A few weeks ago, I found two 3 week old kittens by my home. I took them in and they have thrived so far. They have been wormed and fleas were removed. I took them to the vet yesterday for the 2nd time and the vet told me that they can't test for these diseases until at least 14 weeks old.
My question is...people usually adopt kittens at 7-8 weeks old and they kittens often come with paperwork that say the kitty is FeLV negative. How is that possible if it's too early to get any accurate result? I have 6 other cats in my home, all tested FeLV negative as youngsters...now I am told that none of those results even count.
Do I keep the kittens isolated until 14 weeks old....I wanted them to get aquainted with my other cats prior to that. They will be getting all other vaccines in 2 weeks.
Any advise from cat rescuers would be great!
2007-09-28 00:08:34 · 4 answers · asked by KathyS 7 in Pets ➔ Cats
I have no idea who the father is and the mother is unapproachable.
2007-09-28 00:18:45 · update #1
8 weeks the test should be accurate.
12 weeks it is accurate!
2007-09-28 00:40:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
FIV won't be in the kittens unless the mother was positive for it--and they've found that approx. 3 out of 4 kittens from an FIV mother will actually test negative for it once their own immune system kicks in at 6 months of age. On average, they won't have it once they reach puberty.
The FeLV, I'm not so sure about. There are some very good FeLV / feluke lists on yahoogroups, you can join and talk to them about the disease.
But as for the FIV, the kittens won't be able to pass it to any cat--it requires a bite wound with blood drawn, to pass to a non-infected cat and kittens very very rarely will go after an adult like that.
2007-09-28 20:36:44 · answer #2 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, very confusing. You should keep them separated until you know. It isn't worth the risk.
Even with the testing - they could be infected but test false negative for several weeks - there are risks.
FeLV: kittens can be tested at any age
FIV: kittens from vaccinated mothers can test false positive. This article says prior to 6 months, but I have heard 12 weeks.
http://www.vin.com/mainpub/feline/aafpfivdx.htm
http://www.vin.com/mainpub/feline/aafpfelvdx.htm
2007-09-28 18:51:38 · answer #3 · answered by nt_sndr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
usually you can assure that the kittens are healthy if both parents were FIV negative.
You may try asking other vets....
at least in my case, I had to wait until my cat was old enough to get the test/.
2007-09-28 07:13:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋