Feline Leukemia Virus

[LilacFields]

I adopted a stray with feline leukemia She's been in heat this week. I asked the vet about spaying her and he's reluctant to do so because it could cause a crisis. Is there something else that I can do to keep her from going into heat every few weeks? A friend mentioned that there might be some kind of hormonal treatment but she wasn't sure.

Thanks!

LF

[grauntb]

I'm sorry, I don't have an answer to your question but my concern is that I took Oreo, a rescue cat, into my home last week. She tested positive for feline leukemia. The vet said we could have her retested in a month and she might have fought it off. The problem is that I have a cat who is healthy and so I cannot keep Oreo. She needs to go into a home with no cats or cats who also tested positive. She is not contagious to people or any other animals, only cats. She's very sweet, though somewhat shy. She has never been in a house before. My husband and his friends at work had been feeding her and taking care of her. She's very friendly and affectionate. We want very much to find her a good home. My home email is [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed].

[Midnight11]

I don't know if you have found a solution to this already, but it is a difficult question. I don't know of any hormonal product that will prevent a cat coming into season. However, I had two adopted cats spayed when they had probably already become infected with FelV, I just didn't know about it at the time. They lived for a couple of years after the operation and seemed to recover quickly from it - but the virus may not have progressed very far at the time. It might be different for your cat, especially if she is showing FElV symptoms. I do remember that one of the cats was quite restless and stressed when in heat, so it could be argued that allowing the cat to go through that every few weeks might be worse in the long run than her having the one-off operation. If you do decide to go with the operation, it is important to ensure a safe and quiet recovery area for your cat in surroundings that she recognises. You can buy a plug in vapour called Feliway that is odorless and emits something that should de-stress your cats, and would be good to use for a while after the op. It probably won't work in relieving heat symptoms though - in fact it may make them worse.

Having said all that, always take your vet's opinion very seriously, they are the experts after all. Good luck with whatever you decide.