Feline Lukemia Testing SNAP & lab test

Hi everyone. We found a cat and decided to keep him. We went to the get after having him for a week and he tested positive for feline Lukemia using the ELISA snap test that they do in office. We were devastated. The doctor took more blood to send to the lab for an IFA test. The results came back negative thank god, we are so relieved!

When the vet examined him they said some of his gums were red & when they took his blood he was bleeding so much it was hard to stop. The vet said she had never seen bleeding like that before.

Is there any chance that he can still have feline leukemia? We have another cat at home and don't want to take the chance of possibly exposing that to her. They haven't met yet as our resident is growling/hissing/hiding and wants nothing to do with him. i just don't want her to get sick!

I currently have a 1 year old kitty that has tested negative on all in-house tests but when we had a positive IFA test and a negative IFA test when we sent it out to to different labs. The lab that got the positive did the test again and it was negative. We even had a bone marrow biopsy and that came back negative for Felv. Does she have it? Maybe. There is no real way to know for sure. The specialist feels like she has more of an autoimmune but we can never rule out the Felv since we have had both results come back when she has been tested.

It is always possible your kitty does have Felv but there is always a chance that there is something else is going on. Have you received any of the results back?

My kitty was severely anemic, non-regenerative and needed 2 blood transfusions but after 1 month of 20 mg of prednisolone all of her blood work is normal, no fevers and she gained back the 1 pound she list and another. As long as she is doing well then we go in once a month and get labs and move on. I also take her tempreature at home because she had a lot white cell count (I can't remember what cell line was very low).

If you let this cat free roam in your home for a week, resident kitty may have been exposed. Though transmission is only supposed to occur through birth, puncture wounds and blood swapping. I have 2 cats one positive, one negative.

@autumn31, what you are describing sounds more like feline AIDS (FIV) than feline leukemia. FeLuk is transmitted via all bodily secretions...urine, blood, saliva, etc. whereas FIV is primarily via blood (deep bite wounds, mating, birth.)

As to the OP,
If I remember correctly, the incubation period for FeLuk is 6-8 weeks. So, a positive ELISA test means that we have been exposed. I'm not sure how long after initial exposure the IFA would show positive. I would ask that question to one of the lab experts that ran the IFA.

I am learning how to reply. Topcat thanks, I have been misinformed for many years! I have always wondered how 3 out of 4 of my cats got it when they didn't bite or fight eachother. Something I hope can help, my negative cat is now 12 and my positive is 11 we found out 8yrs ago. The vet said the vaccine for felv is like our flu vaccine, where it's hit and miss but our negative cat got the right one. All my cats were vaccinated I had a cat that was an escape artist he come home one day hurt and that's when it all started. So maybe if resident kitty is vaccinated she won't get it. I wish you well and apologize for spreading my bad information.

Thank you for all of your input. I am not sure what to do with introducing them. Guess I am going to have to wait a few weeks, still keep them seperate & do the test again.