Coping With Feline Leukemia Virus

Several years ago, I lost my companion soon after my house burned to the ground. When I woke up one morning in my temporary apartment, she was completely lethargic and would not eat or drink anything. I took her to the animal hospital, and the vet gave her a heart worm shot. The following morning, she was dead. I thought I would never find another cat like her, but God answered my prayers, and I just happened to find a stray kitten who looked and acted just like her. We were in seventh heaven when we both were able to move back into my newly constructed house. I was so busy trying to make ends meet, that I never found the time nor the money to get my new kitty’s shots on schedule. I regret that now.

After I moved back home, I decided to make another life altering change and enrolled in school while still working full time…again, there was no time nor finances available for my kitten, but Harmony was doing okay. Then a friend of mine from school came to my house one day and dropped off her cat, which turned out to be pregnant. She never came back to pick it up and the kittens were born. I gave all but two of them away to friends. Within two months, mother and kitten became ill and both had to be euthanized…they were diagnosed with feline leukemia After learning this, I took my Harmony to the vet and she also was diagnosed with leukemia, though she was showing no symptoms at the time. She most likely contracted it from contact with the mother cat and/or her kittens.

Harmony was put on Interferon and her quality of life has been good until now. Now, she is dying, and I don’t have the heart or courage to have her put to sleep. I have no children, so she is my whole life. I don’t want to continue to see her suffer and I don’t want to act selfishly, so I don’t know what to do. I will never find another campanion as sweet as she has been…she was an angel from heaven.

If there ever is another pet in my life, I will do whatever it takes to ensure that he/she receives all of the preventative measures it takes to sustain the best quality of life possible. But I am now also leary of the practices of some veterinarians and animal hospitals.

I also will not take into my home stray animals without medical advice. I have always been the one people call to unload their no longer wanted pets, and I figured I could always work things out. But now, I am losing my very best friend because of my generousity.

Don’t take your pet’s current health for granted and always find the time to take him/her to regular vet visits, but find one that you truly trust first of all. I have seen Harmony’s vet more in the past year than I have seen my own physician, and by the way, I was diagnosed with cancer in the same month that Harmony was diagnosed with leukemia. I am in remission now…I am praying for the same miracle with her.

Please keep us in your prayers!