Conference misery::feline_v1

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		THIS MEMO IS FROM LYNNE MANDILE DTN 281-5770

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			NOEL'S MY NAME

	I'M AN APPROX 11 WEEK OLD BLACK/ORANGE FEMALE CALICO KITTEN

	(THAT WAS ABANDONED RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ON MY FRONT YARD)

    LYNNE INTENDED TO KEEP ME, BUT A MINOR INJURY SENT ME TO THE VET AND
    A BLOOD TEST SHOWS I HAVE FELINE LEUKEMIA INFECTION.  THIS IS
    CONTAGIOUS ONLY TO OTHER CATS, AND THEREFORE I MUST BE THE ONLY CAT
    IN A INDOOR CAT HOUSEHOLD.  (LYNNE HAS 4 CATS AND CANNOT KEEP ME DUE
    TO THE FELINE LEUKEMIA).  FELINE LEUKEMIA IS A VIRUS INFECTION PASSED
    BY CONTACT FROM AN INFECTED CAT TO ANOTHER CAT BY CONTACT WITH INFECTED
    CAT'S SALIVA, MESSES, PREGNANCY,(SOMEWHAT LIKE AIDS) AND IT IS NOT CURABLE.        
    CATS VARY IN THEIR RE-ACTION TO THIS VIRUS (AGAIN, LIKE AIDS) AS THEY
    MAY NEVER SHOW SIGNS, OR MAY SUDDENLY COME DOWN WITH SYMPTOMS SOMETIME
    DURING THEIR LIFESPAN.  OR, THEY CAN ONLY BE A CARRIER AND ONLY PASS THIS
    VIRUS ALONG.  (I'LL BE BLUNT.  THERE COULD BE VET COSTS DOWN THE ROAD
    TREATING SOME OF THE BY-ILLNESSES BROUGHT ON BY THE VIRUS.  I DO NOT
    KNOW FOR SURE WHAT THEY COULD BE, BUT THE VET MENTIONED THIS COULD HAPPEN)
    

    NOW FOR THE PULL AT THE HEARTSTRINGS:

    IF I SEND HER TO THE POUND, OR ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE, SHE WILL BE PUT 
    DOWN IMMEDIATELY.  I HAVE UNTIL SATURDAY TO FIND HER A HOME, OR I WILL
    HAVE TO HAVE HER PUT DOWN.  

    (NICE CHRISTMAS PRESENT FROM THE CREEP WHO DUMPED HER OFF. I WISH I COULD 
    GET MY HANDS ON THIS CREEP FOR JUST 10 MINUTES) 

     PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW MIGHT BE INTERESTED.  I CAN
     GET SPECIAL RATES ON SPAYING AND SHE HAS HAD SOME OF THE NEEDED SHOTS.

     SHE HAS THE SWEETEST, MOST LOVABLE PERSONALITY AND SHE LIKES TO PLAY FETCH
     WITH A STRING OR HER BALL.   


     THANK YOU 

     LYNNE

Please see note 666.18.  It describes how to get in touch with a
shelter that keeps a list of people willing to adopt cats who test
positive for Felv.

Pam    

    The Northeast Shelter no longer has any such list.
    
    Just my luck.
    
    Lynne (1-3-90)

    I want to put in a word for this kitten. 
    
    I took in a stray who also tested FeLV+  and have NEVER been sorry
    about it. Francis has been with me for three years now, and is the
    most precious of all my cats. He weighs 16 pounds and looks great.
    
    I know several FeLV+ cats who have lived to 5 years and beyond,
    and the assistant at my vets had a cat for 9 years who tested FeLV+
    for all that time, and died from something other than FeLV related
    problem.
    
    Pat
    

    My 3 year old cat tested FELV+ 6 months ago - 2 days after I had
    to put my 16 year old Beagle to sleep.    My Vet told me that there
    was a drug that could be used on the cat called Immuno Reglin
    (spelling?).  He has had luck 40 - 50% of the time reverting
    cats to a negative state.  Best results are in cats that have
    tested more mildly positive (test tube turns light blue instead
    of dark blue).
    
    Anyways,  after about 8 injections (spaced apart) at $20 each, into
    the cat's abdomen  I waited the reccommended 120 days and retested
    the little guy.   To my delight he tested negative!  
    I intend to have him tested again at his next visit, but it appears
    that he no longer has Feline Leukemia.    
    
    I cannot mention the Veternarians name.  However, the drug is available,
    though it is approved by the FDA (or whatever government agency)
    for other uses.   He happens to know about it because his brother
    is a chemist or something at a drug company.    
    
    Feline Leukemia is similar to the AIDS virus, that is, it supresses the
    body's immune system.  This drug somehow helps the immune system
    fight the virus off.
    
    
    Regards,
    
    Fred
    
        

    
    
    RE: .1
    
    If you have had your other cats immunized with the FELV vaccine,
    wouldn't it be ok to take in this little kitty?  My Cleo was FELV
    positive and just passed away from old age (18 years!).  Allmy
    other cats were FELV negative and have had their shots and are
    fine.
    
    What do others feel about this?
    
    Carole

      We currently have 4 cats.....2 of them are FeLV Positives, and the
    other two tested negative when we were still testing them a few years
    ago.
    
       About 4.5 years ago, our two Dachshunds found a newborn kitten who
    had been abandoned at birth. We took this little thing in and
    hand-nursed it and made her our "special" kitten. We took her in and
    had her tested when she was old enough...had her immunized, and this
    went on for three years. Then last summer she suddenly got very
    lethargic and refused to eat. This took a day or so to register on us,
    as it was so out-of-place for her...and when it finally DID register, I
    became very concerned and decided to check the place where the symptoms
    of Feline Leukemia occurs---the pink areas of the mouth. I was totally
    depressed when I discovered that all the former pink areas of her mouth
    were a ghostly white. We immediately rushed her into the vets, but I
    knew that the prognosis would be bad. It turned out that she had one of
    the most virulent cases of Feline Leukemia that the lab had ever
    tested. To make a sad story short, we had her peacefully released from
    her sickness without any more heroic efforts. 
      This was not where I was willing to stop, however. I was extremely
    distressed to lose a cat that had been tested Negative and had been
    faithfully immunized against this horrible curse. So I called Tufts
    Small Animal Hospital in Grafton Ma. to find out what I could. I was
    put into contact with one of the top veterinarians in this teaching
    hospital. He spent a long time with me talking about this terrible
    disease, and this is basically what I've found.
    
      (1)My kitten PROBABLY was carrying her FeLV virus in her bone marrow.
    This probably was there from the womb of her mother, but would not be
    detectable with the blood test. It would have taken a bone marrow
    sample to detect it, and would have solved nothing. An FeLV carrier who
    has the virus in the bone marrow may contract the disease at any time
    during his/her life or may NEVER catch it. If the disease DOES migrate
    into the rest of the bloodstream, the usual result is swift death. 
    
     (2)Approximately 10% of cats who are immunized (not bone-marrow
    carriers) will REJECT the immunization. Cats who reject the
    immunization are susceptable to it if they come into contact with a cat
    who has the virus, or if they come into contact with a carrier of the
    virus. Nothing much can be done to prevent these cats from contracting
    the disease except strict isolation from other cats. The paradox here
    is that you have no way of knowing if your cat is one of these unless
    he/she catches the disease.
    
     (3)There is recent evidence emerging to indicate that cats who test
    positive for Feline Leukemia MAY, in some cases, turn out testing
    Negative if they are immunized. More than one case has been described
    where a FeLV + cat has been given the immunization series and a blood
    test given in 6 months comes out negative. It seems that in certain
    instances the immunization triggers the cats immune system to activate
    and destroy the virus.
    
      SO....What we decided to do about a year ago is to have all of our
    cats immunized---and not tested at all. Reasoning for this is
    simple...why test if there is nothing that can be done anyway?? Why pay
    the $15-30 buck that it costs to do the test if the result will only be
    bad news in the case of a positive?? If there's a 1-in-a-MILLION chance
    that the immunization will do the trick, then we'll take that
    long-shot.
    
      So far it seems to be working. We have two positives that have been
    immunized and two who tested negative that have also been immunized. I
    realize that we are taking a certain risk with the two Negatives, since
    we don't know if one or both of these are in the 10% that reject the
    virus, but since it's been over a year now, and since these four cats
    are all real "buddies" and hang around together, groom each other, use
    ths same dishes, same litterboxes, etc.., we are fairly sure that the
    two Negatives have been effectively immunized. The two Positives seem
    to be carriers, since one is about 9 years old, and neither have shown
    ANY symptoms.
    
      One thing...I would NOT recommend this type of "kitty kommunity" to
    anyone who is into breeding cats. It's one thing to have a kitty-family
    of "rescue cases" such as our four are, but an entirely different thing
    to be breeding. FeLV in a breeding community can be devastating, and I
    can surely understand the desire and requirement for removing any FeLV
    Positives from such a community. The negative aspects of that situation
    would FAR outweigh the compassion felt for the poor positive tested
    cat. But in an environment such as ours, I belive the rist to be
    outweighed by the alternative....in my case these two Positives would
    have most likely been put to sleep, and we would have missed the
    opportunity of having "Cookie", who is probably the slickest, smartest
    and cutest kitty I've ever seen....
    
      JMcD

    NOEL UPDATE:  (correction: shes a black/orange tortiseshell)
    Noel is still living in my den.  As you can see, any excuse 
    not to make "that" decision.  Re: .6, my first problem
    is my other four cats have not been vacinated, and my second
    is my husband has a say in this matter also.  (He has already
    let me spend over $100 on this abandoned kitten.  Four in a house
    our size is already too many, and we have to think of these guys
    first) Vet appointments have already been
    made for the other four, and Noel went this saturday to get her
    stiches (staples) out of her leg.  A long discussion with the vet
    on FELV has me grasping at the straw that she may be just fighting
    off the virus, and three weeks down the road she (slight chance)
    might re-test negative. I thought of making her a barn cat, but if she 
    is an outdoor cat, she would then just be spreading it to other cats. 
    This is not fair to the other cats in my neighborhood.  
    
    I am still looking for a home for her, either as a companion to
    another FELV cat, or as an only indoor pet.  If anyone would like
    her or knows of someone, please call me.  She is growing well, and
    has the sweetest, lovable personality, loves to be scratched and
    petted, is litterbox trained, and purrs non-stop from the moment
    she sees you.  She comes running to the door and meows when she
    hears me come home, and jumps right into my lap.  She even will
    bring me her favoirte toy so I will play with her.
    
    Lynne  
    
    
    Lynne    

    Were you able to find a home for Noel yet?  I'd like to know if
    she is still available before I start inquiring.  I'm out as I
    already have three non-vaccinated cats.

    As of 1/19, Noel is still alive and still in need
    of a home.
    
    Lynne
    

    I will help with (or have done) the cost of 2nd shots
    and the spaying.  She comes with bowls, her cat carrier
    "House", her toys, her blanket, and a supply of food.
    
    She shows "NO" signs of any illness.  She has only tested
    positive for FeLV. 
    
    Please consider her.  She is a playful, friendly, attention loving
    little bundle of furface!
    
    Lynne
    
                        

    Testing positive may only mean she's been exposed but not necessarily
    contracted FLV.  She may successfully fight it off and develop an
    immunity to the disease - not even be a carrier.
    

    She is still available!
    
    
    (2/21/90)
    
    
    
    L-