First of all, I'm so sorry about your loss of Yang. I've been through it so
many times and it NEVER gets any easier.
The good news is that I have two adults, 10 and 11, that have had leukemia
since I got them, almost 10 years ago. They have been healthy all along. I've
had my share of ones that made it less than 2 years and some that made it 4 or
5 years. You never really know. Just take it one day at a time and cherish
every minute.
We don't do anything special here. We tried lots of stuff at the beginning but
it never seemed to help for us. I just try to keep stress levels low and love
them and that seems to work :)
Best of luck. Hope you have many years with Merlot.
Amy
________________________________
From: Maya D'Alessio <mde...@gmail.com>
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 3:12 PM
Subject: [Felvtalk] Just tested positive
Hello everyone,
My cat Merlot, just tested positive for FeLV yesterday afternoon. We had him
tested, because my three year old cat Yang (female) started acting ill at the
end of June, the next morning I took her in to the vets and we discovered she
was anemic, jaundiced and had a high fever. They checked her blood levels and
found she was anemic (about 13, vs 26 in a healthy cat). She stayed at the vet
during the day and her blood levels didn't get any worse, and our vet was
optimistic. They transferred her over to the emergency clinic which was open
all evening and in to the weekend. They monitored her overnight and her red
blood cells decreased, her fever lowered but she went past normal to too cold.
That morning the blood tests came back and she was positive for FeLV. We were
shocked. Even worse was that her detailed blood work showed no uptick in blood
cell production, where she should have increased production, she actually had
almost no
production. We then got to see her before we had to put her down. That was
the hardest day of my life.
Now, with Merlot testing positive I am terrified of losing him so quickly, and
I am still grieving for Yang. I know the statistics are not great for long
term prognosis, but he is currently healthy (just a tiny bit of gingivitis - we
are going to start brushing his teeth). What can I do to keep him healthy?
How do I live with him everyday without starting to grieve him already? I know
we all are going to die someday, but this just feels like it is going to hang
over me. I am still doing reading on the disease and newer treatments and
such, but do these all start after the cat becomes noticeably ill, or are there
things I can be doing now to help keep him healthy? Are probiotics helpful in
this case?
For those who have or have had a healthy FeLV cat, how long did they stay
healthy for?
--
Maya D'Alessio
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