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- Apr 12, 2017
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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 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.