Question about felv/fiv testing

[kittycats_delight]

Ok everything I thought I knew about the testing and results was shot down today by a vet here. Basically she said that it is useless to test before they are 1 year old. Also she said that is a kitten under a year old tests positive then that's that and they are pretty well certainly positive but if the test negative it doesn't mean anything cause they can change to positive within the first year.

I always thought false positives happened a lot and I have always thought that they can be tested early in life and if negative then there is nothing to worry about and if positive to retest after 3 months. This vet has me completely confused and questioning everything.

Please any input here would be appreciated. I also emailed my vet in Canada and asked him a bunch of stuff about this too.

Thanks guys
Michelle

[Freedom]

I was told no point to testing prior to 6 months; and a positive at that point may be a negative later on.

I am going to do some checking again and post what I find.

Would like to clarify, BOTH tests, leukemia AND aids? wow. I"ll post back in a bit after some googling

[kittycats_delight]

thanks sandra...yeah it jsut didn't seem right what she said about a positive pretty well never turning to a negative. and vice versa. Both tests were what I was wondering about. Thanks a million

Michelle

[lvpets2002]

Now you have me wondering.. I just got wittle Rastus Gem from the Vets & my Vet told me he was tested for all & was all negative.. Now he goes back this coming Sat 16th & thats a very good question..

[rg_girlca]

Very good question, because I have a little 4 month old female that I was going to ask the vet to have her tested for feline aids and leukemia tonight when I bring her in.

I'll have to keep a watch on this thread.

[Craftlady]

I've had this test done at all ages and the vets never said "dont do at certain ages", they all said TEST them. Cindy was tested at what we think was at 6 months old approx age, we werent sure when exactly she was born. Stephen was tested at 7-8 months old (paperwork isnt infront of me at moment, going by memory). Skinny was tested at approx 1 year old.
Thumper was tested at 2 years old.
When Butterscotch was diagnoised with Feline Aids we had everyone (Thumper and Skinny) tested again.


I think it's a matter of how knowledgeable the vet is about things the younger vets seems to be more "up to date" on stuff than older vets (my experience), but when it comes to testing for stuff they are all in agreement per my experience.... Test them regardless of age.

My advise is to test at any age is better than NOT testing them at all, just seems like good common sense to me.

[AbbyMom]

Michelle

I had two kittens test positive for FeLV. Subsequently, I learned a lot.

Here is an authoritative source:
http://www.aafponline.org/resources/...Guidelines.pdf


Here's some of the important things I learned:

A snap test (also known as a combo test) can have false positives. A negative is reliably accurate, not a positive. There are additional tests you can have done (the IFA test). The American Association of Feline Practitioners recommends confirming a positive Snap test result with the IFA test. If it's negative, then retest 60 days later.

The problem with testing kittens or cats is this:

If they were outside, they could have been recently infected, but it will not show up on the test. If they are going to develop it, it will take a while. It's like being exposed to the flu...you don't get sick immediately.

Wishing you and your kitties the best.
Pat