Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom
As I mentioned, Sheri, I will dab baby food on their mouths - on their upper lip even – beneath their noses. They will usually automatically lick that off. Sometimes that encourages them to eat a bit more because the pureed baby food is easy to lick up, high in protein and vitamins, and very easy on the digestive tract. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Sheri Burbridge Sent: April-05-17 10:20 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom I've struggled with Mo since he came home, literally, the only thing he will eat on his own is the Temptations treats. I count them so I know he's gotten more than his basic needs every day but he's never bowled us over with his appetite, even on mirzapine (definitely misspelled that). He will lick the gel off his feet still, I feel lucky to have found anything he likes but a bit stuck as he won't try anything else! On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 5:30 PM Amani Oakley mailto:aoak...@oakleylegal.com>> wrote: Good luck Sheri. I understand all too well the reluctance to add stress by syringe feeding, but I think that the “gas in the engine” is also dependent on getting in those calories. I rely on baby food. I find that it is usually palatable enough that you can usually syringe a wee bit of it on their lips or just inside their lips – if they sit or lie down beside you or in your lap (my preferred position), and they will lick at what is in or on their mouth. I think this helps to stimulate their appetite. The Winstrol will often also help improve appetite, strength and a sense of feeling better so that they want to eat a bit more. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org<mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org>] On Behalf Of Sheri Burbridge Sent: April-05-17 3:22 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org<mailto:felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom Mo was already on Prednisone so I've just continued that daily while adding on the Doxy and now the generic Winstrol. My vet gave me an rx for 60 days of the Winstrol. I hope to run bloodwork again after 30 days. I don't want to check too soon and unfortunately I think we will find out all too soon if it's not helping. She did mention his reticulocyte count was nonexistent last week. I'm currently only able to get him to eat Temptations treats and I put the high calorie gel on his feet when he hasn't eaten at least 100 calories a day. I was syringe feeding him for awhile but I don't want to do that unless he won't eat at all. I'm trying as hard as I can to turn this around for him. I work in healthcare and am very science minded so the theory behind all of this makes sense. I just hope he's got enough gas left in the tank for his body to recover. Sheri On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 1:56 PM Amani Oakley mailto:aoak...@oakleylegal.com>> wrote: Hi Sheri As you have seen and referenced, some people have had good results with the Winstrol/Doxy combination, while others have not. In my opinion, it is at least worth a shot given the very limited alternatives out there. Good that you have a baseline reading on the blood results – this will allow you to know if he is moving the right direction on the meds. 10 is a haematocrit value, not the RBCs. 10 is low but my cat (Zander) had dropped down to 5, and I was able to pull him out of the abyss – first with a blood transfusion and then with the Winstrol. When I started the Winstrol, it was after his 2nd blood transfusion, which wasn’t doing more than giving a temporary fix. He had gone up to a 16 haematocrit after the 2nd transfusion, but they had had to stop midway through the second bag of blood because he had had a transfusion reaction and they told me that that was it for being able to give him any more transfusions. I had watched for two months as his haematocrit dropped steadily down from 16 to 10, despite trying all sorts of other options like Interferon and LTCI. I started him on the Winstrol (he was already on Doxy and Prednisone) and within a few days, I noticed a pinkening of his ears and gums, and his weekly blood work showed his haematocrit had gone up to 12. From there, it rose steadily in ones and twos until it finally got back into the normal reference range, as did his platelets and white cells, but it took almost 10 months of treatment and every time I tried to wean him off the Winstrol, his haematocrit and red cells would fall again. I suggest you try the meds, (consider adding prednisone or prednisolone as well), and keep a close eye on his haematology results. Ask for them to run a reticulocyte count with the haematology panel. This should tell you if he is producing new red cells or not. Again, with Zander, his reticulocyte count was basically zero when I started the Winstrol, but it went up almost immediately.
Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom
I've struggled with Mo since he came home, literally, the only thing he will eat on his own is the Temptations treats. I count them so I know he's gotten more than his basic needs every day but he's never bowled us over with his appetite, even on mirzapine (definitely misspelled that). He will lick the gel off his feet still, I feel lucky to have found anything he likes but a bit stuck as he won't try anything else! On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 5:30 PM Amani Oakley wrote: > Good luck Sheri. I understand all too well the reluctance to add stress by > syringe feeding, but I think that the “gas in the engine” is also dependent > on getting in those calories. I rely on baby food. I find that it is > usually palatable enough that you can usually syringe a wee bit of it on > their lips or just inside their lips – if they sit or lie down beside you > or in your lap (my preferred position), and they will lick at what is in or > on their mouth. I think this helps to stimulate their appetite. The > Winstrol will often also help improve appetite, strength and a sense of > feeling better so that they want to eat a bit more. > > > > Amani > > > > *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf > Of *Sheri Burbridge > *Sent:* April-05-17 3:22 PM > *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > *Subject:* Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom > > > > Mo was already on Prednisone so I've just continued that daily while > adding on the Doxy and now the generic Winstrol. My vet gave me an rx for > 60 days of the Winstrol. I hope to run bloodwork again after 30 days. I > don't want to check too soon and unfortunately I think we will find out all > too soon if it's not helping. She did mention his reticulocyte count was > nonexistent last week. > > I'm currently only able to get him to eat Temptations treats and I put the > high calorie gel on his feet when he hasn't eaten at least 100 calories a > day. I was syringe feeding him for awhile but I don't want to do that > unless he won't eat at all. > > I'm trying as hard as I can to turn this around for him. I work in > healthcare and am very science minded so the theory behind all of this > makes sense. I just hope he's got enough gas left in the tank for his body > to recover. > > Sheri > > > > On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 1:56 PM Amani Oakley wrote: > > Hi Sheri > > > > As you have seen and referenced, some people have had good results with > the Winstrol/Doxy combination, while others have not. In my opinion, it is > at least worth a shot given the very limited alternatives out there. Good > that you have a baseline reading on the blood results – this will allow you > to know if he is moving the right direction on the meds. > > > > 10 is a haematocrit value, not the RBCs. 10 is low but my cat (Zander) had > dropped down to 5, and I was able to pull him out of the abyss – first with > a blood transfusion and then with the Winstrol. When I started the > Winstrol, it was after his 2nd blood transfusion, which wasn’t doing more > than giving a temporary fix. He had gone up to a 16 haematocrit after the 2 > nd transfusion, but they had had to stop midway through the second bag of > blood because he had had a transfusion reaction and they told me that that > was it for being able to give him any more transfusions. I had watched for > two months as his haematocrit dropped steadily down from 16 to 10, despite > trying all sorts of other options like Interferon and LTCI. > > > > I started him on the Winstrol (he was already on Doxy and Prednisone) and > within a few days, I noticed a pinkening of his ears and gums, and his > weekly blood work showed his haematocrit had gone up to 12. From there, it > rose steadily in ones and twos until it finally got back into the normal > reference range, as did his platelets and white cells, but it took almost > 10 months of treatment and every time I tried to wean him off the Winstrol, > his haematocrit and red cells would fall again. > > > > I suggest you try the meds, (consider adding prednisone or prednisolone as > well), and keep a close eye on his haematology results. Ask for them to run > a reticulocyte count with the haematology panel. This should tell you if he > is producing new red cells or not. Again, with Zander, his reticulocyte > count was basically zero when I started the Winstrol, but it went up almost > immediately. > > > > I also found the need to give Zander 1/5 tablet of apometoclompromide to > get the food to go down. I understand that the virus will often affect the > GI tract, including thickening of the intestinal walls, causing food and > stool moves very slowly through the GI
Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom
Good luck Sheri. I understand all too well the reluctance to add stress by syringe feeding, but I think that the “gas in the engine” is also dependent on getting in those calories. I rely on baby food. I find that it is usually palatable enough that you can usually syringe a wee bit of it on their lips or just inside their lips – if they sit or lie down beside you or in your lap (my preferred position), and they will lick at what is in or on their mouth. I think this helps to stimulate their appetite. The Winstrol will often also help improve appetite, strength and a sense of feeling better so that they want to eat a bit more. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Sheri Burbridge Sent: April-05-17 3:22 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom Mo was already on Prednisone so I've just continued that daily while adding on the Doxy and now the generic Winstrol. My vet gave me an rx for 60 days of the Winstrol. I hope to run bloodwork again after 30 days. I don't want to check too soon and unfortunately I think we will find out all too soon if it's not helping. She did mention his reticulocyte count was nonexistent last week. I'm currently only able to get him to eat Temptations treats and I put the high calorie gel on his feet when he hasn't eaten at least 100 calories a day. I was syringe feeding him for awhile but I don't want to do that unless he won't eat at all. I'm trying as hard as I can to turn this around for him. I work in healthcare and am very science minded so the theory behind all of this makes sense. I just hope he's got enough gas left in the tank for his body to recover. Sheri On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 1:56 PM Amani Oakley mailto:aoak...@oakleylegal.com>> wrote: Hi Sheri As you have seen and referenced, some people have had good results with the Winstrol/Doxy combination, while others have not. In my opinion, it is at least worth a shot given the very limited alternatives out there. Good that you have a baseline reading on the blood results – this will allow you to know if he is moving the right direction on the meds. 10 is a haematocrit value, not the RBCs. 10 is low but my cat (Zander) had dropped down to 5, and I was able to pull him out of the abyss – first with a blood transfusion and then with the Winstrol. When I started the Winstrol, it was after his 2nd blood transfusion, which wasn’t doing more than giving a temporary fix. He had gone up to a 16 haematocrit after the 2nd transfusion, but they had had to stop midway through the second bag of blood because he had had a transfusion reaction and they told me that that was it for being able to give him any more transfusions. I had watched for two months as his haematocrit dropped steadily down from 16 to 10, despite trying all sorts of other options like Interferon and LTCI. I started him on the Winstrol (he was already on Doxy and Prednisone) and within a few days, I noticed a pinkening of his ears and gums, and his weekly blood work showed his haematocrit had gone up to 12. From there, it rose steadily in ones and twos until it finally got back into the normal reference range, as did his platelets and white cells, but it took almost 10 months of treatment and every time I tried to wean him off the Winstrol, his haematocrit and red cells would fall again. I suggest you try the meds, (consider adding prednisone or prednisolone as well), and keep a close eye on his haematology results. Ask for them to run a reticulocyte count with the haematology panel. This should tell you if he is producing new red cells or not. Again, with Zander, his reticulocyte count was basically zero when I started the Winstrol, but it went up almost immediately. I also found the need to give Zander 1/5 tablet of apometoclompromide to get the food to go down. I understand that the virus will often affect the GI tract, including thickening of the intestinal walls, causing food and stool moves very slowly through the GI tract, thus adding to the cat’s malaise, and reduced appetite. Also, this slow down allows more problems to develop in the intestinal walls (with the stool sitting in one spot for a long time). The apometoclopromide increases peristaltic action in the GI tract, pushing food down faster. I found this really helped Zander, since he was also vomiting all the time (including after I would spend an hour getting him to eat or syringe feeding him baby food). The apometoclopromide is given a little bit before feeding, and it worked like a charm. Once I started giving it to him, the vomiting stopped and stool started coming out of him normally. Sadly, however, the meds haven’t worked for everyone. It could be how advanced the condition is before the meds are started, and there is also information online that they have identified a number of strains of the FeLV virus. I sus
Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom
Mo was already on Prednisone so I've just continued that daily while adding on the Doxy and now the generic Winstrol. My vet gave me an rx for 60 days of the Winstrol. I hope to run bloodwork again after 30 days. I don't want to check too soon and unfortunately I think we will find out all too soon if it's not helping. She did mention his reticulocyte count was nonexistent last week. I'm currently only able to get him to eat Temptations treats and I put the high calorie gel on his feet when he hasn't eaten at least 100 calories a day. I was syringe feeding him for awhile but I don't want to do that unless he won't eat at all. I'm trying as hard as I can to turn this around for him. I work in healthcare and am very science minded so the theory behind all of this makes sense. I just hope he's got enough gas left in the tank for his body to recover. Sheri On Wed, Apr 5, 2017, 1:56 PM Amani Oakley wrote: > Hi Sheri > > > > As you have seen and referenced, some people have had good results with > the Winstrol/Doxy combination, while others have not. In my opinion, it is > at least worth a shot given the very limited alternatives out there. Good > that you have a baseline reading on the blood results – this will allow you > to know if he is moving the right direction on the meds. > > > > 10 is a haematocrit value, not the RBCs. 10 is low but my cat (Zander) had > dropped down to 5, and I was able to pull him out of the abyss – first with > a blood transfusion and then with the Winstrol. When I started the > Winstrol, it was after his 2nd blood transfusion, which wasn’t doing more > than giving a temporary fix. He had gone up to a 16 haematocrit after the 2 > nd transfusion, but they had had to stop midway through the second bag of > blood because he had had a transfusion reaction and they told me that that > was it for being able to give him any more transfusions. I had watched for > two months as his haematocrit dropped steadily down from 16 to 10, despite > trying all sorts of other options like Interferon and LTCI. > > > > I started him on the Winstrol (he was already on Doxy and Prednisone) and > within a few days, I noticed a pinkening of his ears and gums, and his > weekly blood work showed his haematocrit had gone up to 12. From there, it > rose steadily in ones and twos until it finally got back into the normal > reference range, as did his platelets and white cells, but it took almost > 10 months of treatment and every time I tried to wean him off the Winstrol, > his haematocrit and red cells would fall again. > > > > I suggest you try the meds, (consider adding prednisone or prednisolone as > well), and keep a close eye on his haematology results. Ask for them to run > a reticulocyte count with the haematology panel. This should tell you if he > is producing new red cells or not. Again, with Zander, his reticulocyte > count was basically zero when I started the Winstrol, but it went up almost > immediately. > > > > I also found the need to give Zander 1/5 tablet of apometoclompromide to > get the food to go down. I understand that the virus will often affect the > GI tract, including thickening of the intestinal walls, causing food and > stool moves very slowly through the GI tract, thus adding to the cat’s > malaise, and reduced appetite. Also, this slow down allows more problems to > develop in the intestinal walls (with the stool sitting in one spot for a > long time). The apometoclopromide increases peristaltic action in the GI > tract, pushing food down faster. I found this really helped Zander, since > he was also vomiting all the time (including after I would spend an hour > getting him to eat or syringe feeding him baby food). The apometoclopromide > is given a little bit before feeding, and it worked like a charm. Once I > started giving it to him, the vomiting stopped and stool started coming out > of him normally. > > > > Sadly, however, the meds haven’t worked for everyone. It could be how > advanced the condition is before the meds are started, and there is also > information online that they have identified a number of strains of the > FeLV virus. I suspect that this might also account for the fact that some > of us see a great improvement in our cats, while others don’t. I’m crossing > my fingers for you and I am very happy that you have a supportive vet. That > is often the first big problem, so thankfully, this isn’t an issue you must > also deal with. > > > > Amani > > > > *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf > Of *Sheri Burbridge > *Sent:* April-05-17 1:29 PM > *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > *Subject:* [Felvtalk] New FELV mom > > > > Hi everyone! I just joined your board today but I have been reading some > of your posts since last week. > > > > About 2 months ago we adopted our first FELV cat Violet. 2 weeks later we > also adopted her brother Mo. They are amazing, sweet, affectionate cats and > we love them so much! > > > > Vi is eatin
Re: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom
Hi Sheri As you have seen and referenced, some people have had good results with the Winstrol/Doxy combination, while others have not. In my opinion, it is at least worth a shot given the very limited alternatives out there. Good that you have a baseline reading on the blood results – this will allow you to know if he is moving the right direction on the meds. 10 is a haematocrit value, not the RBCs. 10 is low but my cat (Zander) had dropped down to 5, and I was able to pull him out of the abyss – first with a blood transfusion and then with the Winstrol. When I started the Winstrol, it was after his 2nd blood transfusion, which wasn’t doing more than giving a temporary fix. He had gone up to a 16 haematocrit after the 2nd transfusion, but they had had to stop midway through the second bag of blood because he had had a transfusion reaction and they told me that that was it for being able to give him any more transfusions. I had watched for two months as his haematocrit dropped steadily down from 16 to 10, despite trying all sorts of other options like Interferon and LTCI. I started him on the Winstrol (he was already on Doxy and Prednisone) and within a few days, I noticed a pinkening of his ears and gums, and his weekly blood work showed his haematocrit had gone up to 12. From there, it rose steadily in ones and twos until it finally got back into the normal reference range, as did his platelets and white cells, but it took almost 10 months of treatment and every time I tried to wean him off the Winstrol, his haematocrit and red cells would fall again. I suggest you try the meds, (consider adding prednisone or prednisolone as well), and keep a close eye on his haematology results. Ask for them to run a reticulocyte count with the haematology panel. This should tell you if he is producing new red cells or not. Again, with Zander, his reticulocyte count was basically zero when I started the Winstrol, but it went up almost immediately. I also found the need to give Zander 1/5 tablet of apometoclompromide to get the food to go down. I understand that the virus will often affect the GI tract, including thickening of the intestinal walls, causing food and stool moves very slowly through the GI tract, thus adding to the cat’s malaise, and reduced appetite. Also, this slow down allows more problems to develop in the intestinal walls (with the stool sitting in one spot for a long time). The apometoclopromide increases peristaltic action in the GI tract, pushing food down faster. I found this really helped Zander, since he was also vomiting all the time (including after I would spend an hour getting him to eat or syringe feeding him baby food). The apometoclopromide is given a little bit before feeding, and it worked like a charm. Once I started giving it to him, the vomiting stopped and stool started coming out of him normally. Sadly, however, the meds haven’t worked for everyone. It could be how advanced the condition is before the meds are started, and there is also information online that they have identified a number of strains of the FeLV virus. I suspect that this might also account for the fact that some of us see a great improvement in our cats, while others don’t. I’m crossing my fingers for you and I am very happy that you have a supportive vet. That is often the first big problem, so thankfully, this isn’t an issue you must also deal with. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Sheri Burbridge Sent: April-05-17 1:29 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] New FELV mom Hi everyone! I just joined your board today but I have been reading some of your posts since last week. About 2 months ago we adopted our first FELV cat Violet. 2 weeks later we also adopted her brother Mo. They are amazing, sweet, affectionate cats and we love them so much! Vi is eating every thing in sight, healthy, happy and very playful but poor Mo has really struggled. He lost an eye at 4 months old and is only 5.5lbs. He had a respiratory infection and teeth pulled before he came home with us. The rescue told us they didn't think he had long to live but wanted him to have a home if we would take him. Fast forward 6 weeks and he's been back to their vet twice for tooth roots and non healing gums and to ours when he was obviously in terrible pain while eating. She found sores on his palate and ran bloodwork to check for anemia. I got the bad news last Thurs that he is severely anemic and there is nothing we can do beyond what we were doing (clavamox, prednisone, buprenorphine) and I was devastated... until I finally came across your archives in an exhaustive search on Friday. First, thank you all for sharing, we would have no hope for sweet Mo if it weren't for you. I talked to his vet Sat who hadn't heard of using Winstrol. She agreed to at least switch him to Doxy and research it. I was shocked Yesterday to get
