Kitten Adoption With Possible Felv

[TonksandLupin]

Hi all,

I have been lurking on this site for the past couple months because my partner and I decided to adopt kittens and have been waiting patiently to pick them up the last few weeks. We decided on a brother/sister pair at first, but fell in love with a third boy that was a little younger and committed to adopt all three.

The rescue has the kittens neutered once they are 1.3 pounds, but two are having a hard time gaining weight (they are about 8-10 weeks now) so our adoption date gets pushed back every half week or so.

We went to visit them today, and found out the girl tested positive for FeLV last week (I think it was a SNAP test). She was a litter of four, and none of her siblings have it. The rescue took in a feral cat and her kittens tested positive too. They have separated them from the rest of the kittens, but all 30 kittens have been in the same room for a couple weeks now.

They are planning to retest at a different lab and also send out for the IFA next Thursday. From what I understand, if she is positive, we probably should not bring her home with two healthy kittens.

My questions are:
- Was the rescue negligent by putting all the kittens together before testing them? They have had most of the kittens since 0-2 weeks old.

- Is it likely that the feral kittens got more of them sick, and ones that tested negative could be infected already?

- From my understanding, 8 week old kittens average around 2 pounds. Could their smaller size be a warning sign for the virus, or is an 8 week old kitten at 1lb 3oz still a normal healthy weight?

- Lastly, WWYD? The brother has been neutered, and is doing well. I’m tempted to ask to bring the boys home first, so they’re out of that environment, and get the second one neutered ourselves when he gets older. Our adoption date is set for next Friday, but between the youngest not being big enough to get neutered, and the female being retested on Thursday, that date is looking unlikely again. I understand health is most important, and that kittens usually get adopted around 12 weeks, but I can’t help but feel like we could give them more care and attention at home right now.

Thanks in advance for any advice or support!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I don't have a lot of experience with some of the things involved here, but I've read that it's considered better to leave kittens with their mother until they are 10-12 weeks. Hopefully someone else will have a chance to provide thoughts and advice for you.

 

[TonksandLupin]

Hi! I don't have a lot of experience with some of the things involved here, but I've read that it's considered better to leave kittens with their mother until they are 10-12 weeks. Hopefully someone else will have a chance to provide thoughts and advice for you.

Thanks for your response! These kittens have been separated from their moms since birth, unfortunately. but yes, I’ve heard the same and just want to do what’s best for them!

 

[Furballsmom]

Is it likely that the feral kittens got more of them sick, and ones that tested negative could be infected already?

From my understanding, 8 week old kittens average around 2 pounds. Could their smaller size be a warning sign for the virus, or is an 8 week old kitten at 1lb 3oz still a normal healthy weight?

Regarding these two questions, if you hopefully have a vet you trust, you could introduce yourself and the oncoming kittens and ask the vet what he/she thinks.

 

[GoldyCat]

Some kittens are simply smaller than others, the same as some full-grown cats are smaller than others. My first kitten weighed #1.4 at 7 weeks. She ended up at about #9.5 as an adult.

I fostered a litter of kittens at 4 weeks old who were the size of many 2 week old kittens. They were all healthy and appropriately developed for their age, just little.

I do think you need to have your own vet check out the kittens as soon as you get them.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think you should take all 3 kittens out of there and care for them yourself. The other male can be neutered in a few weeks, and you can ask your vet to test the female again using a non-snap test.

I think the kittens will all do better with you.

30 kittens is a lot, and a feral mom should have been tested first, but it’s hard to fault someone who is fostering and trying to help our feline friends.

Let us know what you decide to do!

 

[TonksandLupin]

Thank you all! I definitely don’t want to speak poorly of the rescue, they have been great, and bring a lot of positive social media to rescuing and TNR. (I think the feral mom was only with her kittens before being released, and never had direct contact with the other kittens.)

Thanks for the reassurance about their weight too! I think the news about the FeLV made me extra worried, but I’m hoping they are just a little smaller as kittens.

I think that we will probably try to pick them up this Friday, regardless of whether they are all neutered. Unfortunately, I don’t think the rescue will release the female into our care with the others before they get a negative ELISA. We will take them straightaway to a vet to get another thorough checkup.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Sarthur2]

Ask them if they will let you take her to your vet. It sure sounds like they have their hands full.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If the rescue of foster home is overwhelmed, this might be negligent but more than likely falls into the category of not enough space, not enough room, and **** happens (I removed my own bad words. Aren't you proud of me? LOL) =)
I've posted the long version here before but I'll sum it up.

My great-grandmother, who would have LOVED this site, was a complete cat fanatic. She had a small kitten test positive to for Felv, one of the first in our area, many MANY years ago. Vet recommendation was euthanasia, and she declined. The kitten was taken home, fed good food, given lots of love and kept in a stress free environment with a lot of other Felv negative cats. The cat was 6 months old upon diagnosis.
As a small child, my parents inherited this cat when she went to nursing care. This cat lived with our cats, stress free. He died one day at 19+ years old. 18.5 years past the vets recommendation of euthanasia.
Not all Felv. cats will see this, but I do think they deserve a chance.
Do some digging. If wherever you got this cat gets donations by the boatload and seems to never pass this onto the pets....but if they are regular folks that are trying their best, they may need help more than they need complaints...

 

[ashade1]

So just a few things... I know my rescue doesn't combo test kittens until they are 6 months old. As the tests tend to be pretty unreliable. They give false positives pretty frequently with kittens which causes some groups/shelters to euthanize. From what I have heard they can get false positives because of the antibodies in their moms milk? But also I had seen studies that showed that FeLv in kittens acts different than it does as adults and they can actually fight it off and test negative later on? I haven't looked into those studies too much but they are out there!
As for the weight they could just be small kittens! We have a vet that will do them at 2lbs but I haven't had a kitten yet that weighed enough until they were 10-12 weeks, which is how long we recommend they stay with mom/siblings anyway!

 

[jen]

Perhaps negligent yes, in mixing them all together, but sometimes rescues do what they have to do. I would adopt all 3. Those cats will never have it so lucky. They may be more prone to illness and you may have to find a really good vet who is very experienced with FeLV cats and can help manage their care. But whatever ones you decide to adopt, you should probably retest them in the near future. Also you really can't keep any FeLV negative cats with them, but there are always FeLV cats who need a home and barely have a chance otherwise, so you will just have to search for those and you would be their angel.

(Also I love your username!!!)