Feline Leukemia - 17 year old Male need advice

Can anyone give advice as my 17 year old male cat has just been diagnosed with Feline Leukemia and the vet has said there is nothing they can do??  I currently have him on a daily dose of prednidale and at the moment he is eating and drinking, although a small amount.

We adopted Scampy two years ago and have had him yearly immunised so presume he had this horrible disease before we took him on.  He has over the last month or so lost a lot of weight - he was only 4kg at best, so you can imagine how thin he now is.

We absolutely adore him and are devastated that we cannot help him or make him more comfortable.  The only reason this was discovered was because we took him in with an abcess on his tail and they gave him antibiotics but noticed he was very anemic so decided to carry out further blood tests.

I suppose i am clutching at straws in the desperate hope that something can be done, i have heard that they can live for number of years after diagnosis but looking at him now I am not sure in his case.

I would be most grateful for any advice of help and thank you for reading my post.

Hi Scampy and welcome to the forum !

There are specialized online communities for almost every feline chronic disease, including FeLV.....the original FeLV group has been running for many. many years now (15+) and so it has built up a wealth of information on treatments and strategies.

I would urge you to join up with those people, present your story and hear their suggestions.

I lost a kitty with FeLV 12 years ago....unfortunately, I wasn't aware of that available expertise - I'm convinced now that, would I have known and availed of those resources, my cat wouldn't have passed so soon.

You'll find that group here: FeLV Talk     They use email as an operating platform (so the format of conversations will appear different from forums like this one) - I find it easiest to have a new, dedicated email address for groups like this...it makes it simpler to keep track of the back-and-forth messages.

The same people also have a website (though I'm not sure that it will be updated as quickly as real time discussion within the group) - that's here: Feline Leukemia Support

Knowing what I know today, were I in your position, I'd be involved in that group.

Do keep us up to date.......and, we'll never refuse pictures !

(And, two btw's for you: one, if he has had uncontained outdoor access, there are now many reasons to change that and to ensure he stays inside....two, most "ordinary" Vets - general practice Vets - will say 'there's nothing to be done'. As you'll find out, that generalization simply isn't true. A competent feline Veterinarian would never have given you that message. These specialized groups often have lists of Vets who are in-the-know about FeLV treatments.....I'd be asking for help to find one in my area, quickly. I don't want to give you false hopes, especially considering your boy's age....but, you've asked if there's anything that can be done. Hope some of this will help.)

Many cats his age can live out their lives being FeLV positive but supportive care can be important especially as he is not symptom free.  I have a friend who cares for FeLV positive cats and she is very knowledgeable on this subject, you can reach out to her at her website, http://aslanscats.org/