[Felvtalk] FELV contagious

[Katherine K.]

Hi Maya,

I have 2 cats who have lived together for a long time. I found out one was
positive. The other tested negative, so I had her vaccinated against FeLV.
But, they had already been in very close contact for a long time. If you do
decide to bring in a negative cat, definitely make sure he/she is
vaccinated against FeLV. It is not a fool proof vaccine but it helps.

However, perhaps you could find another FeLV+ friend for Merlot. You could
alert volunteers and staff at your local shelters and rescues to contact
you before euthanizing if one of their strays tests positive for FeLV or if
they hear of any positive cats. Or keep an eye on local rescue websites. We
have one in the U.S. called Craigslist where people are always dumping or
rehoming their pets.

I personally wouldn't want to introduce a healthy cat to my positive cat.
But that's an interesting perspective about saving one from death row, and
certainly something to consider. And I know others on the list have done
it, without many issues. Hopefully you can find a positive friend for
Merlot. I do hate to think of him being lonely! <3

Katherine


On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 5:24 PM, Maya D'Alessio <mdelow at gmail.com> wrote:

> So, my one cat Merlot is clearly lonely.  He is used to being second in
> command to our cat Yang who passed away.
>
> I work with a cat rescue, and the cats there all live communally until
> they are adopted (with a quarantine area for cats on meds/who are really
> sick).  She thinks that there isn't much of a problem with bringing another
> cat in to the house, as long as the other cat is not immune compromised,
> etc.  This contrasts with what my vet says - no other cat contact.
>
> I'm not sure who to believe here.  Obviously FELV is contagious, and it is
> passed from cat to cat.  The chance of that increases with increased
> contact, but the lady made it seem that for the 20 years she's been running
> the place she has only had a handful of FELV+ cats, none of them died from
> it, and she had a 19 year old cat who had lived with all of them test
> negative for FELV recently.  I can't imagine being responsible for exposing
> another cat to the virus and getting them sick, but I also feel bad for
> Merlot who is lonely.  I was thining maybe I would consider (in six months
> or so), trying to take in a cat who was not going to find another home.
>  ie. an older cat, or a cat from a society that they were about to put down.
>
> What do you guys think / what has your vet said to you about this?
>
> --
> Maya D'Alessio
> PhD student
> B1 377B, x32320
> Graduate Student Endowment Fund Coordinator
> Biology GSA Vice Chair
> GSA Director At-Large
> University of Waterloo
>
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