Hi XXXXXXXX,
Thanks for using JustAnswer.com, I'm Dr. Dan and I'll try to help you.
Is your cat on any medications?
Do your other cat's have access and exposure to your sick leukemia positive cat?
Did you mean is the fever normal or feline leukemia is normal?
Dr. Dan
Ok thank you for the information.
I totally understand why you are confused. This is a nasty disease that can act in many ways. The virus can be stored in your cat for a long time and later in life the virus will "activate" and cause illness. Some cats get the disease and it makes them sick right away. Other cats will fight off the infection and become immune. We used to euthanize all the cats with the disease, but with the discovery of some animals fighting off the infection we are not so hasty to do this. By retesting in a few months your vet will be able to determine if the infection was fought off. In the meantime it is very important to keep your cats isolated from the FELV positive cat. It also may not be a bad idea to test your exposed cats in three months as well.
For more information on FELV see this website: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1482
I hope this helps, best wishes.
How long were your cats together before the new one was tested positive?
Yes it can be detected when it's in it's "stored" a.k.a. latent state. After 8 months your cats should be able to be detected now.
I would consider vaccinating the negative cats for FELV, the vaccine is pretty effective for cats who roam outside (and usually come into contact with FELV positive cats. Euthanasia is an option but I'd try the vaccine first. As for putting them down I know several cats who have lived a long time FELV positive so as long as you promise to keep them indoors to prevent further spread of this disease to other cats then euthanasia is not always necessary. If you are worried about the emotional and financial drain of possible diseases that FELV can cause then euthanasia is not wrong. It is a personal decision.
Cat Veterinarian
5 years of practice experience with domestic and exotic cats