SO SADDD!!!!!!! HELP!!! :(?

Question

i have five cats:

lovey (3 yr.)

tigger (6 yr.)

lana (4 months)

blinky & boo boo (1 month)

and they are all happy together. blinky & boo boo are the babies and lana isnt much older. but when i brought them all to the vet, Lovey was diagnosed with feline leukimia. what do i do? he doesnt have to be put down but i dont know what to do. i didnt bring them myself, my sister did. my sister also has cats (three) and we are really close. they have playdates!!!! :) but one of her cats had something wrong with its brain and had to be put down... my cat panda had to be put down, too! what do i do! i cant lose another cat, they are like my babies. literally, they are just as close. help me!!!

Answer 1

It's really hard losing a pet or family member.. I know how it feels so your not alone.. It's better to lose one cat then all of them so try to keep Lovey isolated from the rest, because it will spread if the others have not been vaccinated..

Best of luck to you and Lovey!

Answer 2

This may be one of the toughest things you will have to go through and I'm sorry for your situation.  It can take up to 6 months or so from exposure to have a positive test.  I would separate Lovey from the others right away.  Like the others said, it may not be a death sentence for her but it could.  I kinda compare it to human aids because some live a long life with little illness or some lose their lives in a short time.  You need to consider though that if your others are negative, you may be risking their lives for hers.  There are vaccines but nothing is ever 100% effective.  You have a very hard decision to make but most important is to keep her away from all the other cats.

Answer 3

This is most sad.  Expensive no doubt, but all the cats/kittens that have been in contact with your FeLuk positive cat, would need to be tested.  Some may not have contracted it. Any positives should be kept separate from negatives in all aspects of their daily lives to prevent further spread.

Answer 4

Testing positive for Feline Leukemia isn't necessarily a death sentence.  In fact, your cat can live a very full and happy life without EVER becoming clinical (having symptoms of the disease).

I haven't had cats for a few years so I'm not up to date on all the latest advances in treatment, prevention, isolation, etc. but do know that you can get the other cats vaccinated against the disease if they are tested negative.

Talk to your vet about what you need to do to prevent any spread (isolated litter box, etc).  I'm glad more vets are testing for the disease, I lost my childhood cat back in the early 80's to Feline Leukemia because they didn't know enough about it then to test let alone offer a vaccine for it.

I wish you and Lovey the best.

Answer 5

Feline leukemia is contagious through bodily fluids.  Unless your other cats are vaccinated with the leukemia vaccine, they're at risk of getting it too.  They can live with it.. eventually it will take their life.. but like I said.. your other cats are at risk!

Answer 6

if one cat has it, then the rest will probably get it soon. unless you keep her isolated, its spread through the food and water dishes, so if she is eating and drinking out of the same dish as the rest, it will spread. there is no cure for feline leukemia, but they can live for quite a while quite happily before it starts putting them in pain.