Do the IFA. Elisas DO give false positives. In the meantime, don't worry
about him being in your house as long as he is separated. Your cats
won't get leukemia from you walking in and out of the room. It takes
prolonged, close contact between cats to contract it. If this cat has a
home lined up where he is the only cat, there is no reason he can't
still be adopted if he does test positive. Sometimes cats that test
positive will actually clear the virus and test negative at a later
date. Other cats can live a long time with Leukemia, and some have been
known to only be carriers and live a regular life span. Since this cat
is healthy, I would give him every opportunity to have  happy life in a
home somewhere where he will be loved and cared for.

Megan

                                   

Chris <tisme@mindspring.com> wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

It seems pretty clear that you cannot keep him unless you religiously
make sure your other cats are vaccinated and bostered.  It's not
IMPOSSIBLE to have one infected feline living with the others, but
personally I wouldn't risk it.  I feel bad for pets that are adopted
and returned, but shelters usually guarantee a healthy pet or
completely disclose the ailments.  Boo on them if they didn't test this
cat.  "Shots mean only distemper, rabies, and maybe the vaccine, but
that won't do anything if the cat is already infected.  

He may be fine now, but you'll have tough times ahead.  Like I said, I
wouldn't do it if I had other cats.  You're heart may be softer than
mine.

Keep the other cat separated, get the IFA test. Another thing to consider is
that 1/3 of cats who are FLV+ can clear the virus, especially if taken in off
the streets and given proper care and nutrition. 1/3 will just test positive
for their entire lives but seem normal. 1/3 will die from it. Generally they
die within 2 years if not earlier. The FLV virus dies within three seconds
exposed to air. It's difficult to pass it from one cat to another unless there
is long term physical exposure, saliva to blood contact. I adopted a stray mom
cat with kittens. The kittens tested negative even after being with infected
mom for seven weeks, being cleaned by her, nursing off of her. She cleared the
virus a year later and is still doing great.

You could still adopt the cat out. Just let the woman know about FLV.

Hi Chris,

First, some words of encouragement, as I guess you could use some right now.
It sounds like you're a kind-hearted person to take Big Boy in during the
awful cold and obviously you've been caring for him for quite a long time.

You're also not alone as I have gone through something similar recently,
only with an FIV+ stray that I'd been feeding since last winter.  After
taking in two stray kitties this summer, (and I already had 3 existing cats
in my household,) I was not ready for another go-round with a 6th stray, but
"Pirate" needed help, badly.  He'd been living in my backyard and I was
feeding him and trying to get him to warm up to me but early last November
one morning I discovered he'd gotten bitten badly in a cat fight and I ended
up rushing him to the vet. I learned from an initial and confirmatory test
that he was FIV+.  So then it was a "what to do" decision like you're in.  I
knew from talking to several cat rescue people, that with good care, despite
his FIV+ status,  Pirate could have a chance for a decent life and I decided
that I would do something for him as he deserved so much to have a better
life than the one he'd had.  (I, too, had concerns about my other cats with
the FIV+ so absolute worst case, I figured I'd build an nice outdoor
enclosure for Pirate so he would be safe from other animal attacks; turns
out he couldn't defend himself at all as his canines were all broken off,
poor baby.)  But I hoped for more for him than that...

So, this is what I did and I hope it encourages you  go the extra mile to
help your poor guy -- he sounds like a sweetie. With the kind help and
encouragement of one of the cat rescue people I know, I made up a  set of
flyers with Pirate's picture and story and talked to the humane society who
gave me a list of all the cat rescue groups in Albuquerque.  I went in
person and talked to these groups (many were at the local Petsmart and Petco
stores); I also left the flyers at many vet's offices, and even a local
cat-friendly photography store. I even took the flyer down to one of the
local tv stations that was known to be a sponsor for the humane society in
town.  In the meantime, Pirate was healing at the vet's -- they were nice
enough to give me a rescue discount on his services and including boarding
while he was recovering and I got permission to put his flyer and picture up
in a prominent location at their check-in desk.

This all started in early November; I spent 2 days on the flyers, photos and
another 2-3 days passing them around -- then about a week later one of the
rescue groups that kept his flyer called me with a contact from a couple who
had 2 FIV+ kitties and were looking for a third! (There are also people who
have feline leukemia kitties as I met some of those during my search.) The
couple came out to see Pirate and were immediately interested in him but
they were going out of town for 2 weeks so could I keep him until then.  You
betcha!   This rescue group was kind enough to also loan me a kitty condo to
put Pirate in so I could acclimate him to being inside and for the next 2
weeks he lived in the kitty condo in my tiny bathroom in my bedroom and I
did fine closing the door off to my other cats and washing my hands like
you're doing.  Pirate was soooo grateful to be in out of the cold and have
some attention -- my working with him during this time really helped get him
ready for his new home, too.

So, sorry for being so long-winded but I want you to know that you can make
a positive difference for Big Boy.  It wil take time and effort and extra
work on your part but things can work out for a good ending for him.  He can
have a better life for the time he has here and let me tell you, it is so
worthwhile.  Absolutely, my whole holidays were made when the effort to find
Pirate a home worked out. Actually, my whole year...

Chris, please know that whatever support and encouragement I can give you,
you have.  Feel free to email me.  I also know that the cat rescue lady who
mentored me through this would be willing to help you, too, if you'd like.
Below is a link to my yahoo photo site -- if you go to the last 12 photos or
so, you'll see Pirate as he looked in the beginning and how he looks now.  I
just visited him for the first time since November 30th to pick up the cat
condo and see how he was adjusting to his new home.  I think the photos say
it all.

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cfbureltoo/album?.dir=/My+Photos&.src=ph&store=
&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/cfbureltoo

Kindest regards,
Christine Burel
Albuquerque