FeLV Faced with Delimma

[CatladyJan]

I'll begin by stating I know it's ultimately my decision....
One of my fosters initially tested negative for FeLV before she came to be with me and now she is definitely positive. She has been around my other two foster cats the longest and they just retested negative.
The delimma is she has been around all six of my own cats whom are not immunized for FeLV. Bottom line is whether I should retest them or not as there is nothing I can do about it and I do not have the ability to separate any of them if some test positive and some test negative.
If you are willing to offer your opinion as to whether you would or wouldn't retest I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you.

 

[di and bob]

I have one cat positive for FeLV, is a son and a brother to my other two. After he repeatedly got sick and then he got so bad he couldn't walk and lost over half his body weight I brought him to the vet who said he had 'days' to live, had almost zero white blood cells, and recommended euthanasia. I couldn't do it, brought him home and encouraged him to take a tiny bite of Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. He had a few licks a day until i did research and ordered some DMG, an immune system supplement and LifeGold supplement for cancers in cats. These can be ordered almost anywhere online, Walmart, Amazon, etc. I started him on that and somehow he pulled through! It has been three years since that terrible diagnosis. The thing is, if the cat is over a year old they CAN and do fight back. If they can hold on for at least 28 days or so their bone marrow produces more blood cells. I don't know if my other two have it (the vet said they did), and they do get sick very rarely, but nothing like that first time with the other. I also made sure they are not exposed to a lot by keeping them all strictly indoors. There has been a lot of new research and many say it can only be passed on by mating or fighting where there are deep bites, like FIV. I wouldn't retest. Like you I could never separate my three. I have had three more years with my little ones and am eternally grateful, I hope this gives you the courage to just take what comes and love all your littles as long as you can!

 

[Antonio65]

As far as I know, FeLV is rather contagious, so if a cat positive to this disease gets in prolonged contact with other cats who haven't been vaccinated against it, the chances that they will eventually test positive is rather high, especially if they share dishes, beds and toys.
The snap tests won't be able to detect the infection right after the prolonged and repeated contact, there's a period of a few weeks/months when the test comes back negative even if the cat has been infected. After this period, the snap test will give the response.
A much quicker and more reliable test is the PCR, but it's much more expensive, and with six cats it is unaffordable to nearly everybody.

At the local shelter, a healthy young cat who tested negative when she was rescued and spayed, was retested lately and she came back positive, due to a close contact (an accident) with a positive cat.

 

[CatladyJan]

I have one cat positive for FeLV, is a son and a brother to my other two. After he repeatedly got sick and then he got so bad he couldn't walk and lost over half his body weight I brought him to the vet who said he had 'days' to live, had almost zero white blood cells, and recommended euthanasia. I couldn't do it, brought him home and encouraged him to take a tiny bite of Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. He had a few licks a day until i did research and ordered some DMG, an immune system supplement and LifeGold supplement for cancers in cats. These can be ordered almost anywhere online, Walmart, Amazon, etc. I started him on that and somehow he pulled through! It has been three years since that terrible diagnosis. The thing is, if the cat is over a year old they CAN and do fight back. If they can hold on for at least 28 days or so their bone marrow produces more blood cells. I don't know if my other two have it (the vet said they did), and they do get sick very rarely, but nothing like that first time with the other. I also made sure they are not exposed to a lot by keeping them all strictly indoors. There has been a lot of new research and many say it can only be passed on by mating or fighting where there are deep bites, like FIV. I wouldn't retest. Like you I could never separate my three. I have had three more years with my little ones and am eternally grateful, I hope this gives you the courage to just take what comes and love all your littles as long as you can!

Thank you. I'm so glad your 3 are doing well despite this terrible virus.

 

[CatladyJan]

As far as I know, FeLV is rather contagious, so if a cat positive to this disease gets in prolonged contact with other cats who haven't been vaccinated against it, the chances that they will eventually test positive is rather high, especially if they share dishes, beds and toys.
The snap tests won't be able to detect the infection right after the prolonged and repeated contact, there's a period of a few weeks/months when the test comes back negative even if the cat has been infected. After this period, the snap test will give the response.
A much quicker and more reliable test is the PCR, but it's much more expensive, and with six cats it is unaffordable to nearly everybody.

At the local shelter, a healthy young cat who tested negative when she was rescued and spayed, was retested lately and she came back positive, due to a close contact (an accident) with a positive cat.

All of what you said is the tricky part, false negatives/positives the time of testing.... Since I'm not good at doing the 'quotes' I'm going to try to isolate one of your comments..
Antonio65 said: The snap tests won't be able to detect the infection right after the prolonged and repeated contact, there's a period of a few weeks/months when the test comes back negative even if the cat has been infected. After this period, the snap test will give the response.
So, are you referring to the 4 weeks plus for retesting?

 

[Antonio65]

All of what you said is the tricky part, false negatives/positives the time of testing.... Since I'm not good at doing the 'quotes' I'm going to try to isolate one of your comments..
Antonio65 said: The snap tests won't be able to detect the infection right after the prolonged and repeated contact, there's a period of a few weeks/months when the test comes back negative even if the cat has been infected. After this period, the snap test will give the response.
So, are you referring to the 4 weeks plus for retesting?

Some say that the interval for retesting could be up to 4 to 6 months. This is what I was told once by a vet. The virus needs to reach a level of replication that can be detected by the snap test, and it is possible that this level isn't reached within the first weeks.
That's why the PCR test comes in handy, because it can detect the virus even in the very first days, because this test is much more sensitive (and if necessary they can increase the number of cycles of amplification to detect something). I don't know the costs in your area.
Over here, in Italy, a FIV/FeLV snap test is around €35, a PCR test is around €70-80.

 

[Alldara]

I wouldn't retest. Rather, I would spend my money on vaccinating them. Especially if you plan on fostering more later.

My information may be outdated but I believe my vet said it could help.

Kitten Lady had posted something on this recently about treatment not available in the US.

 

[CatladyJan]

Some say that the interval for retesting could be up to 4 to 6 months. This is what I was told once by a vet. The virus needs to reach a level of replication that can be detected by the snap test, and it is possible that this level isn't reached within the first weeks.
That's why the PCR test comes in handy, because it can detect the virus even in the very first days, because this test is much more sensitive (and if necessary they can increase the number of cycles of amplification to detect something). I don't know the costs in your area.
Over here, in Italy, a FIV/FeLV snap test is around €35, a PCR test is around €70-80.

Thank you that is great information!!!

 

[CatladyJan]

I wouldn't retest. Rather, I would spend my money on vaccinating them. Especially if you plan on fostering more later.

My information may be outdated but I believe my vet said it could help.

Kitten Lady had posted something on this recently about treatment not available in the US.

That is for FIP, thank you though!