I'm confused by feline leukemia testing

[Lizzie]

I can only post my experience.

About 14 years ago, I fostered three 3-week-old kittens, one of whom tested positive to FeLV at 7 weeks. Three weeks later, he was re-tested, still positive, his sister then tested positive and their brother was negative. The positive kittens were re-tested a few more times and always positive. The brother (Ted) tested negative all his life in spite of living with his sister. The first kitten to test positive (Roo) died at 10 months. The female (Seshat) lived for 7 years. After Roo died and she lost her companion, the vet told me that as long as my cats had already been vaccinated against FeLV, and their vaccinations stayed current, it was probable that they would not contract the virus since they were all adults (about 4-8 years old) and had been strays. This proved to be perfectly correct. Seshat lived with the other cats, sharing everything, and none of the 8 cats she lived with ever contracted FeLV. They died of renal failure, heart disease, etc. in their late teens, and Ginger is now in her 23rd year. In fact, none received their booster shot after the first 4 years because some became ill afterwards, and there was an injection site sarcoma scare.

Last year, I fostered nine kittens that came from a very poor home and were in pretty bad shape when they came to me. One had tested positive to FeLV, the shelter didn't test the others. After four months, they were all tested and all were negative. However, their bad beginnings did do harm to their immune systems since three of them contracted FIP while at the adoption center.

Isn't it FIV that can show positive when a cat has been vaccinated against it?

I'm with Jenn and others on FIV and sharing. It doesn't even occur to me to be concerned about my big FIV+ boys mixing with my own and foster non-FIV cats. Calling it feline AIDS makes it sound far more scary and serious than it really is, and is a great dis-service to FIV+ cats who are longing for their own homes.

[Catlady711]

Isn't it FIV that can show positive when a cat has been vaccinated against it?

Calling it feline AIDS makes it sound far more scary and serious than it really is, and is a great dis-service to FIV+ cats who are longing for their own homes.

Yes it is possible the vaccine for FIV can show as a positive on a test result. Not sure of the stats on how often this happens though.


We call it feline AIDS because basically it is.

http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/FeLV-FIV.html
FIV belongs to the same family of viruses as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and immunodeficiency viruses in other species. This family of viruses (Lentiviruses) is known for being species-specific, for life-long infection, and for slowly progressive diseases. FIV is not transmissible from cats to people, and HIV is not transmissible to from people to cats.

[jennielynn1970]

The thing with FIV is that if they are aggressive, I would not mix them with my other cats. Honeybun is old and crotchety, and grumpy, but not aggressive. He has hardly any teeth, so am I worried about him biting someone else and passing it? No. Zach may be a bully, but he's also NOT a biter. Every situation is different, and every cat's personality has to be considered.

I did have one cat that i fostered for about a week or so that was FIV+ before I had Honeybun. He was super aggressive, and I eventually gave him back to his regular foster home. He would corner my own guys, and would snarl and hiss and just be really nasty. That I would not tolerate. I won't jeopardize my healthy cats just to take in a FIV+ one.

If they are not aggressive, and mine are not aggressive, then we're good to go.

[CathyBogart]

To add a little to my reply, FeLV is spread through long-term contact. It is not highly contagious.

If you had a kitten who tested positive for FeLV, I would say DO NOT LET THEM EUTHANIZE!! It SHOULD NOT BE AN AUTOMATIC DEATH SENTENCE!! Wait three months and re-test.

Honestly, when I first read that they euthanized Gary automatically because of an FeLV test, I was pretty horrified. It's such a poorly understood disease, and cats beat it frequently enough that it should in no way mean automatic death. I've worked for three different clinics, one of them cat-only, and the wait-retest strategy was universal between the three of them.

[jennielynn1970]

FIV is not transmissible from cats to people, and HIV is not transmissible to from people to cats.

My one doctor was worried about me having an FIV+ cat in my home. That man watched Outbreak one too many times, lol.

[Catlady711]

My one doctor was worried about me having an FIV+ cat in my home. That man watched Outbreak one too many times, lol.

ROFL that movie STILL freaks me out no matter how many times I've seen it.

I suppose a human dr. wouldn't understand the differeneces in species specifics for animals if all he knows is the disease is similar to (in cats at least) as the human HIV is. Kinda like our vets don't know alot about some of the human aspects of some things, other than there are some things people can get from pets (FIV isn't one of them).

We still occasionally get a client showing us their rashes/bites etc and asking us if it's flea bites/mange/ringworm/staph/fill in the blank. We keep telling them that we are not qualified to diagnose humans they should go to their own doctor. I've often secretly wondered if they bring their pet to their own dr's office and ask them if it has ______(fill in the blank). LOL