at what age are the FelV and FIV tests accurate?

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Wendy - 23 Jun 2004 18:51 GMT

Doing a web search I come up with everything from they can be tested at any
time to it's not accurate till 6 mos. At what age do you usually test
kittens?

There are about 5 doctors at the veterinary practice I take my cats to. The
vet I usually deal with told me (last fall) he couldn't test kittens until
they were at least 12 wks. old. When I took the most recent litter up to be
checked (when they had diarrhea and weren't eating) I saw a different
(younger) vet who told me she could test them then (they were 2-3 wks old).
She did and the results were negative. She warned that there could be a
false positive at that age but if it was negative then they were negative.
The rescue group we're fostering for told me I shouldn't trust the results
because they were so young. So now I'm confused.

The kittens are now 7 weeks old and are itchy to get out of the cat play pen
I'm keeping them in. I don't want them interacting with my resident cats
unless I'm pretty sure they aren't positive. So do I need to get them
re-tested? Are they old enough yet?

Thanks

W

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Linda Terrell - 24 Jun 2004 02:43 GMT

> Doing a web search I come up with everything from they can be tested at any
> time to it's not accurate till 6 mos. At what age do you usually test
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> W

Well, a negative FeLeuk doesn't mean it will stay Negative. I lost
a cat to FeLeuk last year who had tested negative earlier. I have
another
one who nearly died 2 months ago, tested out positive to FeLeuk -- did
a
CBC and it came back with low white count, 80% lymphocytes but NO
NRBC's.
He's alive and well on a regimin of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.

So I'd say testing again at 6-7 months and maybe even 6 months again
after
that. because they can hold the virus in their bone marrow which will
giveyou a
negatiove test, then it can suddenly "bloom."

LT

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JoJo - 25 Jun 2004 22:59 GMT

Both shelters I foster for test them at 6 weeks of age, when they're old
enough for their first set of vaccs.

Sorry that's all the help I can offer.

> Doing a web search I come up with everything from they can be tested at any
> time to it's not accurate till 6 mos. At what age do you usually test
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> W

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~*Connie*~ - 26 Jun 2004 01:59 GMT

The first doctor is telling you what I have always been told. A negative
result is pretty much assured, where as a positive might be a false positive
from the mom's antigens. HOWEVER.. that being said, let me tell you that it
takes six weeks to incubate. So test when they are at least six weeks of
age, then retest after six weeks to be 100%. Or should I say six weeks past
any possible exposure.

This being said. Getting Felv is not easy. I have had it in my home twice,
and my resident, well established cats have not gotten it. My younger
(under a year) one did. However, he only ever tested positive, he never
came down with symptoms, and with some loving care, high quality food, and
high doses of vitamin C, he now tests negative.

> Doing a web search I come up with everything from they can be tested at any
> time to it's not accurate till 6 mos. At what age do you usually test
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> W

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Willows - 28 Jun 2004 00:29 GMT

> This being said. Getting Felv is not easy. I have had it in my home twice,
> and my resident, well established cats have not gotten it. My younger
> (under a year) one did. However, he only ever tested positive, he never
> came down with symptoms, and with some loving care, high quality food, and
> high doses of vitamin C, he now tests negative.

Just so you know your cat never had it, he tested positive because he
was showing exposure to it but managed to fight it off and never got the
virus which is why he is now negative. There is no cure for Felv so he
could never have had the virus.

As for when to test you can't really test kittens until their veins are
big enough to get blood out of with a needle which is usually 6 weeks.
To test before then you have to use a different test not a blood test
which some vets don't think is as accurate.

While its true that a cat can test positive and later negative because
they have been exposed to the virus and fought it off, it is also true
they can test negative and then turn positive if the test is done to
quickly after exposure. All this makes it very confusing but its an
extremely small percentage that will come down with felv after a
negative test.

On testing kittens and having experamented with tests I have never yet
found a kitten less then 12 weeks to be positive where the kittens
mother has been negative and I've also never seen a positive mother who
didn't also have positive kittens. It might be a bit of a waste of
money having to test all the kittens and put them through that where its
possible to test the mother.

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~*Connie*~ - 29 Jun 2004 03:28 GMT

It totally depends on the situation. An exclusive relationship between
mother and kittens I would tend to agree with you, but if there is any
mingling of families, it happens. (aka a shelter environment or a large
feral colony)

> On testing kittens and having experamented with tests I have never yet
> found a kitten less then 12 weeks to be positive where the kittens
> mother has been negative and I've also never seen a positive mother who
> didn't also have positive kittens. It might be a bit of a waste of
> money having to test all the kittens and put them through that where its
> possible to test the mother.

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~*Connie*~ - 29 Jun 2004 03:40 GMT

> > This being said. Getting Felv is not easy. I have had it in my home twice,
> > and my resident, well established cats have not gotten it. My younger
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> virus which is why he is now negative. There is no cure for Felv so he
> could never have had the virus.

I would suggest you read the book The Very Healthy Cat Book: A Vitamin and
Mineral Program for Optimal Feline Cat
by Wendell O. Belfield
and/or check out http://www.wholisticanimal.com/fip.html

There are a lot of studies on the effectiveness of Vitamin C and its ability
to fight off a varity of devistating illnesses in cats.

Jack tested positive for Felv twice, six weeks apart after a known exposure
to an felv / fip positive cat (long story). All five of my cats had high
"FIP titers" Now all five are negative. I'll never not give vitamin c to
any cats I own.

Id also like to know how you think that he could be exposed to a virus, and
make antibodies to it, but not actually "have" it. He was exposed to it,
it was in his system, but he did not get sick from it. it happens all the
time.

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