I'm confused by feline leukemia testing

[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

[JustineNYC]

I know that you can have false positives, but you can't have a false negative. I was told that by a vet. If the antibodies are there, they will test + for either disease.

I don't know how many false positives there are, but I think many times they test positive when they have been exposed for a period of time, have been bitten (most adults testing positive are stray males) or are born with it. Most of the cats I know that have tested positive STAYED positive. I've only known of a few FIV+ cats that actually tested negative later on (they had basically contracted the antibodies from their mother, and the body fought it off).

Both my vets wouldnt test for Leukemia before the cat was 6 months old. They told me you can get false negatives.

[CathyBogart]

Let me give you an overview of how it was presented to me in my animal diseases class.

A cat who is exposed to FeLV can test positive. That doesn't mean that cat will contract the disease. There are three possibilities.

First, many cats are exposed, fight it off, and later test negative. So there is a period of a month or two where they will test positive because the antibodies are present in their system.

This is why none of the vets I worked for considered a positive FeLV test to be a death sentence; they always re-tested three months later. The cats who later test negative have developed immunity due to their exposure to the virus. It is very common for young outdoor kittens to be exposed and test positive but later (and forever after) test negative.

Second, some cats are exposed, never become sick, but always have antibodies present when tested. These cats can be contagious.

Third, obviously, some cats do become sick.

[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.

[JustineNYC]

Let me give you an overview of how it was presented to me in my animal diseases class.

A cat who is exposed to FeLV can test positive. That doesn't mean that cat will contract the disease. There are three possibilities.

First, many cats are exposed, fight it off, and later test negative. So there is a period of a month or two where they will test positive because the antibodies are present in their system.

This is why none of the vets I worked for considered a positive FeLV test to be a death sentence; they always re-tested three months later. The cats who later test negative have developed immunity due to their exposure to the virus. It is very common for young outdoor kittens to be exposed and test positive but later (and forever after) test negative.

Second, some cats are exposed, never become sick, but always have antibodies present when tested. These cats can be contagious.

Third, obviously, some cats do become sick.

I remember in 2003 my mom took one of the strays I was feeding in, before we did anything we brought her to the animal hospital. I remember the doctors exact words were "If she tests positive for Leuk. she doesnt leave here" My mom and I looked at eachother and when the vet left the room we were like, 'To hell she isnt'

Sounds like no one knows what their talking about.