could use some input

[robbie]

So just a little backstory. My wife and I had two Cats. Bala was 6 years old, our first kitten and very special to us. About a month ago we noticed she was sick on a Saturday. I left on Monday for work and the wife took Bala to the vet first thing. She passed on Tuesday. It was very hard being away when this happened and has left a HUGE emptiness in both of us. Anyway, we weren't sure if we wanted to adopt another due to the heartache involved. after looking for a little bit we found two newborns and knew immediately they were the ones. they had just been weened and still needed to fatten up a little bit for surgery. The rescue wanted to keep them for a couple weeks to fatten them up and spay them both. the surgery was performed on monday and we are set to pick them up saturday morning.

Now here's where the questions come in. Today the Rescue Vet called my wife and said that one of the Kittens in the litter tested positive for FELV. the mother was negative and every other kitten in the litter was negative including the two little babies we were adopting. We don't know what to do now. we have still have out other 5 year old full grown cat who is NOT infected. the last thing we want to do is bring the kittens home and infect Shelby, but my wife is already attached to these two and has been visiting them for the past 3 weeks waiting to bring them home. i'll be honest, i just don't know what to do right now and am just posting this hoping for some insight. it would kill my wife to bring them home and lose them. i told my wife if we know they're the ones then all we can do is trust in God, but just not having any experience or knowledge on the subject is difficult plain difficult.

[Freedom]

I am sorry for your loss of Bala. So young, and sounds like very sudden. That is so hard to deal with. My condolences.

Now for the kittens, I'm not sure of their age at this point. Kittens under 4 months can test false positive. Here is a link to a good summary of FeLV:
http://www.catchat.org/leukaemia.html

Since the Mom is negative, the chances of one of her kittens have it is slight. Retesting in 12 weeks is the next step.

This is a decision only you 2 can make, once you have more information. You should also call your vet practice and get information from them.

Do let us know what happens.

[catmandu]

I would let the Vet keep that Kitten and retest as you say you do not want that to spread.
We are praying that that Little Cat of the Future is all right.
Bala is an Awesome Eternal Angel Companion with wings of silver and gold , and you will meet again.
One Fine Day