Help please. Do you know what is wrong with my pussycat?

[Lorelei]

I believe it can be transmitted from the Mother to the kits unfortunately. Steel please keep us posted. Our Mingy was thought to have been infected in this way and he was vaccinated for it and was an indoor cat.

 

[Steel]

Thank you Packrat & Lorelei, but it is more bad news.

Update:

My Lissey was never given the Leukeamia shot. So she is positive for the virus. I don''t have much to say about that for the moment.

 

[Amandine]

Steel, I am so sorry to hear that! Dust and (((hugs))) for you and Lissy!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/27/2009 1:22:47 PM
Author: Steel
Thank you Packrat & Lorelei, but it is more bad news.

Update:

My Lissey was never given the Leukeamia shot. So she is positive for the virus. I don''t have much to say about that for the moment.

I am so sorry Steel...I wish there was something I can do.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''m so sorry Steel

 

[decodelighted]

I''m so sorry Steel.

 

[Clairitek]

Oh no Steel. I am so sorry to hear this.

 

[packrat]

Oh no-I''m so sorry Steel and Lissey!

 

[isaku5]

I''m so sorry, Steel and Lissey.

 

[frenchblue]

steel i''m so sorry to hear about lissey, i was hoping for better news. did you ask the vet who charged you for the vaccine what happened??

i hope lissey is holding up ok and eating

 

[VRBeauty]

Steel: I'm so sorry to hear of this diagnosis, and to hear that Lissy was not vaccinated as you thought.

I have no desire to give you false hope, but I have had a cat that recovered from feline leukemia... it is not always fatal. Obviously your vet's knowlege of the situation trumps my anecdotal experience, and your vet will advise you based on Lissy's specific situation. Whatever her prognosis, FELV is highly transmittable, though, which could pose problems if yours is a multiple cat household.

Best wishes.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Oh goodness, I am so sorry.

 

[Steel]

Thank you all for your support. I have kept away from this thread while I try to get my thoughts together.

You are correct VRBeauty, all three cats could be infected. That was another blow. I took them all to the vet today to get bloods taken from the two male cats to see if they are also infected. The results will come back by the end of the week. If they are not infected they will be given the vaccine which will protect them yearly against Lissy''s virus. If they are all infected then it will be very sad.

For the first time in my life I regret having so many animals. If they are all sick we are going to struggle to pay for medical care. DH and I will face that when and if it happens.

It is so very sad. I will come back when we get the results from our boys bloodwork.

Lissey is doing well. She is gaining weight, has improved condition and outlook. The bad news is that something showed up on her bloodwork on Friday. Our vet was supposed to ring me on Friday to discuss it but he didn''t. Another vet has put her on another 2 week course of general anti-biotics but the office would not tell me why. I requested he call today to explain but he didn''t.

None of this improves my mood.

 

[LGK]

I''m so, so sorry to hear the diagnosis. I don''t have much to add except I was following your thread here and wanted to add my support. I would be furious about the vaccine not being given.

Wishing you and Lissey the best, and hope your other kitties are OK too.

 

[Feralpenchant]

I am so sorry to hear of her condition but I am happy that you finally have an answer.

Where I work, we once had a client who had 6 kitties, and one displayed the same symptoms as your Lissey. He was diagnosed with FELV as well, and we tested all the other 5 kitties in the household. None of them were infected!

Keep hopes high! With outdoor cats they should ALWAYS be up to date on FELV vaccines! You never know what other cats they may encounter outside your home.

 

[teapot]

Oh Steel, I am so sorry to hear about Lissy. Since I first posted, I didn''t see any of the follow-up. I took that as a good sign. Somehow, I missed all the rest of the story. I am so sad and angry for you. Perhaps you could call the vet that made the mistake and have them "fix" the problem at their cost, not yours. I would start taking careful notes about time lost, cost, etc related to your babies'' health.

Of course we are hoping for the best for all of your babies. Here''s some dust for you all.

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[zhuzhu]

I am so sorry to hear of the infection... Please keep us updated on what the test results say. If the vet does not follow up with you, keep calling them. Sometimes they do not understand the anxiety pet mom/dad feels.

 

[Steel]

Awh, bless you all for your support.

LGK: Thank you for posting. I am too upset to get angry at the moment. Plus it would be impossible to prove that the vaccine was ordered, paid for and not given because our receipts were not itemised. Even worse this vet never gave a receipt. I am trying not to think about that because I will drive myself insane with guilt.

FeralP: Hi there. I've not see you before; your avatar is priceless - who is that little minx? Funny how FELV is not so rare after all

.

Teapot: Thank you for the big dusting.

Zhuzhu: Thank you. Update to follow.

 

[Steel]

Update

Good news

...bad news

.

As I said, we took the 3 cats in earlier this week to get bloods from the boys and a check up for Lissey. This is the result:

Henry (4):

FELV: Negative
FIV: Positive

Oscar (Under 1):

FELV: Negative
FIV: Negative

Lissey (2):

FELV: Positive

FIV: Negative

So good news in that the boys do not have FELV (Feline leukaemia virus) but bad news in that Henry has FIV (Feline immunodeficiency virus). Like FELV this is also incurable and could probably lead to full blown cat AIDS. (It never rains, it pours) The effect is that Henry (if the virus is fully active) has no immune system and is at serious risk of death if he gets sick. There is nothing I can do for him except make sure he is in the best condition possible and get any illnesses reported to the vet asap for treatment. The stinger is that the vet said there is no vaccine for FIV, so it is communicable to the other 2. We will have to be vigilant to ensure that Henry does not feed from the same bowls as the other 2 or he could infect them.

So my pretty girl has FELV. The boys are getting their vaccine tomorrow which will require a booster yearly. She has been in poor health for months now and this is more likely than not as a direct result of her virus.

My eldest boy has FIV. He could infect my girl or the kitten. There is no vaccine. He is in the best of health but according to our vet any illness could kill him as it is more likely than not that he has no immune system.

Our kitten is in perfect health. Bless his cotton socks, long may it last.

 

[Steel]

Henry last Halloween:

 

[Steel]

Here is little Oscar last Halloween:

 

[Steel]

I am now dealing directly with the owner of the clinic who is informative and very professional. I explained my concerns to him that my cats were had been seen by 3 vets including himself and I felt that information was not being passed to the next examining vet. I asked if he would offer primary care; that I was happy to bend to any schedule that suited him and he agreed! That made me very happy.

One of the problems which led me to this was that the first vet who examined Lissey no longer works for that clinic and he prescribed an anti-biotic for her in December. Then earlier in the week a different vet prescribed this same anti-b as a preventative measure; not knowing that she had been given that same medicine less than 2 months prior. I explained this concern to the vet and he was not happy with it. Thankfully he agreed to see us himself.

 

[Feralpenchant]

Steel : I am rather new to pricescope and am trying to learn as much about diamonds while I can, but I mainly post over in this area because my profession is a vet tech, and so I have more to offer on this side of the site

That little minx in my avatar is my baby Zodiac, or Zoey. TONS of pictures of her here https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/furry-babies.107133/ toward the end of the thread.

I am so sorry to hear of Henry''s condition as well. I find it so odd that your vet never tested all of the cats with a combo test (tests for FIV/FELV) on their FIRST visit to the vet. Every vet I''ve ever worked for has a strict policy of doing a combo test with the initial physical exam, if no test is on record. FELV is not as rare as people like to think. In my experience I have had lots of run ins with it. Not so much with FIV. As I''m sure your vet explained, cats with FIV may need to be isolated or rehomed. If you intend to keep your household the way it is, I would at LEAST suggest keeping him strictly indoors to prevent exposure to potentially fatal bacteria with his immune system in the state that it''s in. Cleaning bowls, litter boxes, etc, is crucial.

Make sure to start them all on FELV vaccines if you haven''t done so already.

On a happier note, many cats live full and healthy lives with this condition, so good luck with all three of them! They''re all so cute!

 

[Blackpaw]

Oh steel im so sorry. Im new to this whole forum and only just saw this thread now. My thoughts are with your kitties. I hope they''re all alright. And with you and your DH at this time. Its a good thing they have a loving owner like you to get them all through this. hugs and dust...

 

[bee*]

I''m so sorry to hear this Steel. I haven''t been on PS a huge amount the past few weeks. I''m glad that you''re dealing with the main vet in the practice now.

Feral-I don''t know of any vets over in Ireland that do the tests as standard, even in the Vet college it''s not done unless needed. Not sure why they don''t. Think it''s mainly to keep the bills down.

 

[Feralpenchant]

It may just be the area I''m in, I''ve only ever worked in Montgomery county. They require a FIV/FELV test to be on record to treat the cat. I guess I just assumed it was standard practice after working for 4 veterinary clinics in the area. But you''re right, the combo tests are not inexpensive.

I can see why they would only be done if requested and/or suspicion of infection arose.

 

[Steel]

Update

Last night Lissey started to rub her right eye. Thinking she has a hair caught I cleaned it for her. By night-time she had developed a milky growth spreading up from the bottom of her iris to her pupil. This morning the growth has spread from the bottom of her iris to almost the top of her iris. She spent the day today hiding in a cupboard and almost turned her nose up at tuna

.

I rang the vet and he saw her after hours tonight. He thinks she has developed iris-itis which is contracting her pupil closed, he feels this will get worse not better and as her left pupil is already mis-shapen, that she will develop this in both eyes which will diminish her sight at best or cause blindness at worst.

He also felt that her condition has deteriorated and although she is probably no in pain he thought she was miserable. She had her steroid injection on the 21st so he gave her another to see if she improves on it.

The vet hoped she would improve but felt that with the FELV and her enlarged lymph glands along with the iris-itis she is failing. The bottom line is that this is our time to say goodbye to her.

I have been crying non-stop since I got her in the car to come home. How do I choose the day my girl should die? Where should I bury her? Will she be cold outside? Should I put her dressing gown with her when we bury her? Should I put some treats and toys with her? I cannot get my head around the fact that she will not be here next month and possibly next week. My beautiful brave girl.

I gave her some cat-milk and a ton of treats when we came home. She has perked up from the steroid and is stilling in the chair next to me, beside the fire so I find it hard not to think optimistically, that she will survive this. I have to keep telling myself that it is just the steroid.

I would love some support please. Especially if you have euthanised your pet; how do I cope?

 

[Aloros]

I''m so sorry, Steel. *hugs*

My beloved Amazu contracted FIP when he was 1.5 years old. I don''t think there''s anything you can do to make things easy on yourself. But you''re making things easier for your dear Lissey.

I did a lot of grieving before the actual euthanization. I was glad I had the chance to say goodbye. I made sure he was comfortable, gave him his favorite foods, lots of cuddles and love, and took a lot of photographs and videos so I would have things to remember him by. I don''t know how flexible your vet is, but I know when Amazu was close to passing, the vet told me to just call, and we could bring him in immediately.

I''m grateful that I got to hold him in my arms when he passed away. It was very peaceful, very calm.

It''s been almost two years and I still miss him dearly, but it gets better with time. Less sad and more happy that I had the time with him that I did.

Hugs and cuddles for your Lissey.

 

[Lorelei]

Steel, has the vet offered to try chemo?

 

[niccia]

I''ve just seen this thread now, and I am so sorry you are going through this with your kitties. I completely understand how you feel because I have been there before. I have lost many pets over the course of my lifetime (my family takes in rescues), but we had to put two of them to sleep, and those two had been with me from when I was 9 months old to when I was 16 and 19 respectively. It is a horrible feeling, but you really will know when it is time. I cried and cried at the thought of losing both of them leading up to it, didn''t know how I could ever let them go, but suddenly I just knew with both of them. Even though it is difficult, it happens so quickly and peacefully, and I just tried to stay as calm and reassuring for them as possible even though that was terribly difficult. If you do a search for Irishgrrrl''s post about her great dane, I told the story about putting my cat to sleep there.
I will pray for your sweet little girl (and Henry too)