumi, and now I don't know what to do.  Two of them have hyperkeratosis, in the form of cutaneous horns, which is sometimes associated with viruses like FeLV, though they tested negative, too.  So now I'm thinking maybe I have two more at home I thought were healthy that are also FeLV+.  

I guess my next step is to have all of my other cats tested.  And then what?  What if half my household has this virus and half doesn't?  Or what if all the littermates have it?  There are six cats total, four littermates.  We're living in a small house with no room for separating cats.

My cats are my kids.  I didn't have human ones, I chose to have furry ones.  Please tell me what I really need to know about this right now.  My world just fell apart.

Yes, I would start by testing all the cats. Do your kitties have access to the outdoors?
How old were the kitties when they were initially tested? How long did you have them before?

Should some test positive and others negative, you will need to confine one group and get the non-FeLVs vaccinated.

I believe the incubation period for FeLV is 6 wks, but someone with more experience may have different info?

With all that said, if Rumi recently contracted the virus, there is a chance he could "zero convert" and rid himself of the virus. You can retest him in 6 months.

Thank you for the quick reply, CatPack.  I've been searching the archives and have found a wealth of info there, so I feel like I'm on my way to understanding this better.  I'm at least glad to know that the vet did the right thing and sent us to a larger hospital for a blood transfusion.  

All the kitties are indoors only.  Rumi and his littermates were rescued ferals tested at 10-11 weeks of age.  There are two established resident kitties, 14 and 5 years of age, and both are negative (as long as it's possible for a 5 year old to not have shown symptoms this long).  My best guess, and what I'm 99.9% certain is the case, is that Rumi was infected through his mother or another colony member before they were brought indoors at 9 weeks of age.  They were kept isolated for a little while, and they didn't display any signs of ill health aside from a Coccidia infection, but our household is now fully integrated and the kittens are 11 months old, edging on a year.  The only reason I discovered Rumi's positive status is the anemia.  The other littermates are outwardly healthy, with the only indication that two others might be infected being the hyperkeratosis.

Is it possible that only one kitten could have been infected?  They were all so robust as wee babies, and all the colony members seem very healthy, aside from Feline Herpes Virus.  Everyone has that.  All the members of my household have it with varying degrees of severity, the kittens being more symptomatic.  L-Lysine is keeping things under control.  I feel like we're going to be extraordinarily lucky if it's just Rumi (though that word, "luck", doesn't really feel like it belongs anywhere near these parts).  

While, rare, it IS possible for Remi to be the only infected one. We have a cat in the rescue (4 yrs old now) that came to us at 6 wks and was pos. her littermate is negative. Both have been tested multiple times at 6 mo intervals. The momma cat was negative as well, so unsure how Opal contracted the virus (or how the other two managed to avoid it.)
She is outwardly completely healthy and always has been.

I'm sure it is rare, but right now I can use all the hope I can get.  If an isolated infection can happen in Opal's litter, there's hope for mine.  I'm trying to be realistic, too, of course.  

It's great to hear that Opal has been healthy for four years.  That also gives me hope that things aren't as dire as they feel at the moment 

Question about FeLV drugs (anyone can jump in on this): If I'm understanding this correctly, they only start drug therapy after they become symptomatic?  If they're healthy at the moment, they shouldn't take them?   I'm referring to drugs like Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator, which I'm thinking of starting Rumi on tomorrow.  It just so happens that the hospital has it.  Speaking of, does anyone with FeLV experience want to weigh in on this particular drug or any others: ImmunoRegulin, Acemannan, Interferon Alpha, Staph Protein A (from felineleukemia.org)?  Is there a way to tell which drug is the best choice for your FeLV+ cat?

TIA!  The most important lesson I'm learning about this disease right now is that there is soooo much to learn!  

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty

@CatPack  you were very lucky. It is very unlikely for one to be pos and another to be neg.

Unless of course the kitty was misdiagnosed but sure at 4 yrs old you would know.

If your cat IS positive and was as a kitten, you are also very lucky she has made it to 4!

I want to doubt she is positive, sorry! Just if you will please tell me that you know for sure she is It's a huge mystery how that could have happened. At 4 weeks old, it would have HAD to come from mom. 

The only way for mom to be neg and have one pos baby would be mammary gland contamination, where she contracted it but was fighting it off, but her milk supply would be contaminated. (??)

http://www.dr-addie.com/downloads/660_felv.pdf

Anyway, it is very rare for the others to be negative to be perfectly honest.

What I would do if it were me? Your older residents will likely NOT get it, and even if they are tested and show positive, it does not mean their bodies aren't going to be rid of it, it takes time though for them to test negative.

So a pos result now only means they have come in to contact with it.

They would need to be given time to get rid of it, and retest in 6 months. Likely then they will be neg.

However, meanwhile I would get them vaccinated against it just to be safe.

It takes repeated exposure for an adult cat to contract it, and only 2-3% of them are unable to fight it off and will remain positive.

But the chances of the kittens being neg is very small.

@Catwoman707 We are 100% sure that Opal is indeed FeLV positive. We ourselves were in disbelief and have had her retested 5 times at 4-6 mo intervals. Trust me, we would MUCH prefer her negative as she would have been long adopted (she is a gorgeous Siamese mix.)

We too are stumped at how she contracted it and how the others did not. Both the mom and litter mate were retested 6 mo later just to be sure.

I told @the3rdname that a situation like mine was rare, but I also know that it IS possible for another cat with FeLV to have the same outcome, no matter how small.

@the3rdname, did your vet discuss doing an IFA test?

CatPack said:

@Catwoman707 We are 100% sure that Opal is indeed FeLV positive. We ourselves were in disbelief and have had her retested 5 times at 4-6 mo intervals. Trust me, we would MUCH prefer her negative as she would have been long adopted (she is a gorgeous Siamese mix.)

We too are stumped at how she contracted it and how the others did not. Both the mom and litter mate were retested 6 mo later just to be sure.

I told @the3rdname that a situation like mine was rare, but I also know that it IS possible for another cat with FeLV to have the same outcome, no matter how small.

@the3rdname, did your vet discuss doing an IFA test?

Click to expand...

Thanks for that info. 

Just had to hear it I guess!! Yes, very rare for sure. Did you take a look at that link I posted? She may be one who's mom got the virus but it did not go into her bloodstream, but the virus was in her milk, giving it to just one kitten. That's the only explanation I can imagine. I appreciate your info

catwoman707 said:

 
I'm sorry to hear about your kitty

What I would do if it were me? Your older residents will likely NOT get it, and even if they are tested and show positive, it does not mean their bodies aren't going to be rid of it, it takes time though for them to test negative.

So a pos result now only means they have come in to contact with it.

They would need to be given time to get rid of it, and retest in 6 months. Likely then they will be neg.

However, meanwhile I would get them vaccinated against it just to be safe.

It takes repeated exposure for an adult cat to contract it, and only 2-3% of them are unable to fight it off and will remain positive.

But the chances of the kittens being neg is very small.

Click to expand...

I'm so glad to hear that the adults are unlikely to get sick from it.  That is a *huge* relief considering how responsible I feel for putting them all together!  I thought a negative was a negative and no one, not one vet or tech, ever mentioned retesting them.  The vet at the emergency hospital admitted that testing young kittens is essentially worthless, so why even bother until they're at least 6 mths.?  I can't begin to express what a gut punch it is to think your cats are negative then find out they aren't.  Though I'm sure many here can relate.

I'm aware that the odds are against the litter being negative.  It was nice to briefly entertain that notion, though.  (Notion, delusion, whatever!)  

CatPack said:

I told @the3rdname that a situation like mine was rare, but I also know that it IS possible for another cat with FeLV to have the same outcome, no matter how small.

@the3rdname, did your vet discuss doing an IFA test?

Click to expand...

We were pretty preoccupied at the time with Rumi's anemia, so, no, an IFA didn't come up.  Do you think it's necessary at this point?  I guess I feel like everything we've been through in the past couple of days is a flashing neon sign that the illness is here to stay, here to continue causing trouble.  I'm still not convinced that it's a death sentence, not after everything I've read- Opal's story doesn't seem terribly uncommon, thankfully!- but I am already feeling depleted and overwhelmed.  

the3rdname said:

 
I'm so glad to hear that the adults are unlikely to get sick from it.  That is a *huge* relief considering how responsible I feel for putting them all together!  I thought a negative was a negative and no one, not one vet or tech, ever mentioned retesting them.  The vet at the emergency hospital admitted that testing young kittens is essentially worthless, so why even bother until they're at least 6 mths.?  I can't begin to express what a gut punch it is to think your cats are negative then find out they aren't.  Though I'm sure many here can relate.

I'm aware that the odds are against the litter being negative.  It was nice to briefly entertain that notion, though.  (Notion, delusion, whatever!)  

We were pretty preoccupied at the time with Rumi's anemia, so, no, an IFA didn't come up.  Do you think it's necessary at this point?  I guess I feel like everything we've been through in the past couple of days is a flashing neon sign that the illness is here to stay, here to continue causing trouble.  I'm still not convinced that it's a death sentence, not after everything I've read- Opal's story doesn't seem terribly uncommon, thankfully!- but I am already feeling depleted and overwhelmed.  

Click to expand...

So this is another mystery. FELV CAN be tested with accuracy on young kittens. It is FIV that will not be accurate.

There is a possibility that there were a very small amt of cells and the test did not detect them, but unusual. False neg are a bit more common than false pos.

Perhaps mom contracted it from her mate when she got pregnant with these kids, being bitten as males will do, often times they bite down too hard and can give it to the female.

I would test the siblings now. With Rumi's anemia, you can expect the IFA test, if done to be pos as well. Anemia is a classic sign of felv.

I think it's safe to say that Rumi and sibs got this from their mom. 

To be brutally honest, kittens who inherit felv from their moms, despite their healthy appearance, most will suddenly be struck with illness, and it will progress at a fairly young age.

Often they will not get past 18 months old. This is not ALL, but most.

I can imagine how upsetting this is to you, shocking news out of the blue like this, very sorry.

Get the other sibs tested, get your adults tested and get them an felv vaccine. 

Keep everyone healthy with good nutrition, perhaps immune supplements for the kids, and give them lots of love and limit stress, and enjoy them while they're here, however long that may be.

This is yet another result of people not spaying and neutering. VERY sad.

Originally Posted by catwoman707  

This is yet another result of people not spaying and neutering. VERY sad.

Click to expand...

Well, the truth is that mom and dad cat showed up one cold, snowy night begging for food and next thing you know...I'm a feral caretaker and mom gives birth to my litter shortly afterwards.  Mommy and daddy cat didn't belong to anyone, so they were technically no one's responsibility.  We have a large feral population here and I wish with all my heart and soul that state governments were forced to budget for TNR, but in our community (and now my former community), the onus of TNRing cats falls to whomever is compassionate and generous enough to care for their well-being.  There are no options for discounted spay/neuter surgeries in my area through rescue groups.  The caretakers, or whoever gets in touch with the groups about ferals needing TNRed, are entirely responsible for all medical costs, except for a slight discount on FeLV/FIV testing.  I know vanishingly few people willing to shell out hundreds of dollars to fix the neighborhood ferals.  Who can blame them?  

No matter what the future holds, I'm never going to regret rescuing them and giving them a loving home for however long their time on earth is meant to last.  I said to someone yesterday that while it feels like my whole world changed overnight, nothing actually changed at all.  I learned something vital about our situation that was previously hidden from me, but if they'd tested positive as wee ones, I still would've chosen to give them a loving home for as long as they needed one.  So it is what it is.  What I find saddest of all is how our country treats feral cats, like vermin to be ignored or dispatched, allowed to suffer and then victim-blamed for their own circumstances.  Individuals, no matter how caring, are never going to remedy this problem.

Annnnd, Rumi is still being held for observation, but he's doing really good.  I'm told that the staff adore him, he's getting lots of love and is happy as a clam.  His doctor even got choked up discussing the FeLV situation with me (and after I'd worked so hard to keep it together, that was rough).  If he doesn't improve, we'll see an oncologist to discuss treatment options (apparently that's just how things are done at this hospital). I'm looking into dietary changes and promising immune-boosting holistic treatments, and just trying to take things one day at a time.

I understand this. How tragic that there are no resources where you are.

Never enough anywhere for the most part, but none.....that's sad.

You sound like an amazing, caring and generous person, and I'm sure whatever the future holds for them, they are surely in the very best hands possible.