Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Rescue & Rehoming => Rescue & Rehoming General => Topic started by: Canterbury_cats (Sharon) on August 11, 2008, 14:31:44 PM
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A very long story.. We agreed to get male 2yr LH male puss cat neutered as he was a stray and we didnt have room to take him in.. it took some time to catch him but he was being befriended by a lovely lady called Sandra who has 5 other rescue cats. Barney was caught on Thurs and a voucher was sent to pay for the neutering he was due to be flead and wormed and Sandra was going to keep feeding him until we had room to take him in... Barney was tested (although i didnt agree todo this first of all due to the implications of it being pos, but the vet insisted).. You can guess he turned up pos.. Another test was done as that was slightly pos, so the results were send away.. In the meantime Sandra rang me up and wanted to take Barney home for the weekend rather then him being at the vets. I put her in touch with the vet treating Barney and the vet talked at length to them about the implications of his pos results and what it means.. She took him nevertheless and agreed to keep him apart etc until the results come back.. Today they have and they prove he is FELV pos (but not FIV).. Our branch policy is to PTS FELV cats, and the reality is we havnt got room for a mouse let alone another cat.. We cannot move him onto another branch due to FELV status and new rules about FELV cats. He doesnt look unwell at all.. Tests were not send to Bristol or Glasgow but the Idex lab, but they were pretty conclusive.
I am in contact with Sandra, who may have sources to rehome this lovely boy she is caring for. But does anyone have any ideas as if she says "no" then there isnt alot of hope...
Al her own cats are neutered but not all are up with vac.. They were all rescue cats and Barney did have a bit out of one of them, so it may be she gets them tested as well. Barneyis young 2 ish and has been neutered.
There is no chance we can rehome him through our system, and the vets are unlikely to take him back in. Indeed if he was at the vets now, we wouldnt be even in this dilmena as i don't see how we could not PTS if no one would take him on.
Ideas and thought to save this little ones life... worse case scenerio.?
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Oh dear, what a situation to be in.
All I can do is tell you about our four FeLV cats that we re-homed last year. They came from a group of un-neutered adults and we PTS the adults who were all in an awful state and the kittens were tested and re-tested after 6 months.
We ended up with 4 FeLV kits who we did eventually re-home. Amy died two weeks after we re-homed her and Alice died two months after she was re-homed and i'm unsure about the two boys. We were incrediably lucky to find someone to take them and it blocked a family pen for around a year. I asked my colleague recently whether we would do it again and we really don't think we would. FeLV is just so awful and can come on so quickly that maybe PTS is the best option? On the other hand is just seems so awful when they're full of life and happy :(
I guess the bottom line is that you have to take him out of "circulation" of being around other cats and it's unlikely any other rescue will take him in and if you don't have space I don't know what else you can do....
Oh i'm no help at all am I?
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He needs retesting again in 3 months, i dont know if the idexx is as good as glasgow? :-:
Whats the new rules on felv?
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http://www.catchat.org/leukaemia.html (http://www.catchat.org/leukaemia.html)
He could be newly infected and actually become negative :wish:
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I hate to sound negative , but after three positive results and one that was send away to a lab and conclusion from the vets...
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Sharon, when were the tests done? They can shake off FeLV, so if the tests were done too closely together, it could still show positive on a negative cat. Although as you have no space, keeping a cat for 3 months is out of the question
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They were done at a lab somewhere in Essex i think.. Besides where do we put a cat for 3months. !! the lady taking care of him isnt in (she works nights this week) so will talk to her tomorrow. Perhaps she will keep him that long.. but what about if he is positive.
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Just wondering -
Would it work if Sandra got her vac'ed against it ?
I have also text someone from a local rescue to ask what their policy is about FeLV+ cats to see if they could take him
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I dont think her cats are vac up to date, but even if they did now, there is still the slight chance of infection. How can you handle keep 5 cats with one that has to be in a spare room anyhows. Its not feasible and maybe not right anyhow. Needs to go on his own..Sadly no matter what i think.. things are looking abit gloomy for Barney right now
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I suppose it would be hard to ask her to keep him separate for 3 months just in case. Even if her cats are vac'd, it is only 85% effective, although it does depend on the age of her cats, as adults do develop a natural immunity to it, and there is a test to see if they are fully immune to it, as some cats are believed to be. But that would depend on how much she really wants him, as I can't imagine that test to be cheap. i wish i could be more positive Sharon, I really wouldn't want to be in your position at the moment.
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I don't think it's wise or fair to ask anyone to care for a cat for 3 months if his future is uncertain, let alone a person not involved in rescue and not used to having to make heart breaking decisions. How could we take him back for PTS if all the results continue to be positive in 3 months?
Doesn't TAG in Thanet have an FeLV puss? Would he like some company? :shify:
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I had a reply
"prognosis not good, Av survival 3yrs. Can't risk bringing him into rescue. You need to find a hospice home as indoor cat"
Sadly i feel unless he can be rehomed as an only cat there is no other option :'(
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Keeping for 3 months is inconvenient but something to think about when deciding to snap test everything because he may not be permanently infected. :(
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The reality is that i didnt want him tested anyhow because we couldnt of dealt with a result. The vet did this as they decided it better to do.. Although snap tests done one the third had been sent away..
Anyhow spoken to Sandra and she is going to think about things, she may decide to make a pen out of her outdoor shed or something with a run.. I contacted two local non CP branches today and wait to see if they have any ideas, one like Julie said did rehome a FELV puss cat last year..
Sandra realises that keeping in a spare bedroom for 3 months for another test isnt feasible esp when the results may be pos again.. is it fair to keep a long term stray in a pen for that long...? Anyhows i have given her advice, guidelines and see what more i can do.. But the decision i suppose is in Sandras hands now.