Warning for those of you that adopt or rescue a shelter cat

[Pouncecat1]

Many shelters are no longer testing for FIV or FELV. This means anything you adopt from the shelter could expose your current pets to a deadly disease. If shelters are testing, they may only test some cats, and not all. They may not disclose which kittens are tested and which aren't. They may leave it up to your vet to catch the omission. They may pool blood samples, and have inaccurate test results that way.

i adopted a kitten that was a bottle baby in a foster home. The website said, all cats and kittens are Felv negative. Well it turns out, not only did they not test him, but he was positive for felv. I found out a year later, after exposing all my other cats to a deadly disease.

It has been a heartbreaking nightmare. The shelter has banned me from fostering or adopting other cats. My current cats are all isolated until we can sort out their status. It's cost hundreds of dollars for testing everyone repeatedly. We did snap tests first, and are either going to repeat those tests, or send off for the PCR testing next. My cat that tested positive is my favorite and had a $1200 vet bill prior to the diagnosis.

I am heartbroken and absolutely devastated. I can't say I will ever trust another rescue again. For that matter, I'm ready to never own another cat again.
I can't even look at my own cats without wondering if they have it or will develop it later on.

A few weeks ago, I was on top of the world with happiness at having a wonderful cat with a clean bill of health and a beautiful new kitten. I of course put my new kitten in with my favorite cat and they became best friends. Now they sit on opposite sides of the door with a pile of toys and no buddies to play with. If by some miracle, my kitten doesn't have it, she can never be with her best friend again. My other cats are unlikely to ever play with her. They are too old.

The newest foster kitten, had to be sent back. He is adorable and under other circumstances, I would have loved to adopt him. So I've lost him as well.

Would this all have been easier if I hadn't just lost my oldest cat a few weeks ago? Renal failure.

So my warning for those of you that adopt a cat... Isolate all new cats and please get them tested. No matter what the shelter says. Learn from my mistakes and get all your cats Felv tested. The shelter tried to blame my vet. I had 2 vets look at him and both gave him a clean bill of health. No one suspected anything. Even when he stopped eating, we assumed it was gastroenteritis.

I am hoping the shelter will fix their website, but it's been a couple weeks and nothing, even though they admitted they don't test all their cats. I think that is extremely inconsiderate, if not outright misleading. The website still says they are Felv negative prior to adoption, which isn't true, if some cats are not being tested. Other rescues probably don't test either, and I doubt most pet owners even think about asking.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi,

The shelter has banned me from fostering or adopting other cats.

May I ask why they've banned you from adopting? This all was basically because of lack of disclosure on their part or that they missed testing this particular kitten, so whether you will adopt a cat again in the future shouldn't be based on an enormous mistake they made (although they aren't admitting it, I imagine from fear of litigation, a demand for funds for treatment, or something), --although I assume you really don't want to have anything to do with them ever again, certainly.

Have they also banned the other foster who had the original bottle-baby? How does anyone know if that feline caught the disease while it was there, ie; what about that foster's other cats?

(I don't think I fully understand the timeline, but that's neither here not there).

FIV In Cats: What Every Cat Owner Needs to Know - TheCatSite
From this article
"Living with FIV-Positive Cats
Some households have both FIV-positive and FIV-negative cats living together. These cats can lead long, happy lives without transmitting the virus.
However, owners must remain vigilant as biting can spread the infection from an FIV-positive cat to an FIV-negative one."

You are, not necessarily surprisingly taking an extremely negative perspective on this, however your cats don't understand why you are feeling the way you are. They are very sensitive to our emotions, so if you can, try to find a hopeful attitude that they will all be ok.

They are too old.

How old are they?

We asked when we adopted Captain in February, and the Animal Shelter said no, they do not test. The only thing they make sure of by actually doing it, is handling rabies vaccinations.

This may shed some light;
Why are some shelters no longer testing all cats for FeLV and FIV?

 

[Pouncecat1]

They don't want other cats exposed to the virus. This is not the same as FIV.

 

[Furballsmom]

This is not the same as FIV.

Sorry, I was just in the process of adding info about it;
This information is from the article posted below;

Yes, FeLV is a serious condition, and it can lead to some challenging health issues. But with the right care and attention, many FeLV-infected cats can enjoy a good quality of life.
The prognosis for cats with FeLV depends on various factors, such as the stage of the virus and the cat's overall health. Some cats may show no symptoms for several years. Others may experience health problems more frequently.
This doesn't mean they can't enjoy their lives. With appropriate veterinary care, good nutrition, and a loving, stress-free environment, FeLV-positive cats can continue to lead happy, fulfilled lives.
If your cat has FeLV, regular vet check-ups are crucial. Early detection of secondary conditions can make a world of difference in treatment and prognosis. And remember, your vet is your ally. They'll help you make the best decisions for your feline friend's health and happiness.

Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV): What You Need To Know - TheCatSite

 

[lollie]

Really sorry for what you’re going through! Sending you hugs. I have one cat, and I’m trying to remember what the procedure was for her. I got her from a county shelter, so you can imagine. I had a vet appointment set up and took her straight there from the shelter. Mostly because I was afraid of fleas. They were de-flea-ing them when I pre adopted her. I think they did do her test there at the vets. Can’t believe I didn’t think anything of that before.

 

[Babypaws]

Many shelters are no longer testing for FIV or FELV. This means anything you adopt from the shelter could expose your current pets to a deadly disease. If shelters are testing, they may only test some cats, and not all. They may not disclose which kittens are tested and which aren't. They may leave it up to your vet to catch the omission. They may pool blood samples, and have inaccurate test results that way.

i adopted a kitten that was a bottle baby in a foster home. The website said, all cats and kittens are Felv negative. Well it turns out, not only did they not test him, but he was positive for felv. I found out a year later, after exposing all my other cats to a deadly disease.

It has been a heartbreaking nightmare. The shelter has banned me from fostering or adopting other cats. My current cats are all isolated until we can sort out their status. It's cost hundreds of dollars for testing everyone repeatedly. We did snap tests first, and are either going to repeat those tests, or send off for the PCR testing next. My cat that tested positive is my favorite and had a $1200 vet bill prior to the diagnosis.

I am heartbroken and absolutely devastated. I can't say I will ever trust another rescue again. For that matter, I'm ready to never own another cat again.
I can't even look at my own cats without wondering if they have it or will develop it later on.

A few weeks ago, I was on top of the world with happiness at having a wonderful cat with a clean bill of health and a beautiful new kitten. I of course put my new kitten in with my favorite cat and they became best friends. Now they sit on opposite sides of the door with a pile of toys and no buddies to play with. If by some miracle, my kitten doesn't have it, she can never be with her best friend again. My other cats are unlikely to ever play with her. They are too old.

The newest foster kitten, had to be sent back. He is adorable and under other circumstances, I would have loved to adopt him. So I've lost him as well.

Would this all have been easier if I hadn't just lost my oldest cat a few weeks ago? Renal failure.

So my warning for those of you that adopt a cat... Isolate all new cats and please get them tested. No matter what the shelter says. Learn from my mistakes and get all your cats Felv tested. The shelter tried to blame my vet. I had 2 vets look at him and both gave him a clean bill of health. No one suspected anything. Even when he stopped eating, we assumed it was gastroenteritis.

I am hoping the shelter will fix their website, but it's been a couple weeks and nothing, even though they admitted they don't test all their cats. I think that is extremely inconsiderate, if not outright misleading. The website still says they are Felv negative prior to adoption, which isn't true, if some cats are not being tested. Other rescues probably don't test either, and I doubt most pet owners even think about asking.

I’m so sorry for your dilemma, I pray everyone will be okay. I can imagine how upset you are about being lied to, I don’t blame you one bit.
Was it a credible/trustworthy place where you got the kitten? That’s horrible the situation they put you in with your other cats, especially your little favorite one, our kitties are like family and we don’t want to put them in any harm….plus the cost..they shouldn’t have lied in the first place about all being tested..I hope you have some way to warn others who are considering or have fostered/adopted from them. Unfortunately not all cat owners belong or even know about this fantastic website (thecatsite)..
Prayers for you and all your kitties

 

[tiggerwillow]

Are shelters and rescues the same thing?

Is there another shelter/rescue near you that you can go to, should in the future you decide to adopt more cats?

 

[susanm9006]

Whenever I have adopted from a home or shelter, I have a vet visited scheduled for within a couple days and have the kitten or cat fully tested. Until they are I keep them isolated from my other cats. Fortunately, while we have had mites, fleas and respiratory viruses, never anything else. But if that were to happen it is early enough to decide whether I wish to return the cat or handle its health issues.

 

[IndyJones]

My local shelters all test for feline AIDS and felv. They will not home postive ones unless there are no other animals (cats) in the household. It says right on the paperwork that they have been tested. I think it could create legal issues if they didn't screen for it. Could be sued.

 

[crazycatlady409]

I'm so sorry for your loss and unfortunately have experienced a similar situation. Our cat passed away at 15 years almost a year ago, so my family and I decided to adopt 2 kittens from a cat rescue this last January. Had I known the change in FeLV testing policies and recommendations, I definitely would have done more research and known what questions to ask before adopting. Both kittens were seemingly healthy up until about a month ago when we had to rush our 10 month old cat Holly to the ER vet with breathing trouble. Less than an hour later we had to make the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye.

We were shocked and heartbroken after what happened and now worried about her sister. Not only did we have to try to pickup the pieces to be strong for Noelle since she just lost her companion from birth, but we also needed to test to find out if she had it as well. As you can imagine with an infectious virus she tested positive which made our grief all the more devastating.

The rescue also didn't disclose they do not test all cats for this, looking back at their paperwork I found nothing to confirm whether they were tested at all. Since these cats were only house cats and only exposed to each other our vet thinks they got it form their mother at birth. I contacted the rescue and they apologized for our loss, but said they had no record of them being positive and would have disclosed it. They gave me a link to a blog article on their website noting the change in testing policies from 2020. Again like your situation this is very misleading and unethical, having no record of being tested is not the same as being negative for FeLV. If the rescue felt good about this policy why are they hiding it from potential adopters? Had they been more transparent maybe our vet wouldn't have missed this on their first appointment and we could have saved Noelle from contracting it (most likely not), but we would have known the signs to watch for in Holly's case and her last day wouldn't have beens so traumatic. For us and for Noelle.

I do not usually post on blogs but this situation has left be with a lot of questions and very few answers. From all the time I've spent researching and talking to my vet I have many concerns with this change in policy. If anyone has more information I would love to hear it.

1. Does anyone have any recent studies from 2020 or later to back up the claim that this still is a rare virus? Have we learned nothing from the pandemic? If you are not testing, you are not finding cases and that gives this virus the opportunity to spread. I have yet to see any studies about the prevalence of FeLV since this policy change was enacted. I would love to see the statistics from our rescue of the % positive cases they have from the few cats they do actually test.

2. Are all shelters and rescues changing to this policy? My vet used to be a vet at an emergency clinic and she said most shelters still test all of their cats for this, but looking on the websites of some of the other rescues and shelters we looked into for adoption I've found nothing to confirm if they still test all of their cats for this if they mention FeLV at all. The least the shelters/rescues can do is disclose this information. If anyone can give me information about shelters in the midwest that still test all cats I would love to know who they are.

I find it disheartening I can only find articles about why you should adopt an FeLV positive cat. I'm not saying we shouldn't give these cats a chance at life, but there are many reasons why they should be tested. If you are feeling the same way as me I did find this article that gives some validation to my thoughts and feelings, I hope it can can do the same for you.
Shelters Not Testing Felines for FeLV/FIV Is Not in the Best Interest of the Animals

My frustration comes not just with the shelters/rescues but also with the whole American Association of Feline Practitioners at this point. I'm afraid this policy is going to do more harm than good in the long run, who is going to take the risk of the heartbreak and expense of adopting a cat from a shelter if this starts to be a more common outcome? I'm not sure if we'll ever get another cat again and I won't be going to a rescue or shelter if we do decide to adopt once Noelle is gone. All of my friends and family who also have cats had no idea of this change and have said they would have been victim of the same situation.

 

[tiggerwillow]

I'm so sorry for your loss and unfortunately have experienced a similar situation. Our cat passed away at 15 years almost a year ago, so my family and I decided to adopt 2 kittens from a cat rescue this last January. Had I known the change in FeLV testing policies and recommendations, I definitely would have done more research and known what questions to ask before adopting. Both kittens were seemingly healthy up until about a month ago when we had to rush our 10 month old cat Holly to the ER vet with breathing trouble. Less than an hour later we had to make the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye.

We were shocked and heartbroken after what happened and now worried about her sister. Not only did we have to try to pickup the pieces to be strong for Noelle since she just lost her companion from birth, but we also needed to test to find out if she had it as well. As you can imagine with an infectious virus she tested positive which made our grief all the more devastating.

The rescue also didn't disclose they do not test all cats for this, looking back at their paperwork I found nothing to confirm whether they were tested at all. Since these cats were only house cats and only exposed to each other our vet thinks they got it form their mother at birth. I contacted the rescue and they apologized for our loss, but said they had no record of them being positive and would have disclosed it. They gave me a link to a blog article on their website noting the change in testing policies from 2020. Again like your situation this is very misleading and unethical, having no record of being tested is not the same as being negative for FeLV. If the rescue felt good about this policy why are they hiding it from potential adopters? Had they been more transparent maybe our vet wouldn't have missed this on their first appointment and we could have saved Noelle from contracting it (most likely not), but we would have known the signs to watch for in Holly's case and her last day wouldn't have beens so traumatic. For us and for Noelle.

I do not usually post on blogs but this situation has left be with a lot of questions and very few answers. From all the time I've spent researching and talking to my vet I have many concerns with this change in policy. If anyone has more information I would love to hear it.

1. Does anyone have any recent studies from 2020 or later to back up the claim that this still is a rare virus? Have we learned nothing from the pandemic? If you are not testing, you are not finding cases and that gives this virus the opportunity to spread. I have yet to see any studies about the prevalence of FeLV since this policy change was enacted. I would love to see the statistics from our rescue of the % positive cases they have from the few cats they do actually test.

2. Are all shelters and rescues changing to this policy? My vet used to be a vet at an emergency clinic and she said most shelters still test all of their cats for this, but looking on the websites of some of the other rescues and shelters we looked into for adoption I've found nothing to confirm if they still test all of their cats for this if they mention FeLV at all. The least the shelters/rescues can do is disclose this information. If anyone can give me information about shelters in the midwest that still test all cats I would love to know who they are.

I find it disheartening I can only find articles about why you should adopt an FeLV positive cat. I'm not saying we shouldn't give these cats a chance at life, but there are many reasons why they should be tested. If you are feeling the same way as me I did find this article that gives some validation to my thoughts and feelings, I hope it can can do the same for you.
Shelters Not Testing Felines for FeLV/FIV Is Not in the Best Interest of the Animals

My frustration comes not just with the shelters/rescues but also with the whole American Association of Feline Practitioners at this point. I'm afraid this policy is going to do more harm than good in the long run, who is going to take the risk of the heartbreak and expense of adopting a cat from a shelter if this starts to be a more common outcome? I'm not sure if we'll ever get another cat again and I won't be going to a rescue or shelter if we do decide to adopt once Noelle is gone. All of my friends and family who also have cats had no idea of this change and have said they would have been victim of the same situation.

Finally, I was reading some of the comments to this post and I found this comment pretty insulting:

"You are, not necessarily surprisingly taking an extremely negative perspective on this, however your cats don't understand why you are feeling the way you are. They are very sensitive to our emotions, so if you can, try to find a hopeful attitude that they will all be ok."

Unless you've experienced a similar situation, it's essential to approach this topic with sensitivity. Criticizing someone's emotional response or offering generic advice can come across as out of touch and condescending. Knowing stress can make her condition worse, we are doing our best to provide a loving environment for our beloved Noelle who is ultimately the innocent victim in this situation.

ANother point is if they are not testing, they are potentially putting existing cats in adoptive households at risk.

For example: someone goes to get a friend for a FeLV negative cat, chooses what they believe to be a FeLV negative cat who is ideal (temprament wise) for existing cat, new cat then shows signs of being unwell, by this point the two cats have been exposed to each other - even if one is shut in a room, the human still has to go in and out of that room, so existing cat then gets FeLV as well.

 

[IndyJones]

It is a sick way of saving a few pennies. Honestly, someone is going to take them to small claims court over this and that will cost way more than the little bit saved not doing it.

Sueing is more common than ever now and it's just not worth the cost or bad press to not test for diseases.

 

[LeiLatte]

I’m so sorry… That is my worst fear. I did not know much about felv/fiv when I started adopting cats. I had them all tested but did not know about the long period before it can show a positive result, and the possibility for the maternal antibodies hiding the infection in a kitten, etc. So I had only tested them once before introducing them to each other as kittens. They’re about 3-4 years old now. I tested everybody again recently and did the felv vaccine, luckily they were all negative.

But now even before setting up new cats in an isolated area of my house, I get them tested. I think I also read it can be up to 60 days after last exposure before it might be detected, and up to age 6 months for kittens because of maternal antibodies? I don’t remember if that was felv or fiv. So I won’t introduce a new cat to mine at all until they pass those tests. I never introduced fosters to my existing cats because I just don’t trust what they may have, and they will be leaving anyway.

And then you have the potential for FIP to develop anytime too which is something entirely different and we have no control over that… I try not to worry and hope for the best