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Feline Leukemia Virus
(FeLV)
......Personal notes from one who has fought this horrible
and HIGHLY contagious feline disease since Jan. 1998....
It is not my intention on this page to give you a medically correct definition of all the stages and manifestations
of this horrible disease. I am going to try to focus,
instead, on what a loving, caring cat owner sees happening
to the cats she loves.....feelings experienced......and
try to offer some insight on how to get through the grief
we all naturally feel,and offer my suggestions for some difficult
decisions, when a loved one leaves us for the "rainbow bridge."
Very briefly then, and without getting too technical,
here is my understanding of what FeLV IS.......I know
all too well what it DOES.
FeLV has been likened to both human leukemia, and also the
human A.I.D.S virus. I do know it is a true leukemia, as I
saw the thin, watery blood drawn from Bandit, the first cat
we KNOW died from FeLV. I now suspect Harley was a victim as
well. What makes this disease so deadly is that the leukemia
weakens the cat, and something similar to AIDS also weakens the cat's immune system, thereby making it susceptible to other
illnesses not normally fatal to the cat.
Once a cat has been exposed to this virus, there are said to be
four possible outcomes:
The cat will contract the disease, mount an immune response to
it, fight off the disease, and recover completely.
The cat will contract the disease, become ill, and either die
of the actual leukemia, or one of several other infections
not normally fatal to cats.
The cat will be exposed to the disease, never show any signs of illness, yet will build antibodies against it, thereby testing postive to Felv tests. The cat is not an "active" carrier, and is not a danger to other cats.
The cat will be exposed to the disease, never show any signs of illness, yet will build antibodies against it, thereby testing postive to Felv tests. The cat IS an active carrier, and should be kept away from any non-vaccinated cats.
In both the first and fourth case, the cat may appear normal
for 6 months to three years, then become ill and die later,
either of the FeLV or one of it's complications.
FeLV is spread through the saliva and blood of infected cats, as in cat fights, less frequently by urine and feces in litter boxes, and rarely by breeding, unless scratching and biting accompany that act. Yet, Fancy and Dice mutually groomed each other until the day Dice was stricken......Fancy lived, and Dice didn't. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to this disease.
It will NOT help to vaccinate a cat who has been exposed to it although they say it will not hurt a cat either.
Just as I changed my thinking from "trap, tame, find a home" for feral cats to "trap, neuter, return", I now firmly believe ALL cats, especially dual indoor-outdoor cats, should be vaccinated, especially with the much safer vaccines they have these days.
Note: most of my cats were NOT vaccinated, as I had one that had a reaction to the second shot and died 14 years ago when the vaccines first came out. At that time, the vaccine was "modified live" and now I believe they now use a "killed" vaccine. I truly wish I'd kept up to date on the new, safer vaccines but I guess I just had a block in my mind on that subject.
Some of the conditions that may take the life of the cat, if the actual leukemia does not, include: Rhinotracheitis, FIP, any number of various cancers, abcesses or sores that will not heal, or any normally non-fatal respiritory disease.
The course of the illness is sometimes similar between cats. Two of them, Harley and Amadeus, I walked into the garage both times, and simply found them dead, when they had both been right as rain, happy and eating, the previous day.
Two of them, Strawberry and Dice, the Russian Blue crosses, evidently had a respiratory ailment they could not overcome, even with antibiotics. Dice was happy and playing and eating one morning....as I was cooking dinner that night, he walked into the kitchen and flopped over on his side, as if he'd had a stroke or something. His eyes glazed...he rasped for breath. I made him warm and comfortable on soft towels in the bathroom, and 48 hours later, he was gone.
Strawberry, I just found hunched up, having trouble breathing, 24 hours later, she was gone.
Bandit's problem made itself known over 48 hours. He stopped eating, even kitty treats. I finally figured out it was hurting his mouth to eat, so I examined him closely. His gums were pale and bleeding a little. I thought maybe he just needed his teeth cleaned, and when I got him to the vet in the morning, she agreed that was all that was wrong. It wasn't until they had him sedated and saw how thin and watery his blood was that they started becoming alarmed. They called me at work and asked permission to do a FeLV test, which I gave. Come to find out, he was in the end stages of FeLV, and was so weak and compromised that he started having seizures coming out of the anaesthetic. Even though they told me they performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth on him, the third seizure took him.
Until that day, I had not thought about FeLV for 14 years......since that day, I have thought of nothing else. From all these happy, healthy, furry freeloaders.....from finding homes for many strays.....now two dead, in a month. Harley, as mentioned, died suddenly, with no symptoms or warning. To me, FeLV is like a time bomb.....and you never know when or who it will strike next.
The next one is still very hard for me to talk about. Chad was everything to me. A cat like that only comes along once in a lifetime, and his stay on earth was far too short. You can read about him here. Chad had an abscess on his foot that would NOT go away. I had been cleaning it twice daily for almost 2 months. On the day that Bandit passed, the very sensitive and caring vet told me about some of the manifestations of FeLV. When she mentioned "sores that do not heal", I immediately thought about Chad. I took him in the next day to be tested, sure enough, he had been exposed but did not necessarily have the disease yet. He would need to be re-tested in a month to determine his status. They sedated him, clipped and thoroughly cleaned his abcessed foot, and sent him home with 14 days worth of an antibiotic called Clavamox.
Even though he was obviously grieving for his buddy Bandit, those 14 days were like a new life for Chad. His foot healed within 5 days, grew hair back on it, and was full of more piss and vinegar and clowning around than I'd ever seen him be. It was not to last, unfortunately. On the third day OFF the antibiotics, the abcess came back. With a vengeance. I called his vet but she was on vacation. Her stand-in gave us a different antibiotic (Baytril)for 10 days.........I still have 3 days worth of those left.
Chad only lasted 7. An overwhelming infection must have started, I could feel the fever in his whole body. I felt him shaking at times with chills. All through this, he never ONCE lost his humor or his dignity, or his loving taps on my leg with his paw, as if to say, "hay, Mom, I'm right here, it's gonna be ok."
He stopped eating on the third day, and I'm ashamed to say that I continued to force feed him, with a syringe, and watered down baby beef for two more days. I fear now, I just prolonged his suffering. In my experience with this, as long as a cat eats eagerly, with a good appetite, there is hope, but when they stop eating, there isn't much you can do from there on.
Chad got his antibiotics until his last day, for all the good they did.
Two others, the latest two, Kit and Chap, had similar courses. From the time I noticed them being off their feed, it was 5 days for Kit, and 7 days for Chap. I was unable to personally nurse Kit through her illness, because of family matters, and having to drive to California. Kit had been just fine the day before, a Saturday - when I went out the next day to say goodbye to all for the time I had to be gone, Kit was not well. She was thin overnight, and had that look in her eyes I've seen too many times.
I knew in my heart that I was saying goodbye for the last time as I held her, and asked her to try to hang on until I could get back. My son was over every day tending to their food and water, and giving me good reports on her. By the fifth day, though, when I got home, she was gone.
Three weeks later, Chap was looking a little thin, and off her feed. I immediately brought her from the outside run into the house where I could keep a closer eye on her. The first few days, she had a great appetite, even put back on a little weight. I made sure she got special food and lots of attention. Then, little by little, she started to slip. Nothing respiritory this time, it was almost as if something was eating her up from inside. I did NOT force feed her this time, but did spend lots of time coaxing her to try to eat just a little. The last two days, Chap was passing blood in the litter box as well. How she had the strength to keep jumping up in my chair and on my bed at the end, I do not know.
But cat owners know that a cat's love is a unique and special thing and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.
One final note....this is something I used to see in ALL the cats I have lost to FeLV.....I don't know if this is simply an acquired habit, or something genetic in cats pre-disposed to this virus....or what. But every single one of these cats that has died had a tendency to lol their tongue out when relaxing....it is very obvious in the first pic on Chad's tribute page.....and they all did it. I thought it was cute, and part of their charming personalities......wondering now, if there could be anything to tie it in with the FeLV? It terrifies me when I see one doing that now....and I wonder how much longer we have together.......
This page has been very hard for me to write, and I must confess I have been dragging my feet on it. However, if what you have read here can help just one person or cat......or make someone feel better......or at least let you know you are not without support in your struggle against FeLV or any kind of pet loss or grief, then it will be worth it to me. If just one thing you have read here convinces you to vaccinate your cat against this horrible disease, or maybe alerts you to something unusual in your cat's behaviour, then it will be worth it to me.
Since writing this page, in getting confirmation for the links, I found a Monday Night Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial Ceremony for all our kitties who have passed on or are special needs kitties. Sheesh, I just revisited there, according to this, I didn't need to wait for authorization to post this link.
"If you wish to link your website to Petloss.com,
go right ahead & do it. No permission needed."
(Red-faced) Here is the link:
All my kitties who were taken were remembered in the Mon. 9/6/99 Ceremony.....and my heart is lightened a bit. It was one more step in resolving my grief after sharing this page, and my experiences with you.
I have had to make many tough decisions in this battle, alone for the most part. My decisions are my own, and I expect neither support for them, nor people condemning me for the choices I've had to make. I think the two toughest decisions were:
Accepting the cat's decision NOT to eat, when they feel it is their time to go. I can coax, offer, temp, and beg, but will NO longer force feed them. I still feel I prolonged Chad's suffering and I never, ever intended to do that to my loyal buddy.
I often wonder whether it may not be more humane to the cats, when I first see signs of the active illness, to take them immediately to the vet to be put down, and thus cut short their suffering in what has proven to be a battle we CAN NOT win.
My decision, however, has been to keep them at home, where they are comfortable, safe, protected and loved, until the end.
I used to work in a vet's office, and I still recall all the little kitty paws reaching out to me, snagging a sleeve or my hair, through the bars of their cages, wanting only a kind word, a simple pat, or just confirmation that they are still rulers of their world.
I just can't see my own cats spending their last days, even their last hours or minutes, in a place with which they are not familiar, and are not certain they are loved.
Your input, questions, comments and suggestions are welcomed, please feel free to e-mail me below. Thank you for taking the time to read all this, and make sure to
HUG YOUR KITTY TODAY !!
The above image was given to me in a card by Susie, of Pawprints & Purrs, to protect "all my beloved cats." This Maneki Neko is a guardian. Thank you, Susie ! Please click on the image to visit her site, she has a WORLD of information on other cat diseases as well !
 
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