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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO
Created:Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5089
Total number of notes:60366

2686.0. "Feline AIDS...Help required" by SEDOAS::REASON () Mon Jul 17 1989 15:51

    I've done a quick "DIR" and cant find anything on this......can
    somebody please help me.
    
    My little Georgie has been very poorly for a week now, sleeping
    all the time, listless, vomiting up his food, unable to stand up
    at times.                                                  
                                                               
    At first my vet thought it was an infection and treated him with
    anti-biotics. When these had no effect, he thought it might be
    leukaemia, but this has come up negative.
    
    Now he thinks it might be FiV or feline AIDS. Apparently he has
    not seen it here in the UK until this year and had several come
    up positive in a short time
    
    Can anybody tell me about this?  Is it the same as human AIDS?
    Can he pass it onto other animals?  Can he pass it on to me? Will
    I have to have him put to sleep?
                                    
    Does anybody have any info      
                                    
    Thanks
    
    
    Maureen
                      
                                                               
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2686.1WONDER::SKALTSISMon Jul 17 1989 16:075
    I don't know a lot about this, but this ease your mind a bit.
    It is NOT the same as Human AIDS, and he can't pass the illness
    on to a human (but could pass it to another cat).
    
    Deb
2686.2WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JOMon Jul 17 1989 16:347
    I have an article about FIV that appeared in the CFA almanac.  It
    is written by Dr. Nels Pederson of UC - Davis.  He is currently
    doing the study of FIV.  If I can find it I will send it to you.
    
    What is your mailstop.
    
    Jo
2686.4CIRCUS::KOLLINGKaren, Sweetie, & Holly; in Calif.Mon Jul 17 1989 16:397
    Is it possible to do a blood test or somesuch and find out if
    the kitten actually has either of these things?  Good luck, we
    are all pulling for you and your baby.  Please let us know what is
    happening.
    
    Karen, Sweetie and Holly
    
2686.5CIRCUS::KOLLINGKaren, Sweetie, & Holly; in Calif.Mon Jul 17 1989 16:413
    Another thought.  Could Georgie have swallowed something, like a pin
    or somesuch, that would show up on a xray?
    
2686.6Poison maybe?CSC32::RESKELife's a mystery & I haven't a clueMon Jul 17 1989 17:1719
    
    This sounds like what my Rocco went through a few months back.
    I came home from work and he had vomited all over the house and
    by then he could barely stand.  I rushed him to the vet and they
    weren't sure he was going to make it.
    
    The did lots of blood work and the vet thought it might be feline
    Aids.  The put him on various anitbiotics and he pulled through
    after a week or so.  They were never able to determine exactly
    what happened to him but it the end the vet thought it might
    be poison by some kind of household products (I don't have any
    plants).
    
    If you want, I could call my vet and ask what antibiotics they
    used on Rocco.
    
    Please keep us posted.
    
    Donna, T.C. and Rocco
2686.7You may want to call Tufts....CPDW::MCDONOUGHMon Jul 17 1989 17:3416
      If you are in the New England area, it may be wise to contact Tufts
    Small Animal Hospital in Grafton Mass. This is a Veterinary Teaching
    Hospital, affiliated with Tufts University, and I have a VERY HIGH
    confidence in this facility. The Veterinarians are all very
    compassionate people(at least the ones I've spoken to) and are willing
    to listen to a problem and the really do try to help. 
      I recently lost a three-year-old cat to FeLV that had tested negative
    all her life, and was very upset about it. When I called Tufts, they
    put me in direct contact with the Director of the Hospital. He took the
    time to call me back--not once, as I was in meetings--but three times, 
    until he caught me. Then he spent about 30 minutes going over my
    kittty's history, symptoms, and he gave me a thorough run-down on the
    disease and what the Vet world does and doesn't know about it. It was 
    really nice to have a person of his status take the time to talk to a
    layman with a problem. 
    JM
2686.8CIRCUS::KOLLINGKaren, Sweetie, & Holly; in Calif.Mon Jul 17 1989 17:574
    Re: .7
    
    She seems to be in the UK.
    
2686.9Our sympathy and Moral SupportSAGE::ZAMZOWMon Jul 17 1989 18:1512
    
    I really don't know aything about Feline AIDS, but I just wanted
    to offer our support and sympathy.  It always seems doubly cruel
    when the little ones come down with the serious diseases.
    
    I'll say a prayer for your little one, and pleae do keep us posted,
    we care and are interested in the outcome.
    
    Feline very far away,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    
2686.10MICLUS::MTAGTue Jul 18 1989 14:1310
    I read an article this Spring, I think it was in Cat Fancy on Feline
    Aids.  Apparently, many vets mistake it for leukemia - it appears to be
    almost the same.  However, in leukemia, the normal lifespan for a
    positive tested cat is roughly a year.  A cat diagnosed with kitty aids
    can live for 5 or more years.  Eventually, the disease does get the
    best of the cat and the end is inevitable.  If I can find the article,
    I'll send it.  Can you post your mailstop in a reply here?  
    
    Mary
    
2686.11It's been discussed here before!IAMOK::GERRYHome is where the Cat isTue Jul 18 1989 14:297
    I entered a note about Feline Aids, (FTLV) quite a while back, I don't
    remember where it is, but I'll look for it.  It was an article from the
    Cornell Newsletter, I think.  It was along the time of the Hartz
    Blockade incident.  
    
    cin
    
2686.12Please see 1064.0IAMOK::GERRYHome is where the Cat isTue Jul 18 1989 14:427
    Okay, I've found it.  I entered a long article that might be of
    interest in 1064.0
    
    This may answer some questions.  
    
    cin
    
2686.13You think its what??????????SEDOAS::REASONWed Jul 19 1989 09:1227
    Hi again,
    
    Thanks for the replies and support. Ive been working from home a
    lot so that I can watch over him and I dont have a terminal there,
    hence the time its taken me to reply.
                                        
    I still haven't got the AIDS test results back tho' I'm hoping that
    its still rare enough here in the UK that its not likely...Fingers
    crossed. Still, any info would be very useful. Please send to Maureen
    Reason @ESO                        
    
    Well, Georgie spent yesterday morning in the Vet Hospital. For the
    first time in a week, after I left him there, he summoned up enough
    energy to wreck his cage and rip his patient card to shreds.
    
    The vet tested EVERYTHING and cant find anything except .....(can
    you believe this)......... really bad constipation. 
    
    I cant believe that it can have caused him to be so ill. 
    I sat up with him for two nights at the weekend and really thought I
    would lose him. So, other than AIDS we're stumped for an explanation
    in the meantime.
    
    Anybody got any ideas??????????? 
                                        
                                        
                                        
2686.14I believe itVAXWRK::SKALTSISDebWed Jul 19 1989 15:0511
    >The vet tested EVERYTHING and cant find anything except .....(can
    >you believe this)......... really bad constipation. 

    yep. Argus, my FUS cat was real sick, and was acting like he was
    blocked and was throwing up. They ran all sorts of tests and it turned out
    that the only thing that they could find was that he was badly constipated.
    The vet said that his stool was "petrified". Apparently, constipation is
    fairly common in cats like Argus (who are a bit on the hefty side), so, to
    keep him nice and regular, Argus gets bran with every meal.

    Deb
2686.15TWO IN A FORTNIGHT!!SUBURB::NICKELSBBernie.Fri Jul 21 1989 15:1613
    Hi
    
    Sorry to hear about your cat .... my neighbour, Julie, has just
    had her cat diagnosed as having aids.  If I get to see her this
    weekend I'll ask her what her vet said and get back to you next
    week.
    
    Strange that I hear of two cases of feline aids within a fortnight
    and it has not been diangosed in the UK before!!
    
    Don't give up!
    
    
2686.16Feeling betterSEDOAS::REASONTue Jul 25 1989 09:0422
    Just for those of you who were kind enough to write to me.....Georgie
    is now much improved. 
    
    Its NOT AIDS tho the pathologist at the feline viral unit thinks that
    he had some kind of strange virus which came and went. He's still got 
    his constipation and I've been dosing him with liquid paraffin to get 
    him going.        
                                              
    Now he's feeling better I get most of it in my eye, down my skirt and
    down his front and very little actually in his mouth. He's learnt
    very quickly to keep his jaw clamped frimly SHUT and any litle trickle
    that manages to get in there, he just spits it out!
                   
    I'm still interested in AIDS info for curiosity's sake so I"ll keep
    looking in here.
    
    Thanks again 
    
    
    Maureen
                              
    
2686.17I love good newsCRUISE::NDCNancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it allTue Jul 25 1989 11:465
    Maureen - that's great news!  I can't tell you happy I am to hear
    that Georgie is dowsing you with his medication :-DDDD  (Definitely
    a sign that he's feeling much better)  
      Nancy DC and the Furry Foursome
    
2686.18ANOTHER WRONG DIAGNOSIS MAYBE???SUBURB::NICKELSBBernie.Thu Jul 27 1989 13:238
    Glad to hear your Georgie is on the mend and that the vet got it
    wrong.  I haven't seen my neighbour to talk to yet but I have seen
    her cat .... it was being chased by a labrador and all I can say
    is that her cat too is feeling alot better!!! it left the dog standing.
    
    May be her vet got it wrong too!!!
    
    
2686.19Panic setting in?SEDOAS::REASONMon Jul 31 1989 12:0920
    I was chatting to a collegue re. my escapade with Georgie and he
    had a conversation at the weekend with the  breeder who supplied
    his cats. Apparently UK breeders have now received a warning about
    AIDS (presumably from the RCVS). They're getting pretty jittery about
    it here. I think the danger is that people are over-reacting, just
    like human AIDS because this woman seems to think that it may be
    contractable by humans.                 
                                            
    I cant believe that this is so because the vet was  still examining
    him with unprotected hands, even when he suspected AIDS, knowing
    that he's timid and could bite or scratch.
                                            
    On another topic, I've noticed a behaviour change since Georgie
    was sick. He used to be a very aloof cat and didnt like a lot of
    attention. Now he's at my heels wherever I go and only goes out
    if I'm not around, and he's become really cuddly and affectionate.
    Does this happen when cats get sick?    
                                            
    Maureen                                 
                                            
2686.20WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JOMon Jul 31 1989 16:2118
    About the feline Aids... you shouldn't worry about contracting it
    yourself.  Like most cat diseases, it is species specific.  It is
    also different from the human Aids virus, although it does have
    some factors that are similar, hence the name Feline Aids.
    
    My vet reports that of all the cats she has tested for it here,
    she has never had a positive test result yet.  (knock wood)
    So, so far it isn't running rampant in her practice.  I would try
    to relax over there, and not worry about it until there is a reason
    to worry.  Dr. Nels Pederson at UC - Davis Vet School is heading
    up the study (which, BTW, is being funded by the Winn Foundation)
    so, being so close to Davis, we tend to hear when new discoveries
    are made. 
    
    If anyone would like a copy of the article that I have about it,
    send me mail.
    
    Jo