Frank and FIV
Jul. 7th, 2010 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Frank's blood tests are in. His blood cell count hasn't been knocked around too badly by the chemo, which is great news. In fact, the only side effect he's displaying is HUNGER.
He's FIV+, though, which we didn't know; the virus is probably responsible for his lymphoma. Given we've kept him vaccinated and indoors all this time, it's likely he was infected before we got him seven years ago. Although I'm a little troubled that, apparently due to a clerical error, neither cat have had their FIV shot in the last two years (just the other jabs) and I simply hadn't realised. Make sure your cats get all the vaccines they need, every year; it'll save you grief and buckets of money in the long run. (NB FeLV is very rare in Australia, so neither of the boys are vaccinated against it, but it's common in the US.) In any case Tim will need a test too, and it'll probably be positive. (They're doing an additional test on Frank's sample, looking for viral RNA rather than antibodies, since the latter might be the result of vaccination rather than infection.)
This is all your fault, Ancient Egyptians, for keeping monkeys and cats as pets!
He's FIV+, though, which we didn't know; the virus is probably responsible for his lymphoma. Given we've kept him vaccinated and indoors all this time, it's likely he was infected before we got him seven years ago. Although I'm a little troubled that, apparently due to a clerical error, neither cat have had their FIV shot in the last two years (just the other jabs) and I simply hadn't realised. Make sure your cats get all the vaccines they need, every year; it'll save you grief and buckets of money in the long run. (NB FeLV is very rare in Australia, so neither of the boys are vaccinated against it, but it's common in the US.) In any case Tim will need a test too, and it'll probably be positive. (They're doing an additional test on Frank's sample, looking for viral RNA rather than antibodies, since the latter might be the result of vaccination rather than infection.)
This is all your fault, Ancient Egyptians, for keeping monkeys and cats as pets!
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Date: 2010-07-07 07:54 am (UTC)However, as you mention, a cat who has been vaccinated against FIV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIV) will test positive for antibodies, so that's not an accurate assessment. Furthermore, even if a cat does harbor the FIV virus, it's usually something they will die with, not die of.
And I wouldn't blame the Egyptians for keeping cats and monkeys as pets - the SIV virus might have made the jump to cats when the ancestors of today's domesticats were still living in the grasslands, and occasionally managed to kill and eat a monkey. (The virus is transmitted mainly by direct contact with blood, as in two cats fighting and biting each other.)
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Date: 2010-07-07 08:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-07 11:11 am (UTC)