I have some good news and some BAD news

Originally Posted by Jen

I think it is one of those things where the test isn't always accurate. Negatives could turn out to be positive next time and vice versa. In other words, there could be many factors that are affecting the outcome of the test. I could be mixing it with something else however, but I think it is that way for FeLV. It also does not show up right away, so if you catch a cat on the street and take it in to get tested (or like a shelter would test a cat that just came in) and it turns out the cat got FeLV from fighting with an infected cat a few days before, it isn't going to show up in the cat immediately. If that makes sense.

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Well, her Elisa was positive and her IFA negative. This means, that she is in a primary stage of infection. The problem is that she has a URI and the disease has already begun to wreak havok on her immune system. She's on a battery of drugs, so if we can pull through the URI, we will most likely be fine for a while. If not, then we won't. At least that's my understanding. As long as she's eating, drinking, using the LB and is mobile, then the doctor doesn't want to chalk everything up to FeLV right yet. Her breathing isn't totally normal, but it's certainly better than it was 2 days ago. Her fever is also down. This would mean that this Clavamox is having an effect on the infection that is present. So...so far, so good. Unfortunately, the next few weeks are going to be touch and go.

Ask the vet to run an IFA test. That will give you a lot more information.

Worst case scenario is that she will have a totally normal, but significantly shorter life. It's not good news by any means but definitely nowhere near as bad as FIP.

Originally Posted by semiferal

Ask the vet to run an IFA test. That will give you a lot more information.

Worst case scenario is that she will have a totally normal, but significantly shorter life. It's not good news by any means but definitely nowhere near as bad as FIP.

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The vet did run an IFA and it came back negative.

I'm glad to hear the good news, and think you've already been given some good links. I'm just continuing to wish for more good news for her.

I'm glad it's not as bad as orriginally feared. Lets keep up our prayers and keep hoping!

It looks ok right now, everyone. Temp is at 102.1, breathing is really close to normal, dad's hearing less fluid in the thorax, she's up and moving around, she has a healthy appetite (she's getting offered all of her favorites...Royal Canin Kitten, Nutro Gourmet Classics Kitten, Felidae...she's in hog heaven), her weight is fine as far as I can tell, she's using the box...

We're hopeful. Probably a little too hopeful. We're going to keep on the antibiotic and do some immunotherapy and hope some more.

Allie, I know it's not the greatest, but it seems somewhat manageable. Poor little Lola. But FIP is 100% fatal, so you've got a little better outlook. Keep up the good work - you're a GREAT kitty mommy!

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Allie, I know it's not the greatest, but it seems somewhat manageable. Poor little Lola. But FIP is 100% fatal, so you've got a little better outlook. Keep up the good work - you're a GREAT kitty mommy!

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I just don't know how to feel better. She's mostly asymtomatic...I'm not sure what is URI and what is FeLV...etc, but she seems to be responding to antibiotics. But I'm not sure what's my hypervigilant hopeful-yet-paranoid perception and what's actually happening. I just feel awful. I can't stop crying and worrying.

I think I want to put her on an immune-booster of some sort. Along with holistic supplements.

Most of what I hear though, is that if the fluid and the fact that she's so tiny are associated with the FeLV, then the prognosis isn't great.

So sorry to hear about Lola. Here's a good link to information:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resou...hure/felv.html

Sorry to hear about you baby Lola

I'm praying and sending good vibes her way, and Napolean is too!

Good vibes from Spain

Well, between the two vets I've spoken with, one prognosis was 2-11 months (i.e. "could be a little as two months, but she has less than a year left since she showed symptoms") and one said "she probably has a few years of good life left in her with regular care" and my shelter said "we've known cats who show those early symptoms and live a normal life span!"

Ultimately, my research showed than any of these 3 parties could be right, depending on what this virus decides to do and how well Lola's compormised immune system can fight it off, with the help of immune boosters and antibiotics. Since it looks like the antibiotics are helping her right now, it's likely that symptoms will remiss and she;ll be a healthy carrier of the virus, until she shows symtpms again.

So, it's kind of all over the place. At any rate, life with and FeLV+ cat is going to be interesting, educational and inevitably, very hard.

I've already joined an FeLV mailing list so that I can talk with people who have lived through this or are treating and caring for an FeLV+ cat. Most of them seem confident that her life expectancy will be around 3 years (normal for an FeLV cat who showed early symptoms and was then treated) and that she'll be a "normal" kitty for most of that time. But, like I said, it's anyone guess.

Allie, I'm really glad that you'll get at least some more time with her. You're a good mommy.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Allie, I'm really glad that you'll get at least some more time with her. You're a good mommy.

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Thanks, Kim.

I really want to sit down and have a little chat with the b*(@ that told me she wouldn't adopt a cat out to me because I was obviously too irresponsible to handle it, being a college student and all. Obviously, I'm not interested in this at all, nor am I able to afford it. Obviously I don't have a steady, well-paying job (two, actually, although one is not steady (freelancing) ). I swear, I'm just not fit to give these cats the sun and the moon each day of my life.

Some people.

I know a lot of "of age" people that would have just put Lola to sleep instead of letting her live. In fact, I know some "of age" people who wouldn't have even noticed that her URI was a little different this time and brought her in. As long as she's eating and playing and loving and pottying correctly at least most of the time, we're not going to go there. I can tell that she's still happy and enjoying life, so no PTS for us until that changes.

Don't even think of PTS at this stage. THere is a good chance that Lola will be happy for a good while yet and will bring joy to others too. That is all any of us can hope for. You are doing hte right thing and we will always be there when things get bad and you need support.

Reading this thread got me curious about the fate of three other FeLV+ cats I know of, so I called their owner. Five years ago, two kittens at the local shelter tested positive for FeLV, and the shelter advertised for somebody with no cats, or another FeLV cat, to take both of them. A woman, whose "positive" cat was two, took them. Anyway, all three are alive, and doing well, i.e., exhibiting no symptoms of any disease. I asked what she fed them, and she said Felidae wet and dry, and Carny wet (that's a German food that isn't complete; it's almost all beef). She's not giving them any kind of supplements, or therapies like Reiki. She lost another cat to FeLV before taking the kittens, and said that cat died within a few weeks of being diagnosed. That's not much help, but she wishes you a lot of luck!

Abby was diagnosed with FeLv when she was about a year and a half old. She also had the latent form of the disease. I had her tested and vaccinated when I first adopted her. She was totally healthy, but within one month of diagnosis she got severe vomitting and diarrhea and we had to put her to sleep. When she was diagnosed the vet said she could get sick the next day, or ten years down the road. She said the vast majority of FeLv cats die within their first two years of life, that is when they make it to their first six months (which most don't). All the research I've read said the same thing. You never know. It is good to keep her stress level down. What I found with Abby was that if I kept her and Annabelle separated her sickness was worse. We ultimately decided to not separate them. After Abby died we had Annabelle tested 3 times over four months and she is still negative. Annabelle had such a hard time after Abby died. I really don't think the FeLv diagnosis is a good thing. Maybe it is better than FIP, but 100% of cats with FeLv die too and the death isn't pretty. I just hope she's one of those cats who will make it a good ten years or more without incident. The vet did say that the cats with the latent form have a better chance of surviving longer, but Abby only lived to be about a year and seven months. The sickness that came on was so fast and severe that there wasn't anything they could do for her. The vet said most of the illnesses, like anemia, that pop up can be treated successfully. She said the opportunistic infection that Abby got isn't treatable. FeLv is just like HIV/AIDS and a lot of the illnesses a cat will get are similar to what a human transitioning to AIDS will get- cancer, vomitting, infections, neurological problems, etc. Just like with people some strains are more rough than others and will kill faster. Some people live 20 years with HIV and don't get AIDS until much later in their infection, other people will develop AIDS almost immediately and die within five years .

I don't want to be the person that says this is horrible, horrible news, but in reading most of these posts the feeling I'm getting is that a lot of people don't understand how bad FeLv is. It was horrible for Abby, truely horrible. One of my mom's friends had a cat with FeLv and she lived to be 12. It doesn't always have to be bad, but it usually isn't good.

This may sound stupid, but my wife and I have some first hand experience with this: Try not to show your anxiety about Lola's condition, around her.
Cats are intuitive enough to sense this and I think it hinders the healing process.
When our boy Kahekili became paralyzed with no logical explantion, my wife and I were frantic to find out why and to help him. The more anxious we were around him, the more frightened and depressed he became.
I think you can project your emotions onto your cat, because once we realized we were actually having a negative impact on him, we made sure we did our best to hide our concern and anguish. We just heaped the love on and it really turned him around fast. If we were happy around him, he was happy.
Luckily he is fully recovered and with more luck he won't ever have a relapse.

I'm really hoping you get the best case scenario for Lola.

My friend has two cats that are positive for FeLV. They are male cats ages 7 and 5. I think it is possible for them to live a long and healthy life as long as the disease is caught early and they live a stress-free life. I think as long as Leo has been vaccinated, he should be ok. My friends other cats have had contact with her positive cats for years and they have not contracted it. I wish you good luck and pray for Lola to be ok.

I am praying for all of you. Give both kitties my love.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

Thanks...

I'm going to separate Lola and Leo temporarily. They will need (even though leo has the vaccine) to use separate LB's and eat separately. For the first 8 weeks, we could be seeing one of 3 forms of FeLV. Since she has tested negative before, I'm hoping that she has a latent or temporary form. I want to zero in on exactly what's going on before I reunite them. Lola will have her own room, and not too very much space to run around in, so she will be well rested. She will get to be with me on my bed at night, which she loves.

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