So I have two 7 month old kittens that are brothers and they appear to be happy and healthy. They both were tested for the normal array of common cat diseases when I first got them at 12 weeks and they both test negative for all. They then received the FeLV vaccine and a few other vaccines.
They had an appointment to get fixed two weeks ago and during the appointment I had the vet do some bloodwork to see what might be causing some recent diarrhea. Both sets of bloodwork came back showing low neutrophils (white blood cells). They were put on antibiotics and we were told to bring them back in two weeks.
I took them back in yesterday and they had bloodwork done and they still had low neutrophils so they asked me to bring them back in today so they could get the FeLV and a couple of other tests redone. One of them tested positive for FeLV. This means that the other one will almost certainly have the virus too.
Of course this was devastating to hear and I am hoping it is not in the bone marrow yet and maybe they fight the infection off. Weirdly, the Vet made no mention of what stage the infection has reached or even that there are different stages and different possible outcomes. It wasn't until I did research at home did I realize that they may be able to fight off the infection to a degree.
Now what is also disturbing me is the question of how they got the infection. They have never been in contact with another cat. Neither of these cats has been allowed to roam around outside of my backyard and I've only let them out there a couple of times and it has always been supervised. It doesn't seem reasonably possible they got it from sniffing around in the grass. Is it possible that they contracted it at the vet during their first visit?
When I talked to the Vet earlier today this possibility didn't occur to me but I did ask how it was possible that they tested negative during their first visit. The vet told me she'd ask the lab about what might have happened.
Frankly, I am confused, pissed, and sad. I just want to know what happened and I'd like to hear if anyone here has any experience with or insight into my situation. My vet has outstanding reviews and I haven't heard of anyone having issues with them. I just can't think of another way my cats could have been exposed.
I appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/lc9joa/one_of_my_two_7_month_old_kittens_tested_positive/
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