[Felvtalk] Just tested positive

[Marsha]

My condolences on your loss of Yang.

You just have to take it one day at a time with Merlot, and savor each 
day of good health.  Survival time seems to be such a roll of the dice 
with FeLV.  I lost FeLV+ Milkdud in May, after 4.5 good years.  His 
buddy Harley is still with me after 3.5 years, but he is lonesome for 
his friend.

I don't think probiotics would be helpful for a FeLV+ cat.  Feed the 
highest quality diet you can afford, avoiding grains like corn on the 
ingredients list.  I personally would not feed a raw meat diet to a cat 
with a disease that compromises their immune system.

For symptom-free Harley, I am currently giving a few drops of Vetri-DMG 
in his canned food, and a VitaChews multivitamin.  I am looking at other 
possibilites also, but didn't want to throw too much at him at once.  He 
appeared to have the beginnings of stomatitis at his last checkup, but 
it hasn't bothered him - he eats with no discomfort.  He will have a 
3-month follow-up, and if there has been progression, I will be looking 
at importing Virbagen Omega.  My vet conferred with others through the 
Veterinary Information Network, and looked at informational material I 
gave him, and didn't feel it would be beneficial at this time.

Marsha


On 7/24/2014 2:12 PM, Maya D'Alessio wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> My cat Merlot, just tested positive for FeLV yesterday afternoon.  We 
> had him tested, because my three year old cat Yang (female) started 
> acting ill at the end of June, the next morning I took her in to the 
> vets and we discovered she was anemic, jaundiced and had a high fever. 
>  They checked her blood levels and found she was anemic (about 13, vs 
> 26 in a healthy cat).  She stayed at the vet during the day  and her 
> blood levels didn't get any worse, and our vet was optimistic.  They 
> transferred her over to the emergency clinic which was open all 
> evening and in to the weekend.  They monitored her overnight and her 
> red blood cells decreased, her fever lowered but she went past normal 
> to too cold.  That morning the blood tests came back and she was 
> positive for FeLV.  We were shocked.  Even worse was that her detailed 
> blood work showed no uptick in blood cell production, where she should 
> have increased production, she actually had almost no production.  We 
> then got to see her before we had to put her down.  That was the 
> hardest day of my life.
>
> Now, with Merlot testing positive I am terrified of losing him so 
> quickly, and I am still grieving for Yang.  I know the statistics are 
> not great for long term prognosis, but he is currently healthy (just a 
> tiny bit of gingivitis - we are going to start brushing his teeth). 
>  What can I do to keep him healthy?  How do I live with him everyday 
> without starting to grieve him already?  I know we all are going to 
> die someday, but this just feels like it is going to hang over me.  I 
> am still doing reading on the disease and newer treatments and such, 
> but do these all start after the cat becomes noticeably ill, or are 
> there things I can be doing now to help keep him healthy?  Are 
> probiotics helpful in this case?
>
> For those who have or have had a healthy FeLV cat, how long did they 
> stay healthy for?
>
>
> -- 
> Maya D'Alessio
>
>
>
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