Input Needed

[clara4457]

Hi all,

I really need some input with the cat rescues. I am currently fostering five kittens born of an FeLV mom. We did both the ELIZA test and the IFA test on the mom and both were positive. We have placed the mom in a sancuary where she will live happily.

My question is how do we determine the FeLV status of the kittens? We could test them now at 9 weeks, but every vet tells us that we need to test them at 16 weeks whether they test negative or positive. The problem is that generally we will adopt kittens out that test negative at this age if we have no knowledge of the mother. So what is different with these kittens?? They are so adoptable at this age and if I wait another 3 months to adopt them out, it will make it harder to adopt them.

Should I put test them and then put the negative ones up for adoption anyway? Or should I wait until they are all 16 weeks and test them then and determine their status at that point??

I don't want to adopt out a cat that is sick, but I also don't want to infringe on their possible placements.

Thoughts? Comments?

[jenluckenbach]

I would test them now. IF they test negative offer them for adoption. But tell prospective adopters that their mom was FeLV+ and some vets feel the kittens need to be re-tested after 16 weeks of age. Yes, this will scare some people off, but it is a better solution than allowing no one the option of adoption.

[icedtea]

yea i agree. give people the option.

[moosmom]

From what I know, and this is only what I've learned by my years in rescue, 9 weeks is too early. More chances than not they will test positive. Wait till they are at least 12 weeks old. Not only that, but if the mama tested positive, it's more likely than NOT that they are all positive. But that's only my experience.

Everyone is right, I would give prospective adopters the option.

[QueenScoopalot]

I agree that letting people know the mom cat's positive for FeLV is the best way to go. Especially with leukemia. FIV + kittens almost always will end up testing negative once mom's antibodies leave their systems, but FeLV is a whole different issue. They have been nursing off her milk which carries the virus, and she in turn has been cleaning them on the other end for weeks...closed system of viral transmission. FIV I don't think infects the breast milk (not certain though). More often than not with FeLV the kittens do end up testing positive sad to say. :( Good luck...and keep us posted. ;)

[clara4457]

Thanks for all the information. They are currently 11 weeks old and are doing well. I am going to take them in next week for a health check, and we decided to go ahead and get them tested. If they test positive, we will continue to foster them until we can test them again at 16 weeks. If they test negative, we will put them up for adoption and let potential adopters aware of their mothers status.

According to all the vet literature I have gotten, they have about a 50/50 chance of having the disease. Good nutrition and care will help the odds. We pulled them from the mother the minute mom tested positive (at 7 weeks), so I am just praying for the best.

Worst case scenario - we have a santuary that will take them all, but I am hoping we don't have to resort to that.

Here is a link to pictures of them. They are just all so adorable, I hope we can find them great homes. I named them Chloe (soft grey female), Carmen (darker grey female), Coral (calico female), Caesar (black/white male) and Chewey (grey/white tabby).

http://www.buffalocan.org/images/WSKittenpics.html

[Lizzie]

I agreed to foster three kittens from a shelter about twelve years ago who were only about 3 weeks old. Their mother had died and that's all the information I had. They all had colds and we had a hard time pulling them through that. Roo was the runt, had terrible digestive problems as though he was born before it was all fully functional, and was obviously weaker than the other two. I decided early on to adopt them out myself rather than take them back to the shelter. Roo tested positive to FeLV at 6 weeks, Sesat and Ted tested negative. Roo was isolated in my bedroom and the other two stayed isolated in their own bedroom. At 8 weeks, and at regular intervals after that, both Roo and Sesat tested positive. Ted has always been negative. I lost Roo at 8 months, Sesat at 7 years. Even though Ted is negative, he's always had a variety of health problems and I've wondered if this was because his mother had feline leukemia while she carried them.

So, yes, even those kittens who test negative eventually should go to new owners who know the mother died of leukemia. Like others, I believe they should know there could be health issues. I hope most sincerely that at least most of your kittens test negative.