My husband and I recently acquired two purebred
3 month old kittens that turned out to be FeLV+
on ELISA, tested within 48 hours of bringing them
home, with the older kitten testing IFA+ a few
days after that.  (I haven't had the younger kitten
IFA tested yet.)  The breeder, who had given us
a written "health guarantee", has already admitted
the infection came from an adult male added to
her cattery a few months ago.  To the best of my
knowledge, she never tested the kittens she sold us.

I have three adult cats that are FeLV-.  The
kittens are under strict quarantine in the guest
bedroom, and my husband and I are in the
process of building separate quarters for them
on our patio. That was the best option we could
come up with rather than have them euthanized
or shift responsibility to someone else.

We will continue to test the kittens at three month
intervals, but I suspect we will never feel comfortable
integrating them into our household
due to the potential health risk to our adult cats.

Prior to this situation, all my cats lived to be
seniors (15+ to 18+ years of age) and died of
typical "old age" diseases - nothing infectious.
Nothing in nearly 40 years of owning cats has
prepared me for FeLV+ kittens.  But I feel, and
my husband agrees, that we owe the kittens
whatever chance they have at life, as long as
their quality of life remains high.

I've spent hours searching for "industry standards"
with regard to breeder responsibilty to test for
infectious diseases before handing kittens over to
buyers, and so far haven't had much luck.  If
someone could point me in the right direction,
assuming such standards or recommendations
exist, I would appreciate it.

I apologize for the long post.  I thought it best
to give more rather than less information.

Gail