I have some good news and some BAD news

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lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by esrgirl

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.
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Yeah, we're showing mild to moderate and possibly treatable symptoms, so who knows. As long as this continues to respond to her meds, I'm hopeful that we can at least give her a taste of relative health before it's her time.
 
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I remember holding Mattie as she was dying of FIP. Somehow, these little kitty creatures seem so much wiser than we are at times. I knew her only chance to live a few more days was to be "stress-free". How do you do stress-free??? Yet, she had a peace about her, an acceptance, and a total lack of knowledge about how bad things looked to me. Even if the tears rolled down my face as I pet her skinny body, I still got a sense of peace from her.

I'm sorry Lola has a horrible disease. I'm glad it is slightly better than FIP. Grieve, cry, rant and rave...then hold your little Lola and know that in her mind, she is just a happy little kitty. She doesn't care about her temperature, or the cost of the vet. She is just a simple girl who knows what is important in life-a warm lap, a tasty bowl of kibble, and the love of a fine meowmie.

Don't forget to enjoy your time with her now in all the urgency to do what is correct. It sounds simple, but sometimes it seems beyond us as mere humans. It is truly a lesson in being cat-like!

Ongoing prayers that you will be posting about her as the years pass, as we all stand amazed at Lola's strength and ability to survive despite her diagnosis.
 
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lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by jcat

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!
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Yeah, it's like that. You just keep up the supportive care and hope that she doesn't catch anything.

New research is suggesting that I can keep her and Leo together. If Lola's been infected her entire life (which is what every, then he's been exposed to it for several months and hasn't showed symptom at least (and he IS vaccinated per every 3 years) so...if it helps keep down her stress, I'll let them interact when I'm around to watch them. Which is the vast majority of the time. Lola doesn't groom Leo and they have 3 LB's between the 2 of them and 3 sets of food and water dishes, so I think that as long as I clean vigilantly, letting them be near each other when I am around should be ok.
 
lisalee

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I'm glad you joined the FeLV mailing list, I was on there before and the people on the board are very helpful. I lost my Lucki who was Sash's sister to FeLV when she was three years old, but she lived a very happy and healthy life right up until the end. So, there's always hope and for a long life to for Lola. Sash is still with me and tested positive when Lucki did. I do give Sash Vitamin C and Coenzyme Q10 to support his immune system, my vet suggested these after I lost Lucki, unfortunately. I also believe it's very important to keep stress to a bare minimum. I always worry about stress. I wish Lola all the best for a long and healthy life, and try not to worry too much. I've been where you are right now, so I totally understand.
 
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lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by lisalee

I'm glad you joined the FeLV mailing list, I was on there before and the people on the board are very helpful. I lost my Lucki who was Sash's sister to FeLV when she was three years old, but she lived a very happy and healthy life right up until the end. So, there's always hope and for a long life to for Lola. Sash is still with me and tested positive when Lucki did. I do give Sash Vitamin C and Coenzyme Q10 to support his immune system, my vet suggested these after I lost Lucki, unfortunately. I also believe it's very important to keep stress to a bare minimum. I always worry about stress. I wish Lola all the best for a long and healthy life, and try not to worry too much. I've been where you are right now, so I totally understand.
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Did you have Sash vaccinated at any point? Leo's vaccinated, so I don't know...both tested negative earlier, so who even knows anymore?
 
lisalee

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Originally Posted by lionessrampant

Did you have Sash vaccinated at any point? Leo's vaccinated, so I don't know...both tested negative earlier, so who even knows anymore?
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Sash was vaccinated when he was much younger, he's not anymore though since my vet believes and so do I that it's not good for his immune system to vaccinate him anymore. He also used to suffer from chronic upper respiratory symptoms (sinusitis) which you shouldn't vaccinate during that time. We finally got his sinus infection cleared up two years ago, after many years!
 
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lionessrampant

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Ok, guys. I need some more board magic!!!

I'm taking Leo in to get tested for FeLV either tomorrow or Saturday. If he is negative, he'll also be re-vaccinated. Since he's been exposed to FeLV for a prolonged time, the research I've done suggests annual vacs, instead of every 3 years and he's had his for 16 months or so.

The only symptoms he ever has are on-again, off-again sniffles and eye goobers that last a few days, then magically disappear for several weeks. He's on L-Lysine, and the off-again periods got much longer since we started, so maybe it was herpes associated or something, since Lysine combats herpes in both humans and felines quite well...

Anyway, I need all the good vibes and prayers I can get that my little boy is still FeLV-!!!!!!

As far as Lola goes...we're going in Monday to find out the best treatment routine. The last vet's big concerns are the fluid (though, again, it's greatly reduced) and her weight (she's pretty skinny and always has been). The fluid can signify anything from a respirtory infection in her lungs to cardiomyopathy to lymphoma, depnding on the degree and severity and tenacity of the fluid. As for right now, she's acting like a normal kitty. A skinny, slightly sluggish, normal kitty.


Thanks for everything, everyone!
 
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One of the vets at the clinic I used to work at has a FeLV positive cat and a FeLV negative cat living together. The situation was similar to yours - the cat tested negative first but then tested positive. She had her other cat tested (negative) and vaccinated, and decided to keep them together. The negative cat is re-tested every 6 months or so. It's been 2 years and she is still negative (and the positive cat is still doing fine).

She told me that it's not something she would necessarily advise a client to do because it is not risk free, but she has had no problems whatsoever.
 
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Lots of good vibes for Leo!

Allie, the only thing I know about FeLV is that my very first cat died from it aroudn 25 years ago, well before any vaccines. there really wasn't a lot of knowledge about it at the time. I can not help you with advice or treatment options or anything like that. However, I just wanted you to know that I am thinking of all of you and sending good vibes to your furfamily. You are a wonderful Meomy to these kitties. Not everyone would be taking the time to learn so much about the disease and explore the best options for little Lola. Yes, most of our TCS members would, but out in the big world this is not the case, and you really do need kudos for going the extra mile here!
For cases like yours, I am so glad there is a place like TCS.
 
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lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by semiferal

One of the vets at the clinic I used to work at has a FeLV positive cat and a FeLV negative cat living together. The situation was similar to yours - the cat tested negative first but then tested positive. She had her other cat tested (negative) and vaccinated, and decided to keep them together. The negative cat is re-tested every 6 months or so. It's been 2 years and she is still negative (and the positive cat is still doing fine).

She told me that it's not something she would necessarily advise a client to do because it is not risk free, but she has had no problems whatsoever.
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I think our final decision is that they'll be allowed to be together when Ian or I (or both of us) is/are home. THat way, all will be supervised. Because they can't use the same food bowls or litterboxes, they'll need to be separated when I'm not there to watch them. Luckily, the door we have is a glass door, so they'll both be able to see the entire apartment and each other. This assumes that leo is negative. If he's positive, life will continue as normal.
 
valanhb

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Fingers crossed that Leo is still negative.

Allie, you really are such a wonderful kitty meowmie.
Lola is such a lucky little girl to have you in her life. And so is Leo.
 
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lionessrampant

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GOOD NEWS!!!!

Our Leo is negative and has ben newly vaccinated. He had perfect blood test results and has a clean bill of health. He is also considered pretty "low risk" as far as getting FeLV.

We're still trying to figure out exactly what we can do for Lola. Some of the availible treatments seems both incredibly expensive and risky. Sure, if the risks were fewer, I'd barrell on into it, money not being an object. But considering the huge risks involved with some of the more invasive treatments (many of which I would simply not choose for myself) and the stress involved, we've decided to use a referral to a homeopath exclusively after all of our options are laid down for us and all of the complications officially diagnosed. She may be too far along in the disease to be saved for much longer, but I simply want to make her remaining time as comfortable and beautiful as I possibly can. My research suggests that the 'magic number' is 18 months as far as how cats infected with FeLV at birth normally live.
 
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Allie, I'm so sorry your Lola has been diagnosed with FeLV. We lost our cat Boy to this horrid disease on May 19th of this year. He lived nearly 5 years after his diagnosis and died at 9 years old. If I can help you get through this, please do not hesitate to PM me.

Also, just so you know, the "vaccine" for FeLV is NOT 100% effective. In fact repeated exposure to saliva/litterboxes/food dishes will increase the ineffectiveness of the vaccine. One study I read showed the effectiveness was only 75%, even though vets don't tell us that.

It's kind of the same idea as with flu shots for humans. It can't "guarantee" that you won't get the flu, but the symptoms will likely be less severe for those who do have the shot.

Unfortunately, with FeLV, you don't want your other kitty to get it and I would highly recommend keeping them separated. The chances of him getting it being vaccinated are slim, but the chance is still there.

I know how hard this is for you to go through. I can't tell you the research I did over the years trying to figure out how we could "save" Boy. There are some very interesting research studies being done, I would be glad to share this with you to discuss with your vet if interested. However, absolute number one is to keep your cat calm - if the disease is dormant and she is just a carrier, the disease can be triggered if your cat becomes highly distressed or frightened.

My heart goes out to you.

Lora
 
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lionessrampant

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Well, as of last night, Lola stopped eating. She's drinking way more than normal. She stopped playing on Friday and all she wants to do is snuggle and sleep. I think she knows that the time is coming. We're still going to go to the vet tomorrow, just to see if maybe this not wanting food thing is a fluke. I just don't know. I think that in my heart, all I can really do now is make her comfortable and let her go.
 
hell603

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Oh no not now - I am so sorry. Hopefully it is something that can be treated.

Plenty of huggs and kisses to your brave little girl...and to you heads up- OK!!!
 
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My heart goes out to you at this time. You are such a good person to be doing so much for sweet Lola. Prayers and hugs to you and your family.
 
kluchetta

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Aw, Allie! I thought she was playing some last night. Is it possible she's stuffy and can't smell the food?
 
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