Thank you so much for your information! It was very helpful!

I'm going to post some signs around town and hopefully she'll get a call or two about him.

He's so pretty and I'd love to take it myself but it's just not possible.

Please cross post this to as many people as you can so we can try to get him a home.

Thanks,
Melissa


Quote Originally Posted by mumpkees View Post
MC:

Thanks for taking the time to post this excellent information on feline leukemia!

You are so right about doing an internet search - you can still pull up information from the 1960's where when leuk was first discovered vets were told the only way to irradicate the virus was to KILL every cat who tested positive. Sadly, even though we have come a long way both in updated knowledge and treatment options, many vets are 'still' strongly 'suggesting' to caregivers of 'suspected' positive cats that KILLING them is the best thing as otherwise they will all die a horribly painful death.

I am one of the anecdotal figures that MC speaks of. I've been caring for leukemia positive cats (and some dual positives (FIV)) since the early 1970's and doing so in a mixed household. This was long before testing became mainstream - you rescued a cat - you brought them home and quarantined for URI's - typically 14 days. You then introduced them into your household. Think about it - if leukemia was the deadly highly contageous killer it was/is made out to be - I'd have had a house full of dead cats many times over the years. So would thousands of others who did exactly the same thing.

The vaccine for leukemia was a wonderful advancement - giving, as do all vaccines - protection. When it first came out, cats were not even tested. One of the reasons testing is so popular in today's litigation heavy society is an attempt to keep rescuers from being sued for adopting a cat who may have leukemia. The inaccuracy of the test is high and rescuers, because of space limitations, only test once. A cat's life or death is based on this one test - a suspected positive test can still cause a cat to die if a rescue group has a policy of killing all positives. In order for a testing to be deemed remotely accurate, it must be repeated in 90 to 120 days - most cats don't get that chance because of overpopulation and no where for the cat to stay while it waits for retest. I strongly suspect that more cats have died from an inaccurate test result than have ever died from the leukemia virus.

There is a saying about the virus 'when it dries, it dies'. This means that this virus once outside the cat's virus, quickly dies once it has dried. Dried virus is unable to infect other cats. The virus also is killed by common household cleaners. In recent months, however, there have been some studies released showing that the virus is suspected of living somewhat longer and if dried virus gets rewetted, it is viable again. These studies have been done in controlled lab conditions in petri dishes - the chances of cats finding a dried saliva drop and managing to get it rewetted and ingested are very slim indeed.

Another thing that must be remembered - this virus takes PROLONGED CLOSE CONTINUAL CONTACT to be passed on. The kind like mother (or Aunti in the case of suspected positive kittens from a negative mother) would have while she cared for and groomed her kittens. I can tell you dozens of personal stories about positives and healthy adult negatives living together - eating and drinking together, sharing litter boxes and mutally grooming. Negatives - both vax'd and unvax'd never caught leukemia. I can also let you know that while yes, some of my leuk positives have died young, many others in my home who were known positives lived well up into their teens.

Everyone must make a decision that they can safely live with when it comes to positives and negatives residing in the same home, but if more people have the REAL facts, possibly more might have enough space to be able to foster or adopt a positive cat. Even if one errs on the cautious side, it is still possible to care for a positive cat in a negative home, especially temporarily. Cats do not need huge amounts of space. Most cats sleep away 16 hours of their life a day. A large cage or a small bathroom is fine. A spare bedroom is even better. The virus is not airborne and if litter boxes, food and water dishes are not shared kitty could safely exercise in a room that other cats might frequent.

I've been doing it for over 30 years and not one of my negative cats has caught leukemia. I hope someone will be able to feel comfortable enough to offer this beautiful cat a home. /mari