New found stray tested positive for Leukemia..Advice needed!

I havent been on the forums for awhile, been kind of quiet here since the mayhem I endured last Spring and early summer..For those that recall, I had to put down my oldest indoor 12 yr old cat Punkin and a 7 or 8 year old outdoor cat Stubby-no tail (which hung around my yard and porch for 5 years)..as well as a 2 month old kitten who showed up last JUNE which was very sick and had to put her down at the SPCA.

On Xmas Eve, a cute black kitten, roughly 7 or 8 months old with a collar and bell, ran across my yard and hung out under the bushes..it was a bit chilly so I coaxed him into the garage and then kept him there the last few days and fed him and kept him warm and dry. I knew eventually I put up a huge FOUND KITTEN sign at the exit to our development which no one could ever miss, but no calls about him. So I took him into the vet for tests today and he was diagnosed with feline leukemia. This kitten is so sweet and friendly, and must have been owned before since it had a collar, and it was already neutered.

The vet said eventually, maybe one or two years down the road the cat would likely start to exhibit symptoms, and also pose a slight hazard to my other pets, even tho they are immunized against it. So my choices are limited. She said she could euthanize him right then and there but I didnt have the heart to do so. I brought him home and am keeping him separate from the other cats in my spare room. But once again I feel like he is on death's row, just like STUBBY was the 2 days prior to his euthanization, after I already had made the appointment to put him down. What an awful feeling of despair for me..and I'm sure others who have gone thru similar.
It will be difficult to find a single pet home for him, one that has no other pets. I didnt ask if a dog owner with no cats might be ok because not sure if feline Leuk can spread to canines..Does anyone know?
Shd I go ahead and put him down now for his own sake as well as mine and other felines? Such a tough choice, considering he seems so healthy and happy now..this sux...what shd I do?????
Thanks!!!!!!

 

If you arent going to be able to keep him, then maybe you should at least try to find him a home that has no other pets. If you can explain the situation to someone who is willing to give him a good home, he can live a good life for as long as his health allows him to. I would maybe also contact some of the shelters in the area. They may be able to help place him better than you, and if he needs meds or any other type of special care, they are better equiped to handle it. Of course, this is only considering if the shelter is a safe place, and will not put him down.

You are good to take this boy in and try to do what is best for him!! Good luck to you!

 

Hi. It's good to have you back on the forum. I'm sorry you are once again going through a difficult time with another kitty.

No, a dog can not get FeLV (Feline Leukemia).

The only advice I have for you is to do a lot of reading on FeLV. Then I think you may be able to make what you feel is the best decision. Let us know what you decide to do. It's a rather difficult decision you have to make.

 

I'm sorry to hear that you are faced with such a difficult decision. I agree with Chessmind on doing some research on Felv before making your final decision.

 

I'm so sorry you always have to go through such difficult decisions. Do you know what you are going to do yet?

 

Thanks for the replies...not sure what to do..have not had a day off since WED..I have an appt for this WED to euthanize him, but not sure I can do it..he's only 7 or 8 months old and at most a year...He's not sick..yet..he's eating fine, great attitude, and he is still isolated from the rest of the clan, but at least he's safe and warm inside and I give him some attention a couple of times day...have been asking around for takers but no luck..thats tough even with a healthy cat..another black one about same age showed up on my doorstep this weekend, but not as friendly..too skitzoid so not sure about this one..been eating from my outside bowls..may be a sibling , not sure...I read up on some medication that can reverse the presence of leukemia..something called TRANSFER FACTOR, but looks expensive and no guarantee..may have to research some more..I may keep him awhile longer but at the same time getting attached too much will make it hard later if/when I put him down.....

 

Hi. Thanks for the update. I think this Wednesday is a bit too soon to put him down. You need more time to read about FeLV in order to make a decision which you feel is the best. Often difficult decisions such as this are compounded when the person is unsure if they did the right thing or not. Educating yourself on the issue will lessen the probability of making a poor decision which you may regret later on. Good luck. I understand it's not easy. Hang in there.

 

heya, i'm sorry to hear about what u are faced with.

but to let u know, some cats with FeLV lead normal lives, like any other cat. just because he's sick isnt a reason to put him down.

heres a great link to look at http://www.v63.net/fivcats/

 

Well this morning was supposed to be D-day for the cat but I couldn't go thru with it..he's just too healthy and really sweet, and stays quiet in the spare room separated from the other cats..and doesn't cause a noisy or reckless fuss like other cats have done when quarantined in "the room"..so I just have to hang in there I guess til I figure what to do with him and hope I don't spread any virus to my other already vaccinated cats from my clothes or hands(I wash hands often after going in the room to feed and pet him)..hoping to eventually find a one cat or one dog home for him soon.

 

Arwww...that's so sweet of you. I doubt I could have done it either to an otherwise perfectly healthy furbaby. Have you tried placing an ad in your local paper or put up flyers in stores or anything? I know that if I saw one, I'd probably call (if I didn't already have Booger, that is).

 

I still think that if you are not wanting to give the cat a permanant home, and if you are having some trouble finding an appropriate owner for him...I would contact the local rescue or shelter. Even if you call them, you can find out what they would do if you were to bring him in. I definately would not put him to sleep if there was another option. I know that our local shelter has had a few cats with the feline Leukemia....and they find homes for them. And the local shelter is going to be very selective about who they would let adopt the cat, I doubt that an induvidual could do a better job.

I dont know a lot about the Feline Luekemia, only that I make sure mine get the shots for it, but I dont think that I would have the funds to take in a stray that was ill. It would be a different story if it were my cat to begin with, but I dont think that you should feel obligated to keep the cat, or to put him to sleep either. There are several different ways that you can help him. Kudos to you for helping this poor guy!! I hope that you are able to come to a solution that is best for you and the cat.

 

LOL..a blast from the past..thought I'd give an update on this cat from 5 months ago..well you guessed it..I still have him..he's still in the spare room and healthy as a horse as far as I can tell.....he does have a terrible flatulence problem some days..ugh! LOL!

I became very attached to him, eats well, great personality, does side flips and mini somersaults when I see him after a short absence(real cute).. no hairballs,but he is a rascal and gets into everything in the room that is not tied down(remote control, play toys, small alarm clock, candles..sometimes he puts any or all into his water dish..whatta dork). He has his own tv-24/7(for sound so its not dead air space so as to make him feel less alone and less isolated)..With my crazy and often early work sked, I usually end up taking daily "cat" naps or full shift 6 hour sleeps in the room so that he has some interaction with the rest of the world(i.e. myself and the always closed window to the outside) so as to not be treated cruelly......BUT NOW I have something new going on..here it is...

Another black kitten, probably his sibling as they have similar marking, showed up a few months back and I put her in the backyard to see if she would acclimate to staying back there like a couple of other more adult cats have done for a few years. Took awhile but she blended in ok with a few hiss fits between them all that still occur to this day. So she has had access to the porch and cat bed and plenty of food and water and shelter for a few months now. I became increasingly concerned that she might become pregnant one day and thru today, have yet to take the time or have the funds to prevent that or to get her a round of shots and test for leukemia and AIDS.
The other morning, early early, she was laying on the porch but did not respond to "feeding time" like she normally does. She just lay there and barely reacted, so I became concerned. I picked her up and she seemed kinda listless and limp, and I had to go to work so I wasn't sure what to do. I didnt want to leave her outside in the upcoming heat of the day in case she wandered off sick somewhere to die, or meet some other awful fate..so I quickly made up a litter box and took her inside to the master BR, put food and water there, and hoped for the best when I returned 10 hours later. She ended up using the litter box 1st thing after I placed her in it and made her scratch her paws in it for a few seconds( what a great box trainee she was LOL)..I saw that she ate some food and was a little more responsive once I came home from work and had time to check things out better. Her nipples seem noticeably pronounced and her belly seems a little sweollen but I cannot tell if she is pregnant or perhaps just IN HEAT. She isnt moaning like other female cats I have had who go into heat, but she does rub things alot and walk kinda funny and reacts in a trance like fashion when I lightly pet her backside near her tail or belly. Today she was grooming herself in the genital area. She shows some decent appetite and has been eating ok the last 24 hours seemingly as well.
SO I guess I am asking if anyone thinks based on what I just described is she just IN HEAT and acting kinda lazy and sickly like, even tho probably not sick, or is she exhibiting 1st signs of pregnancy..or what ever.....She is very friendly otherwise, but she doesn't meow or do the female heat prance where they sometimes walk low to the ground and make noises and put their butt in the hair( she isn't doing any of that)...My plan is to take her to the HS clinic where they spay for 30 bux I believe and give shots fairly cheaply and then put her back outside because I cant afford another cat inside and the outside habitat seems ok so far with food and screen porch shelter, plus access to go outside in backyard and woods and roam around during the day, which all the outsiders do daily.

Any ideas or advice are welcome.....sorry I am not a cat board guru due to time and energy restraints, but will visit on occasion.
Thanks,
Disnee

 

I did lose a cat to feline leuk (prior to the vaccine being available). I can only offer you what I know about life with a feline leuk cat - it ain't pretty.
I was 16 at the time as was my cat.
When she got ill it was fast...it seemed like she was fine one day and the next she was deathly ill.
It is recommended the feline leuk positive cats either live as only pets, or they can spend the remainder of their life with another feline leuk positive cat.
You could ask your vet if he/she has any other clients who have a feline leuk positive cat and if they might be willing to take on the care of a 2nd. Although it would be understand if they didn't want to cause the eventual demise of them is hard to deal with.
Our Puff would only lay her head in a bowl of water - she seemed to be trying to cool herself off. She stopped eating, drinking, even moving - only laid with her cheek in the water.
What would I do....personally as hard as it is and if the test is 100% fool proof - I would not wait until the kitten exhibits the fullblown symptons, unless I could find a home to take the kitten in. I would worry so much about my other cats the stress just simply be worth it - and in all honestly I believe your other cat's health should be your first concern.
But again....only if you can't find a home for the kitten. Or even ask your local shelter if they might know of anyone who might be willing to take this kitten. If you take the kitten to the shelter chances are pretty good they will have him PTS. They can't risk the rest of their cat population.
What a sad thing....a quick vaccination could have prevented this - it's probably why he isn't at his original home. They probably tossed him out

 

UPDATE AUGUST 04,2006--Maybe time to put him down~~~~

Well after keeping this sweet little all black with a few white patches bundle of joy for 19 months, he seems to have become quite ill over the past month. His appetite is way down, he has lost a lot of weight to the point that you can feel his spine and other bones quite easily, and he has lost almost all of his playfulness. He has been breathing rapidly even at rest and sometimes starts panting for a moment or so as if he cant catch his breath. He has little energy and doesn't hang with me for more than a few minutes and then wants to go lie down on a hard table. I have been giving him some prednisone and some antibiotics leftover from Bucks UTI, as well as a tapeworm tab because somehow he got infested, even being isolated in his own room all this time. He showed improvement for a week or so and then he relapsed this past week.
I think I gave him a better life than what he would have had "on the street" if I hadn't taken him in. He had a window, a TV on, and I often slept or napped in the room so he had company, so hopefully he never felt ignored. He never meowed or tried to scratch his way out, he was/is such a trooper. Never hissed, never bit, never missed the litter box and only barfed maybe 2 or 3 times all these months. I have a hard time letting him go, if indeed that is the case, and I am pretty sure it is, since my vet said 2 yrs old is about the time they start showing symptoms. I was hoping in his relatively sterile environment apart from other cats he would have lasted longer.

I cant imagine anything bringing him back to normal at this point that I could afford to pay long term. I will at least get him a minimal checkup sometime this week, perhaps an xray and bloodwork and see if they think he can be saved, but somehow I doubt it.

This really s-u-ck-s, :cry:

 

I'm very sorry to hear about your kitty.

We recently had a run with FeLV that started when we adopted a kitten not knowing she had it. She got an infection after being spayed (that's when we had her tested and found out it was FeLV) and never recovered. She started having seizures from the fever so we had her put down.

We immediately got all our other cats tested and one of them also got it. She was extremely healthy & active otherwise so we did tons of reading (I think my mom read everything available on the internet) and started her on all kinds of natural immune boosters. We had her re-tested a few months later and she had actually gone for a strong positive to a weak positive so she was beating it. Then about 2 weeks later, she started becoming less active, losing weight, coughing, and having trouble breathing. We took her in and found out she had an untreatable form of lung cancer (FeLV makes cats 6x more likely to get cancer). After about a week of trying everything we could (even rented an oxygen tank), we had to have her put down.

Unfortunately, I think your kitty might have lung cancer because his symptoms really sounds like our kitty's symptoms. But at least you've given him a really good live for as short as it may be.

Our 3rd FeLV+ cat we actually adopted knowing she had it. It was before our 2nd cat got sick and we wanted another cat, but didn't want to bring in a negative cat. We found her though a rescue group. She had tested as a very slight positive and showed no symptoms but the shelter that had her was going to put her down anyway. She was also pregnant so the rescue group took her and she gave birth to 3 perfectly healthy FeLV negative kittens. After we adopted her, we had her tested again and she tested negative which means the first test was most likely a false positive (or she was exposed but was able to fight it off before it got a foot-hold).

-Chelle

 

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