[Felvtalk] FELV Community

[Lorrie]

Hello and welcome to the group Manda.  I've had quite a few FelV
positive cats over the years, as I'm a rescuer too. I have 15 rescued
cats at home and 10 more in my cageless cat sanctuary in town. Some
of my cats lived many years with FelV, but some died young.  Mostly
the kittens.  Kittens don't seem to have much resistance to FelV, as
their immune systems are not fully developed. Losing six of your cats
in one year is rough.  I'm sorry you had to go through that, but
thank you for what you do for cats. Being a rescuer is hard and heart
breaking at times. 

Lorrie 


On 12-28, Amanda Vollaro wrote:
>    Hi  there  all,  just wanted to introduce myself and start some dialog
>    concerning  my  cat  community.  I live out East on Long Island and my
>    town is affected greatly by FIV and FELV cats.
> 
>    I  have  been  a  rescuer  for  20  years  and never seen outbreaks so
>    fearsome.  For  over  15  years I never had FELV cats (a couple of FIV
>    positives, but never symptomatic).
> 
>    Within  the  last  year I've seen 6 of my cats come down with symptoms
>    resulting in their deaths. Two were middle aged and one was a breeding
>    female  who lost the battle with FELV after being stressed by litters.
>    Most  of  her brood has passed away and I now have four left, 2 from 2
>    different   litters.   It's   heartbreaking   to   see   them   become
>    symptomatic,and I recently lost my favorite in very bad circumstances.
> 
>    What  I'm writing about is how to get a vet who knows that cat is FELV
>    to  help  follow  through  with  antibiotics,  steroids,  and a triple
>    coctail.  No  one wants to try steroids as they fear the problems with
>    the liver, but the cats die without them. How can I convince my vet to
>    offer the steroids that they need to absorb the fluids once they start
>    coughing?  My  last  vet  left  me  alone and at my wits end with just
>    antibiotics  and an IV D5W. Poor kitty died in the middle of the night
>    due to fluid buildup.
> 
>    It  seems  to  me that the vets out here just don't want to treat FELV
>    cats because they consider it a poor outcome no matter what.
> 
>    Your thoughts?
> 
>    Thanks,
> 
>    Manda