Hallo everyone. I have not been on here for a long time, too busy with my hands-on cat rescues. But I have recently had a very scary experience that I want to share, involving FeLV testing.
Because I had a rescue cat that proved FeLV positive and was already showing a number of symptoms, I had all my 9 cats retested as a precaution. The first two I took in were Wellington and Ellie, whom some of you may remember from my days in Bosnia. To my horror, both tested positive. The vet asked if I wanted them to be PTS immediately, though neither had any symptoms. I thought I was being stupid when |I said no, that I would take them home and isolate them while we tested the others, which we did over the following week. All other cats tested negative. I decided to keep the first two in isolation, and watched them closely for symptoms. They are both elderly now (15 and 16) and Wellington has diabetes and arthritis, while Ellie has kidney problems. But both are on medicaments which are controlling these conditions and have full blood tests every 6 months. For several weeks they continued well. Wellington was due his normal 6 month check-up and I took him to his specialist vet and explained that he had been diagnosed positive but I could not bring myself to follow through when he seemed well. She suggested another test as part of his exam, and he came out negative! All his blood numbers were as normal as usual. So I had Ellie retested and she is also negative, second time around. The original vet who did the tests is very puzzled as she says false negatives are not uncommon but she has never known a false positive. Both cats are now back home in their normal routine and very happy.
These two cats are the only two I have left from my Bosnian days. I love all my cats but these two are my special children. When I think how close I came to trying to do the 'right thing' and put them to sleep, I shudder with horror. Yes, they are getting old, but I hope they will have a good few years yet, and so far I have no reason to think not.
I guess I want to warn everyone that this can happen, and unless your cat is definitely sick, do not take an FeLV test at face value. It can be worth insisting on a second test to verify the diagnosis.
Because I had a rescue cat that proved FeLV positive and was already showing a number of symptoms, I had all my 9 cats retested as a precaution. The first two I took in were Wellington and Ellie, whom some of you may remember from my days in Bosnia. To my horror, both tested positive. The vet asked if I wanted them to be PTS immediately, though neither had any symptoms. I thought I was being stupid when |I said no, that I would take them home and isolate them while we tested the others, which we did over the following week. All other cats tested negative. I decided to keep the first two in isolation, and watched them closely for symptoms. They are both elderly now (15 and 16) and Wellington has diabetes and arthritis, while Ellie has kidney problems. But both are on medicaments which are controlling these conditions and have full blood tests every 6 months. For several weeks they continued well. Wellington was due his normal 6 month check-up and I took him to his specialist vet and explained that he had been diagnosed positive but I could not bring myself to follow through when he seemed well. She suggested another test as part of his exam, and he came out negative! All his blood numbers were as normal as usual. So I had Ellie retested and she is also negative, second time around. The original vet who did the tests is very puzzled as she says false negatives are not uncommon but she has never known a false positive. Both cats are now back home in their normal routine and very happy.
These two cats are the only two I have left from my Bosnian days. I love all my cats but these two are my special children. When I think how close I came to trying to do the 'right thing' and put them to sleep, I shudder with horror. Yes, they are getting old, but I hope they will have a good few years yet, and so far I have no reason to think not.
I guess I want to warn everyone that this can happen, and unless your cat is definitely sick, do not take an FeLV test at face value. It can be worth insisting on a second test to verify the diagnosis.
