Try as I might - I cannot find anything definitive regarding practical advice of how to live with a FeLV cat in my multi-cat household.
This article - on this website - addresses General information, but not specifics.
http://www.thecatsite.com/Health/87/...mia-Virus.html
Frankly I am weary of all the varied information as to how long this virus lives outside of the body. Some say hours, some say days. (?)
One source hits on more of the points, but, frankly - I'm not confident of the scientific information as I would be from a website such as Cornell.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9102022AAjUs7l
Here the questioner asked about spreading the virus via human contact.
This question is exactly what I'm interested in.
Buddy is confined to his room 24/7, and has been for the last eleven (11) months.
I am in and out of that room many times a day. I touch him, hug him, and love on him as much as I can - spending at least two hours in his room with him each night.
The Answer to the Questioner is close to the practical answer that I need.
Here's a portion of the answer:
I have forgotten on about 4 occasions - and have touched another cat, only to run for the alcohol to clean his/her coat. Not sure that would help, but since I don't know - I do it.
I've given up on changing clothes after leaving Buddy. I do try to wear a long shirt that I remove before I leave Buddy's room, but not fanatical about my clothing - the vets don't seem to change their lab coats after handling each cat - so ??.
I did go and join one of the Yahoo Groups - but, yet again, I am looking for reliable information on how I can practically care for my FeLV cat while not infecting the others. (I'm not in favor of the vaccine - heard too much bad about it. )
Maybe you have a source? Cornell doesn't help me, I'm hoping someone here can provide some Resources.
My hands are beginning to suffer. Wearing gloves while loving on Buddy just doesn't work.
This article - on this website - addresses General information, but not specifics.
http://www.thecatsite.com/Health/87/...mia-Virus.html
Frankly I am weary of all the varied information as to how long this virus lives outside of the body. Some say hours, some say days. (?)
One source hits on more of the points, but, frankly - I'm not confident of the scientific information as I would be from a website such as Cornell.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9102022AAjUs7l
Here the questioner asked about spreading the virus via human contact.
This question is exactly what I'm interested in.
Buddy is confined to his room 24/7, and has been for the last eleven (11) months.
I am in and out of that room many times a day. I touch him, hug him, and love on him as much as I can - spending at least two hours in his room with him each night.
The Answer to the Questioner is close to the practical answer that I need.
Here's a portion of the answer:
Each time I leave Buddy's room, I concentrate on getting my hands washed. One source says to scrub my hands for two verses of "Happy Birthday" - the time in which it takes to kill the virus. (?)FeLV, feline leukemia, isn't as easy to spread as once thought. While it CAN be spread via saliva and casual contact, most cats with healthy immune systems are not susceptible, it turns out. Even with regular contact. The owners over on the FeLV lists on yahoogroups have been discussing this a lot. FeLV is also a virus, and technically you CAN carry it on your clothing and hands if the clothing and hands are damp - and still have it sort of viable 20 minutes later, but once dry, the virus is dead. So even if a FeLV cat sneezes on you and you don't wash your hands, once it's dry, it's dead and not an issue.
I have forgotten on about 4 occasions - and have touched another cat, only to run for the alcohol to clean his/her coat. Not sure that would help, but since I don't know - I do it.
I've given up on changing clothes after leaving Buddy. I do try to wear a long shirt that I remove before I leave Buddy's room, but not fanatical about my clothing - the vets don't seem to change their lab coats after handling each cat - so ??.
I did go and join one of the Yahoo Groups - but, yet again, I am looking for reliable information on how I can practically care for my FeLV cat while not infecting the others. (I'm not in favor of the vaccine - heard too much bad about it. )
Maybe you have a source? Cornell doesn't help me, I'm hoping someone here can provide some Resources.