Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV)

This is a story with a happy ending, so please continue reading!  One Sunday last November, my cat adoring partner, Brutus, and I went to a Los Angeles County animal shelter to adopt a kitten. When we arrived, there were very few people there, and there were very few cats though there were many cages.  We were told that most of the cats and kittens had been taken to an adoption fair at the La Brea Tar Pits, and they only had room for a certain number of animals.  So we looked at the cats and kittens that were left behind.

I was immediately drawn to a tiny kitten, a tuxedo kitty, making a lot of noise and who was very active.  She was around eight weeks old, and I requested to hold her. When I did, I could feel her ribs and spine, and she was covered with fleas.  I could also tell she was stressed because she had lost whiskers and eyebrows on one side of her tiny black and white face.  But when I tried to hand her to Brutus, she wouldn't let go of me.  When that happened Brutus asked me what her name is.  I named her Serena, and since Serena didn't weigh enough to be spayed, we were able to take her home right away.

The next day we brought Serena to our veterinarian who couldn't hide her lack of enthusiasm for this sickly kitty who weighed 15 ounces.  The vet wouldn't do the routine blood work on her because she hardly weighed anything and because Serena had started sneezing.  Yep, she soon developed a bad cold; she was breathing through her mouth, had a runny nose and discharge from her eyes. And she started coughing.  It was the first time I had heard a cat cough.  She also had diarrhea, and so she started taking antibiotics.  But for her cold, I also started giving Serena lysine.  Her cold didn't completely clear up until the beginning of January.

In January, she was well enough to have a blood test, and that's when a faint line appeared-- positive for FeLV.  They had done this test in the office, but then sent blood out to a lab.  That too came back positive.  So the veterinarian gave us a poor prognosis for Serena and told us there really wasn't anything that could be done.  I tried not to freak out, and instead I decided to boost Serena's immune system because I had read that there was a chance that she could fight off this nasty virus.  I kept giving her lysine twice a day but also added Omega 3 fatty acids, Probiotics, and Chinese herbs.  (I didn't choose the herbs to give her.  A doctor who practices Chinese Medicine did that for me!)  I took Serena to another veterinarian for another opinion, and he said that with kittens you can't tell if the virus has taken hold until they are around a year old.  He suggested we have her re-tested then.  So we made sure Serena had a very calm, stress-free environment, fed her high quality food, and kept giving her supplements.

When she was one, which occurred recently, we had her re-tested.  The blood was sent out to a lab, and it came back negative.  The veterinarian said he was pretty sure that she'll remain negative for the rest of her life. To say the least, we were thrilled.

Serena is strong and muscular with soft and shiny fur.  She has clear eyes and is  very playful! Please don't give up if your kitten has tested positive for FeLV.  Here's Serena: