Feline Leukemia test question......

[snake_lady]

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

I'm not totally crazy then

the jugular?? I can see how that might be stressfull

do you know why that is? I don't think I've ever had a vet take blood from there, my kitties always have a little spot shaved on their front leg when they get blood drawn

ummmm, nope, no idea. But I can ask when I'm back in 2wks.

The kittens didn't seem to mind, but Kizzy HATES my vet. The sound of the clippers sends him wild. It really doesn't matter where the blood is drawn, it's the vet himself and the sound of the clippers that he's afraid of.

IF I have to get him tested, I'll try shaving him myself at home, and when I bring him to the office we'll use a different vet (there's several there). If that won't work, we'll sedate him.

Hopefully the kitten comes back negative (I'm testing him in 2wks, prior to his vaccines) and it will give me some peace of mind with Kizzy (I know its not guarenteed of course).

I want to have a full blood draw on Kizzy so I can find out exactly which virus he's a chronic carrier of....but I need to wait till he's healthy before I can do that.... (should have done it when he was neutered

)

sorry for digressing.

But yes, I will ask the vet why he does the jugular as opposed to the front leg because now I'm curious....

 

[white cat lover]

Someone else's vet does blood from the jugular - I don't like it. Mine has always taken it from the front leg.

 

[snake_lady]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Someone else's vet does blood from the jugular - I don't like it. Mine has always taken it from the front leg.

I don't either, but at the time, I was not thinking straight and didn't ask why. ( it was when Pax was dying, both Kitchi and Pax were tested )

But I will definately ask about it. Since it doesn't seem to be the "norm" and if there's no difference, leg/jugular then I'd much rather the leg.

 

[howtoholdacat]

I was at the vet last Monday with Friday for his annual physical/blood work. They took the blood from his jugular because he is a very long haired black cat and they couldn't see the vein in his leg. That was my first experience with the jugular and I will say it was creepy to watch but they got the blood much faster that way.

 

[zoeysmom]

When Zoey was sick, it appeared that they took blood from her neck as well at the first vet - not the vet I currently use.

I think mine does it from the leg though.

 

[momofmany]

The important difference between the Elisa and IFA tests are this:

Whether the Elisa test uses saliva or blood, it is only testing for antibodies against the virus. Once a cat is exposed, they build up antibodies while their bodies try to fight the virus off. Testing positive thru an Elisa test only confirms that cat was exposed to the virus, not that they have full blown FeLV.

The IFA test looks for the virus within the blood components itself. Once there, they have full blown FeLV and will have it for life. These cats shed the virus to others (e.g. infect them).

A cat's body will take anywhere between 30 and 60 days to fight off the virus, during which time they can continue to test positive thru the Elisa.

Unless you know for certainty that the mother or all the siblings truly have FeLV, or if a cat is extremely ill and FeLV is highly suspected, I would never recommend euthanizing a cat that tests positive thru the Elisa.

Elisa is nothing but a good initial screening test. The fact that a cat can test positive and not have the disease itself (false positive) is not well know within the vet community.