Tafi - Feline Leukemia?

[golden-lover]

I'm beggining to suspect Tafy has FeLV.
She doesn't gain any weight, eats and drinks like crazy, no energy, and her fur sheds more than a normal cats.

Please take into perspective that she was declawed as a kitten and left in a yard with no hope forsurvival. Her litter mates were all dead by age 3, and I got enough courage to rescue her when she was 4. She had eaten grass and rainwater for 4 years.

At first I though it was only mild arthritis and worms, but seen as I researches the symptoms, I'm almost positive it's FeLV.

She's only 6-7 years old, but she doesn't run, or play. She sleeps all day. She purrs when you hold her, but I think it's only to keep me happy. :(

I'm sheduling a appointment for her to be tested; should I do the IFA or ELISA test?

The thing is, I don't have the money to have her treated for it in any way if she comes back positive, and my brains nagging me that even if its negative that I may have to euthanize her soon any way. :(

[KatzNK9]

I'd do the more common ELISA test. Does your cat come in contact with other cats? If not, I wouldn't consider putting her down unless there is a health downturn. If she wants to sleep ... let her sleep as long as she's not very ill. Cats sleep about 60% of their lives and moreso as older adults.

There's nothing you can really do to treat her to cure the disease. You can just keep her comfortable in her happy life.

http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_feline_felv.shtml

Keep in mind there are often FALSE POSITIVES with these tests! Don't just take one test as a reason to have a cat PTS.

[golden-lover]

I'd do the more common ELISA test. Does your cat come in contact with other cats? If not, I wouldn't consider putting her down unless there is a health downturn. If she wants to sleep ... let her sleep as long as she's not very ill. Cats sleep about 60% of their lives and moreso as older adults.

There's nothing you can really do to treat her to cure the disease. You can just keep her comfortable in her happy life.

http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_feline_felv.shtml

Keep in mind there are often FALSE POSITIVES with these tests! Don't just take one test as a reason to have a cat PTS.

It's not that I'd have her put euthanized because of it; it's just that shes steadily getting much less active. She was never a playful cat, but she had energy. Now it seems to hurt her whenever she jumps.

[KatzNK9]

It has been my experience if a cat is in too much pain to jump (or do other things), it will not do those things. She just may have aging bones & slowing down in life especially if she was malnourished as a young cat.

[Areias]

ELISA test. My cat is FeLV positive...she showed up on my doorstep last year. Had every bone in my body ready to bring her to the shelter, but I fell in love, and by the time I tested her and found out she was positive, it was too late. :) Good thing too, because right now she is chilling on my bed perfectly fine.

You can't treat it, but you can help the symptoms. If your cat does end up being positive, I would do a panel of bloodwork to see how the systems are functioning. There may be things to do to extend her life, such as putting her on an antibiotic or making giving fluids a ritual.

But that's neither here nor there, get the test done first and then go from those results. Prayers coming your way that it is something else, treatable.

[golden-lover]

ELISA test. My cat is FeLV positive...she showed up on my doorstep last year. Had every bone in my body ready to bring her to the shelter, but I fell in love, and by the time I tested her and found out she was positive, it was too late. :) Good thing too, because right now she is chilling on my bed perfectly fine.

You can't treat it, but you can help the symptoms. If your cat does end up being positive, I would do a panel of bloodwork to see how the systems are functioning. There may be things to do to extend her life, such as putting her on an antibiotic or making giving fluids a ritual.

But that's neither here nor there, get the test done first and then go from those results. Prayers coming your way that it is something else, treatable.

Thanks. The first stray we took in, Moca, was tested positive. We had already had him for a year, so we cou;ldn't give him to a shelter. We tried keeping him in my room, but he attacked me one night because he was tired of being locked up. So we gave him to a no-kill shelter, where he spent a year loose in a room with other FeLV cats. We went to visit a little while after and found he had been euthanized due to being in pain; but we had visited previously and he was fine, healthier than Tafi is now so I find it a bit suspicious. We got his ashes and hes resting comfortably in my clkost on a shelf with my special memories (collars, feathers, ect) still looking for that special place to put him.

[vagreys]

I'm beggining to suspect Tafy has FeLV.
She doesn't gain any weight, eats and drinks like crazy, no energy, and her fur sheds more than a normal cats.
That could also be symptomatic of renal compromise with thyroid involvement. While it could be leuk, as you suspect, you should also have her checked for renal failure and thyroid levels, too. If it is a renal/thyroid thing, treating the thyroid could delay onset of renal failure by many years.

I had a cat diagnosed with renal/thyroid problems at 11, and she lived to 19, before the renal failure finally got her.

[LoveThatPom]

I was going to chime in with the same thing as Grey's. My last dog, Gino, had diabetes and Cushing's Disease and the symptoms were similar. Lots and lots of water drinking is an indication of possible diabetes. Please keep us updated on the prognosis, and know that we're here for you. :o

That could also be symptomatic of renal compromise with thyroid involvement. While it could be leuk, as you suspect, you should also have her checked for renal failure and thyroid levels, too. If it is a renal/thyroid thing, treating the thyroid could delay onset of renal failure by many years.

I had a cat diagnosed with renal/thyroid problems at 11, and she lived to 19, before the renal failure finally got her.