FeLV question

Once a cat with FeLV gets diarrhea, does it ever clear up? My poor baby has had it for months now. Some days she seems like she's making progress, others seem like we take 3 steps back. So heart wrenching as we hoped that some of the holistic remedies would help her. Having problems getting her to eat and have virtually given her a smorgasbooard to pick from. She's been a trooper and seems to want to fight, but don't know how long she'll continue..........so HARD to make a decision on putting her to sleep or let her continue to see if she'll get any better........

Has she been to the vet for the diarrhea? if so has he/she prescribed metronidazole (Flagyl), did that work?

As far as eating have you tried Nutri-Cal, A/D, I have also found alot of cats like the Wellness canned cat foods, canned fancy feast, meat based baby foods, boiled skinless chicken, Healthy essentials cat milk (works good with a little mixed into the baby food, chicken broth, tuna juice over whatever you are trying to feed her. These are some things we have been doing with our 22 year clinic cat who is a very picky eater.

My heart goes out to you. I just lost my sweet Roger 3 weeks ago because of FeLV. Roger had a problem with diarrhea his whole life and my vet gave him Flagyl which did seem to help.

been to 2 vets (1 traditional and 1 holistic). Both have attempted to treat the diarrhea, but her poor little behind is still red and inflamed. Since March she has lost 5 pounds and seems to be weak. She has taken Baytril (no help) and is still on Prednisone which seems to keep her at least curious about food. She has had mucous in the diarrhea and in some of her throw up spots lately - doesn't seem like we'll be able to do anything to help her anymore. She has been offered tuna, Chicken Soup for the Soul canned (she was eating this pretty well for a while for the last 2 weeks), and dry, Authority chicken and rice canned (sniffed and took a few licks), Authority lamb and rice dry, plain lean browned ground beef, boiled chicken and rice....am about at my wits end. Since Sunday she has pretty much had nothing but chicken broth. When a cat is FeLV positive, I am not sure what the signs are when there is nothing else you can do to help them. Anyone know? Do they just die in their sleep or are her problems common in FeLV cats? So heart wrenching as she is still a little social and allows us to love on her some. However this morning, she did crawl under the bed which is unusual................
Thanks for any info you all can give!

I'm so sorry to hear that your little one is FeLV positive. My very first kitten/cat was FeLV positive and it is heart wrenching. I eventually made the decision to put her down and end her pain.

I have had many cats thereafter, and unfortunately I have experienced that when a cat goes into hiding such as under or behind a bed...facing a corner in a closet...they want to be left alone and are close to the end. I know it is a very difficult decision to make but personally I couldn't watch my little one suffer anymore.

Other signs that I've seen with FeLV are falling to the side when walking and/or trying to jump...no appetite...and again, not even wanting to be touched...crawling into hiding.

Hoping for the best for your little one & yourself.

Green eyes, I feel so bad for you. Our beloved Freddie lived just 7 months. He was FeLV positive and we didn't know that when we got him as a gift for our oldest cat. Freddie waffled between terribly high fevers 106.5 and URIs the last two moths. We treated him with everything, even larger does of Baytril to ward off infections, which can be really risky. In the end, he rejected his chicken broth and didn't eat for days. He was telling us it was time to end his suffering. He just had lost too much weight, way too much, and he just couldn't fight it anymore. Freddie was an adorable, lighthearted gray Tabby with brown eyes, and when the little pink patch under his bronze nose faded from color - we just knew it was time. We were lucky to have a country vet come to the house for a very quiet, loving but heartbreaking afternoon. Freddie sailed into heaven in under 2.0 seconds, he was that ready to go. We have him in our backyard, in the sunny place between the shrubby knoll and in view of his mom's house across the street. He loved us so much - he really hung on for US, he was like that in spirit, but we could see this and then we knew his suffering was just too much. I think only you will know the right time, but to us it seemed like all he did was suffer. The light had gone out of his eyes, where even when he had fevers he still had the light, but not when he started to turn away food.
My heart is with you and just the fact that you joined TCS and posted your sadness and situation here shows you have great courage and compassion.
I am here if you need me.
Love, Elizabeth
Here he is:

Maybe this will give you some hope and some options:

www.felineleukemia.org

www.bright.net/~zimm1/FightingFeLV

www.felineleukemia.com//Chloe.html

Thank you everyone for your responses - I am learning more about FeLV and what to watch for every day. I certainly don't want her to suffer or be in pain, but I'd also like to give her every chance we can.
Yesterday morning looked so grim when I left for work as Sis didn't appear to be doing well and had been this way since Sunday evening. When I got home last night, shocked cuz she met me at the door and let me know she was hungry! I had stopped and got her some baby food (meat) hoping I would have more success with it. Much to our surprise, she ate some of it and some of her canned catfood. She seemed much better in spirits & was fairly sociable, almost like someone had flipped a switch. Didn't have a mess to clean like I'd anticipated..............
The vet did call in some Flagyl (metronidazole) and I started her on it last night. I guess my biggest obstacle to overcome is understanding that it's likely that everything we are doing for her is only buying her time and eventually we will face the inevitable. So hard to not get hopes up when she has these spurts of progress.

Her she is when she was still healthy (she would be the tiger striped in front)
http://www.buck-a-meg.com/greeneyes/...cats%202%2EJPG

Originally Posted by okgrneyes

............. I guess my biggest obstacle to overcome is understanding that it's likely that everything we are doing for her is only buying her time and eventually we will face the inevitable. So hard to not get hopes up when she has these spurts of progress.

Her she is when she was still healthy (she would be the tiger striped in front)
http://www.buck-a-meg.com/greeneyes/...cats%202%2EJPG

Click to expand...

She is adorable! Of course you feel as if you are buying her time....and in a way you are so she can run the show.....sometimes FeLV will go into a long remission and the symptoms disappear for months at a time. That's why we let Freddie hang on so long, because even with his recurring fevers, he ate and played. I think you are courageous and you're wonderful.

I am so sorry about your kitty being sick. I think that you will know when the FeLv becomes too much for her. With Abigail it was her desperate attempt to eat and drink, despite being unable to do so which helped us decide it was time. The diarrhea and vomiting was just too severe and nothing we did helped. She was still loving until the end, purring and snuggling. She couldn't clean herself anymore and just whimpered at her water bowl and could only walk a couple of steps at a time. We decided that was the right time to let her go. Everything with Abby happened very quickly- she lived a good year and three months before she got sick and then went downhill very fast. For the first couple of weeks the diarrhea and vomiting was sporadic, but then it became more and more frequent. She lost several pounds in the last week alone. My vet told me that once the severe vomitting started there wasn't much else that could be done- it generally means the end of the disease is near.

You two will be in my thoughts and prayers.

for giving me tips on what to watch for. Have never had a cat go through this. This has been SO hard for us!
After her good eating spell on Wednesday night, we weren't prepared for another bump in the road yesterday.....she's back to not eating anything or even drinking chicken broth willingly. Didn't eat anything yesterday afternoon through this morning and did throw up this morning. Looked to possibly be some of the meds.........I'm wondering if the Prednisone (5mg every other day) is what's keeping her eating, even sporadically.
She acts like she wants to eat cuz she sits and gives me that "you need to feed me" look, and comes in the kitchen while I am in there, but when I put
anything down (tried another smorgasboard this morning), she sniffs but doesn't eat. She almost acts like it bothers or hurts her to eat........
I will continue to evaluate her through the weekend, and see how she does.
We don't want to see her suffer and hate to force feed her.......hard to accept that the ultimate inevitable may be upon us faster than we are prepared for.
Thank you all for being so supportive!!

You're doing great hon. I'd monitor her through the weekend. You will know when it's time, only you will know. If there's any doubt then it just isn't the right time yet. Did you ask the doc about the appetite loss/meds reaction - also, Pat of Pat&Alix here on the site in the Marketplace Forum - she's our Health & Nutrition expert, she has this Rosie Dust...you sprinkle it over the food, it's a food enhancer - eating stimulator. It works very well!

The first time Abby did what you described with your kitty at her water and food bowl I just broke down. I had to go to work and ended up in my managers office crying and was sent home. I can really feel for you. It makes me tear up to even think about it. Good luck to you and your precious girl. I hope she is able to make a recovery or that you are able to come to some clarity on the situation.