Being bullied into testing my cats by vet

[Millys Mum]

For her to have passed it on through a cage would have been difficult, even for FIP they would have had to share a tray with her.

RIP little one

[Angiew]

Thanks for your replies.
The fiv/felv came back negative so it was academic anyway.
we didn't test for FIP and talked briefly about a pm but decided against it as it wouldn't change what happened and the vet was reluctant to do a pm because of infection in the surgery.

now we have the worry of that to contend with but I'm trying not to panic (as we do) and be pragmatic and accept that infections can be picked up from anywhere - though of course that doesn't stop the worrying in the small hours!

[Desley (booktigger)]

I wouldn't let the vet bully you into it personally - I have only ever had two of mine tested, and both times because of illness (Well, Pebbles was done before she came, vet wouldn't let her go to a home unless it was done, she was convinced there was something wrong with her even then!!), Tiger was done after having had contact with the others, but it was never suggested to have the others done. The main prob you will have is if it turns out to be something like FIP, as there is no conclusive test for it, so you will know the FIV/FeLV status of yours, but if it isn't that, you haven't really gained much. As she had little contact, FIV is incredibly unlikely, but FeLV is easier to transmit. I agree with asking prices too, teh rescues vet fobbed me off with prices, and it cost me £60 for the Glasgow test - it is £34 at my own vet!!

[Schmew]

Poor little one

It does seem a bit excessive having all of yours tested Angie, especially if she only had very limited contact with them, and as you say you don't know their status anyway. See what the por little babes results say and maybe make a decision based on that.

I'm sorry it's been such a sad outcome for the poor little one

x

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I wouldnt test unless they were showing a related sign of illness.

Agree that vets should not bully you at all..................are they that desperate for money? They can reckonmend and if they came up with a really good reason, which I doubt, then it is your descision.

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

None of the 3 that live with my mum (all rescues) have ever been tested as there is no need as none of them go outside, none of them have any illnesses that would require testing for them, all of them are neutered etc so it makes no difference if they are tested or not. My others that live with me are done each year but that's for a different reason.

At the end of the day it is up to you if you want to test them or not and your vet shouldn't bully you either way. You have to weigh up not knowing against potentially finding out they have it to and the worry that that might bring to you (are you likely to panic at any tiny sign of illness they show if you found out they had either of them?).

Definately ring around for price differences if you do decide to get them tested. For in house SNAP ones I had a variety of quotes varying from £25-55 but they have a reasonable risk of a false positive (ie saying the cat has FIV/FeLV when in fact it doesn't) and you would then need to pay to have the Glasgow test done so some people opt to just have the Glasgow one done straight away. The Glasgow one is more expensive but more accurate. Glasgow results take longer to get back than SNAP ones. Bilbo's results took 2 weeks from Glasgow and Miss Boopy's SNAP one today took 8 hours.

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

   Sorry, I've just noticed they are checking her for FIV/FeLV. 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Poor little babe      Has this poor girl already been pts?  If she hasn't, I would ask them to blood test her, if she has    I would have a pm done on her to find out what the cause is.  I usually have any tested for FIV/FeLV if they are poorly and I know when poor Nikita was pts, I did ask them to get bloods etc on her before hand.  I know this sounds awful but you have to know for your own peace of miind and also for the cats benefit.  One of my vets has always advised me against testing all mine as he knows if any came back positive, I wouldn't know what to do.  On the whole, I don't test mine unless something happens to warrant it, ie they have an unexplained illness.  All mine used to go out, but in saying that, they only really had contact with each other as there's not really any cats round where I live.  If yours are rescues, it's impossible to say what their FIV/FeLV status is unless you have them all tested, I'm mainly in the same boat although a few of mine are tested, and it's not something I would go for unless I had to illness wise.

[Liz]

Angie we only did it the once after one of ours Shadow was discovered to have shared his first 6 months with an FIV+ boy in a fosterers room and then she needed room we got Shads and only found this out 4 months in to his life with us, we tested the 18 we had then but now I don't worry after her hissy Holly ness as she had it and died but the rest could be infected from fighting the strays and dumpees we seem to be collecting and cost aside I love mine for all there issues and boy are there some of them in our current 37!!!!

My advice is find out if its in house or Glasgow Vets they are talking about and how much cause as others have discovered it ain't cheap!

[Angiew]

Last week I picked up a little black cat who was having breathing problems. Our normal vet wormed her and gave me some antiboitics , but after the bank holiday I took her to see another vet (was that only yesterday?)

Anyway they decided to xray but couldn't under sedation but have done so this afternoon uder GA. Sadly the prognisis was not good, they have taken over 60mls of clear fluid from her chest cavity and said there was more to come. The xrays wre inconclusive and they have advised pts , which I have now sadly agreed on.

they say the main suspects are fiv, felv and fip or heart defect or tumours and that a scan who be able to help narrow this down but not do her much good - she hardly had any function in her lungs. the vet suspects this is a long term problem as she says that had this happen as a result of an RTA or something like that she would have died because of the shock to her heart.

They are testing for aids and lukemia and say that if she proves positive I will have to keep my cats in for 2 months and then test them.
She had minimal contact with mine as they did n't like a newbie and she spent most of her time in a pen in the living room so I feel this is a bit pointless.

Mine are all rescue in the main and i have no idea of their fiv status anyway so my thoughts are testing them seems a bit excessive.

Di you think I should let her bully me into testing my lot?