looking for ppl w/feline leukemia VIRUS cats please

[Snoops mom]

how do you know if a cat has the feline leukemia virus, without testing for it?

because some cats were vaccinated and the test would not be accurate if they were, right?

I am not worried, mind you, just curious, if perhaps Raven has feline leukemia

Sheldon was tested- he's negative
When I refused to get Raven tested, a vet talked me into testing Nell, who was also negative.

she used to NELL'S negative status to declare that Raven must also be negative- because in her mind, a cat who was feline leukemia positive could not live with others for over a year without infecting them-

so Nell is negative, therefore Raven must be as well.


From what I've been reading, that's not really how it works, is it??

anyway, Raven's got another URI, she's had them persistently for over a year now. She has trouble with yeast infections (ears) (cultured for yeast, it was yeast) and bacterial ear infections as well.

she was extremely slow to heal from a wound.

I am not, as I said, "worried", since there's nothing I could do if she is feline leukemia positive (although I'd make sure they all had their own dishes from now on) I mean she's been here for four years now with my other two cats, I'm not suddenly going to re home her or keep them separate. Not happening.

I just want to know if it's possible- because I think there are things that should or could be done differently for her medical care, if she is positive. ??

if you know of anyone with experience with feline leukemia cats could you share these questions with them or point me in their direction?

thanks!!

EDIT- sorry I meant the virus, not leukemia - brain f*rt

 

[Ann & Scatcats]

Re: looking for ppl w/feline leukemia cats please

Since leukemia is white blood cell cancer, I wasn't aware of that it is contagious.


This is just me, but I would test any of my cats if I suspected leukemia. There are medications.

 

[Wulfwin]

Re: looking for ppl w/feline leukemia cats please

Feline leukemia virus (or FeLV) is actually a retrovirus. It's called what it is because of the way it behaves within infected cells. It's spread from cat to cat through saliva, bite wounds, prolonged casual contact (grooming each other, sharing food/water bowls/litter boxes), and from a mom to kittens. It's more easily spread than feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which is mainly spread through bite wounds. FeLV can cause cancer, blood disorders, and immune deficiency (leading to infections).

There are at least two different types of tests that I know of for FeLV - and ELISA and an IFA. An ELISA will detect both stages of the disease (primary and secondary), while the IFA will only detect the secondary stage. If you do get her tested, and it's positive, make sure they do a confirmatory test. None of these tests is 100% accurate, and false positives do occur. At the animal shelter I work at, we run ELISA tests on every cat that comes into our care. Something that we found out last year was that a cat CAN actually test negative for the virus, but still have it. Basically, the cat manages to "clear" the virus, but it settles into their bone marrow. So standard blood tests won't be positive. Cats in these cases aren't considered contagious to other cats - UNLESS it's a mother cat with kittens in the womb (we first learned about this when we had a number of litters test positive with a negative mom). I could be wrong, but I think a bone marrow biopsy is the only way to tell in those cases. From what we've learned about these latent infections, the cat will be at a higher risk of developing cancer later in life, but otherwise shouldn't have any other symptoms.

There are other conditions that can cause chronic URI (herpes/rhinotracheitis, calici virus). Check out this link for more symptoms of and information on FeLV: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

If she is infected, there's probably not much you'll be able to do other than supportive care. You'll want to try to keep her stress as low as possible, and limit her exposure to possible infectious agents (other sick cats, etc.). You'd probably want to avoid a raw diet as well, because of the risk of food-borne parasites and bacteria. And, obviously, closely monitor her health and try to get a quick jump on any symptoms of illness.

 

[Snoops mom]

thank you!

OK I read that link and this confuses me:

How long can I expect my FeLV-infected cat to live?
It is impossible to accurately predict the life expectancy of a cat infected with FeLV. With appropriate care and under ideal conditions, infected cats can remain in apparent good health for many months, although most succumb to a FeLV-related disease within two or three years after becoming infected.

I've had Raven for about 4 yrs now and she's definitely not lost weight nor gotten horribly ill- she just get sick often, but they are usually milder infections

This article seems to suggest that if she were FeLv positive, any infection would cause serious illness......? with loss of appetite and wt loss and fever- and she doesn't have those symptoms.

so do you think it's more likely that her problems are the herpes virus (which we're pretty sure she's got- she has the runny eyes and cold-like symptoms almost all the time, but without bacterial infection- it's only been since last Feb that she's been getting what are probably bacterial nasal infections)

Her vet said she's got damage to her nasal passages from the herpes virus.


The test if almost $50 plus $30 for the transportation to the vet, so while ideally she should be tested, if I can avoid the extra expense right now that would be good.

I probably should have had this done before but that previous vet was so sure that Raven would be infected if Nell was....and Nell tested negative.

Nell, BTW, is a very very healthy cat!
Sheldon, my other cat, is pretty healthy too except for asthma and allergies. He was tested for this virus in the rescue before he was adopted.


I just have to weigh the pros and cons of not having this done.
Her new vet thinks it's worth it to have her tested, because she said if she's positive she should have more frequent dentals and stuff.

Not sure what a dental has to do with it all but I'm not a vet..........

still open to all thoughts on this topic and would love to hear from some one who has or has had FeLv positive cats

thanks!!

 

[Wulfwin]

What's Raven's exposure like to other cats? Is she strictly indoors? Is she the most recent addition to your household, or was it one of your other kitties?

It probably is possible for a FeLV-positive cat to live with other cats for a year and not infect them, providing the other cats are healthy adults and there's not a lot of intimate contact like mutual grooming.

Does Raven have any other health issues? You mentioned that it's only been since last February that she started getting the bacterial nasal infections. Did anything happen around that time that might have stressed her out or exposed to her something else? Did your vet happen to say if she thought the damage to the nasal passage was caused by ulcers?

Is she on any medication for the possible herpes virus (besides antibiotics when needed)?

What was the slow healing wound that Raven had? How long did it take to heal? Did your vet say anything about it?

I think the more frequent dentals is because cats with FeLV (possibly herpes or calici as well - I can't remember off the top of my head) are more prone to stomatitis and the like, which regular dentals should help with.

Part of the problem with diagnosing FeLV is that there are so many possible symptoms. The only way to know for sure if Raven has FeLV would be to have her tested, but if she's stable at this point, you may be able to hold off until finances are a little better. After all, knowing that FeLV is the underlying issue probably won't affect her treatment much. It probably would be worth finding out though, in case the underlying issue ISN'T FeLV.

 

[Lisa dvm]

because in her mind, a cat who was feline leukemia positive could not live with others for over a year without infecting them-

Baloney.

Adult cats are very resistant to the FeLV virus. In fact, during the duration of immunity trials, they had to trash the immune system of the control cats in order to infect them with the virus.

Also, I know of a specific situation where there were three cats living in a small apartment for 5 years....indoor only. At the five year mark, one cat received its first FeLV test and was positive. The other two cats were negative - even after spending five years sharing a litter box and food bowls

Regarding vaccinations....they do not interfere with testing. You are confusing FeLV with FIV.