FeLuk, FIV testing question.

My sister & her friends resuced a kitten off the street. My sister is going to keep her so she went to the vet this morning. She is 7 or 8 weeks old & tested negative for FeLuk & FIV. However, the vet wanted to test her again in 2 weeks. Is that normal? I always thought one negative test was enough?

I believe it's possible to get a false negative on those tests. When we first brought Spike home (at four months) he was tested, and a year or so later the vet wanted to re-test him because during a health check there was an issue that made her worry that he might have feline leukemia. (Fortunately the tests came back negative again, but I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a while there.) I don't know how common it is or what factors might contribute to it, just that false negatives (just like false positives) sometimes happen.

False negatives are a lot more rare than false positives, but if your sister has other cats I could see the reason for caution, otherwise I really don't see the point.... remember to tell her though that she does NOT have to automatically put the kit down if it does test positive, if its the only kitty there is absolutely no reason too if you need more info or have other questions, feel free to PM!

My vet only does it once.. He said false negatives are rare!

Thank you all. I thought it was something like that. She would not be living with other cats now, but possibly with in the next year. I'm also wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that the kitten has a bad URI. I'll let my sister know what everyone has said & let her decide if she wants to do the test a second time.

Kittens don't always show positive results until they are older and some vets will recommend getting a repeat test at about 4 months old. There are some online sites that suggest you repeat the tests after 60 days. A cat specialist that I use from time to time suggests a repeat after 30 days.

The information out there varies a lot, but what it all has in common is that a repeat test is in order, and young kittens should be tested when they are a little older. If there are no other cats to be concerned with, I suggest a repeat right before he is neutered.

A lot of kittens have URI's when they come from the streets. Of all the URI kittens that I've rescued, 2 did actually have FeLV, but that is a small percent to the total kittens that have crossed my path.

I think it is normal with the age of her, and I agree with the others that if there are no other cats around, to repeat around neutering time, as it can be unreliable under 16 weeks old. But as others have said, it isn't a death sentence.