Kitty Update (Fe LV)

If you didn't see my previous post, Scout started running a fever after being spayed. She ended up testing positive for FeLV and we had to have her put down because she couldn't kick the fever and started having seizures.

We had our other 3 cats tested and Ten is positive, but showing absolutely no signs of being sick and Emily & Romeo are negative. We've chosen not to separate them because Romeo & Emily have been exposed to it for so long that they're either positive and it's just not showing yet or they really are negative and if they haven't gotten it yet, chances are they won't get it (they're also both vaccinated against it now). Plus, Romeo & Ten are extremely close and it would send them both into a huge depression if they were separated.

Anyway, we decided that we need to get another kitty because the house just feels too empty with just 3 (crazy as that sounds). We don't want to get a negative cat and risk it getting the FeLV so we started looking around for FeLV+ cats (that don't show any signs of being sick). Unfortunately, most shelters euthanize FeLV+ cats immediately.

But I did find a rescue group about 2 hours from here that is no-kill and has quite a few FeLV+ cats. So we have an appointment to go there tomorrow afternoon.
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/MO123.html

If we don't find anything there that cries out "take me home!" we have an appointment to look at this kitty on Saturady:
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action ... mpl=&stat=

-Chelle

 

will you be able to find out at what stage the kitty is at? Hate to see you get heartbroken again if a cat is quickly going to go downhill. I know with great care they can live a long time.
What does your vet say about adding a definite FIV cat?

 

It's wonderful that you'll be able to take in an feline leukemia positive kitty. Most people will not adopt these cats. Here's some interesting info on FeLV cats:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resources/brochure/felv.html

 

We've done a lot of reading on FeLV and talking to our vets in the last month, so we know a lot of the signs that indicate an active virus (lethargy, sores in the mouth, pale gums, fever, etc). And rather than keeping all their cats in cages, they have a room just for the FIV cats, one just for the FeLV cats, and one just for the other healthy cats. So we'll be able to see how the cats really act in a more natural setting and see which one are nice & bright & active.

Also, all the cats at the rescue group have been spayed/neutered already so that's one less stress we'll have to deal with. Apparently they have an amazing vet who is extremely tallented at dealing with FeLV and FIV cats. They said he's brought cats back who they thought didn't have a chance. If we adopt from them, we have to sign a contract saying that if the cat crashes, instead of having it put down, we have to take it to their vet and let him give it a try.

We're avoiding FIV cats (don't want to risk introducing that). But our vets (we have a military vet & a civilian one) don't see a problem with adding another FeLV cat since our negative cats have been exposed for a while and are still testing negative and are vaccinated. I've also talked to several people who kept FeLV positive cats with vaccinated negative cats for years and never had any problems. So we're really not worried about our 2 negative cats (adult cats are a lot less likely to get it anyway).

-Chelle

 

No kitty yet.

We went to the rescue/sanctuary and were extremely disappointed (borderline disgusted). They had all their FeLV cats in a big room and every single one of them was sick because they weren't bothering to quarantine the sick ones. As soon as she opened the door, you could hear all the raspy breathing from respiratory infections. Most of them had bad discharge from their eyes & noses or were sneezing. Many of them were extremely thin to the point that their heads looked out of proportion and they were extremely weak (they had plenty of food, but they were too sick to eat).

It was pretty horrible. As soon as we got home, we changed our clothes and sprayed our shoes with lysol so we wouln't bring anything to Ten.

I don't think they were intentionally mistreating/neglecting their cats, but I think they know absolutely nothing about FeLV. If they bothered to do even a little research on it, they'd know it was an immune deficiency and the sick cats should have never been around the otherwise healthy ones.

Mom is going to try to get in touch with Toonces's foster mother and ask her some questions to get a better idea of her health before we go up there tomorrow (want to make sure she doesn't have sores in her mouth, no respiratory issues, etc). And since her foster mother belongs to a rescue organization in KC, mom is going to talk to her about the place we went to today. Not so much trying to get them shut down (I think they really do mean well), but to try to get them some help and hopefully get them a little better educated.

As for Toonces, her foster mother said that she is extremely shy which really isn't what we're looking for because lethergy from the FeLV can easily be mistaken for shyness and we were really wanting a kitty that would play with Ten (Romeo is getting past the super playful stage). But we'll still go to look at her anyway.

-Chelle

 

We adopted Toonces (dad hates the name, but mom & I think it's cute so we're keeping it ). She is really shy but her foster mom said that once she settles in she's really playful & sweet. Right now she's hiding under my bed but as soon as she comes out, I'll try to snap a few pics. The pics on petfinder don't do her justice. She has a really pretty reddish orange color on her ears & nose and pretty green eyes. Personality wise, she reminds us a bit of Jupiter (my brother's cat that stayed with us for a while). And she's like Ten in that she shows absolutely no sign of being sick in any way (she previously gave birth to 3 kittens and every one tested negative so that's a really good sign).

We let our other kitties see her while she was still in the carrier and all the reactions are promising (the only hiss was from Romeo and that was more because Ten bumped into him and startled him).

Oh, and we've decided to call the SPCA and report the other shelter (not trying to get them completely shut down, but to hopefully get them some help & education).

-Chelle

 

Congratulations to Toonces and your family!! I personally love the name. Do you know the character from SNL? You're probably too young. Can't wait to see some pics!

 

You can see pics of her (& my other fuzzy critters) here:
http://chelle.mine.nu/critters/

I actually wasn't all that familiar with Toonces the Driving cat before. On another forum I visit, we have a member whose login name is "tooncinator", but i never thought much of it. Then when I saw Toonces' name, I thought it sounded familiar so I did a search and found some of the SNL clips.

-Chelle

 

She's very pretty! How is she adjusting?

 

Awe...how pretty! I like the white on her chest and feet.

 

Congrats on your new furbaby Toonces. She is gorgeous! I loved watching Toonces the Driving cat. Geez, I must be old. :shock: :mrgreen:

 

She spent the night in my room so she's my buddy now, but she's still afraid of mom & dad. When she hears them coming, back under the bed she goes.

-Chelle

 

Well, it's a start (and an odd one at that since Emily is generally the least accepting of newcomers).



-Chelle

 

she is soooooo cute! i hope she gets used to everyone soon..

 

test

 

Are not the shelters aware that there is such a thing as a " false positive" when testing for feline leukemia? More info on www.belfield.com . Click on the underlined section on the opening page, wait until the next page comes up and scroll down that page to the Leukemia article on the
right. I've also read somewhere where the feline leukemia vaccine can cause a cat to contract FIP(trying to find where I read that).

It's the same for FIV, a cat who is vaccinated against FIV will , hopefully, be immune to the disease, the downside is that the cat will test positive forever after so if they land in a shelter or are rehomed and another vet tests them without knowing they were vaccinated against FIv, they think the cat has FIV and euthanize a perfectly well cat. This was the link that said that and now I see it says it's unavailable temporarily. www.acatsdesire.com/fiv.html
Kind of makes you want to rethink the whole vaccination thing.

 

Congrats on the new family member! Toonces looks beautiful

 

Unfortunately, it seems like most shelters don't really even understand what FeLV is. I think for most of them, their knowledge doesn't extend past it's a bad thing and many cats die from it. They don't know that it can reverse in some cases or it's possible for some cats to live long lives with it (as long as their exposure to illnesses & stress is limited). Even that sanctuary we went to the other day that is supposed to sort of specialize in FeLV/FIV cats didn't know enough to separate any sick cats so respiratory infections & such didn't spread to the otherwise healthy cats.

-Chelle

 

Congrats on your new kitty! Toonces is an adorable name.