More On Epogen (Procrit)

[Belinda Sauro]

Here is the info I got from another list I belong to it was given by Jean Luc's Mom (Jean Luc was FeLV negative, but had cancer and crf and kep meticulaous records during his illness).  I thought people on our list might benefit since anema is a common symthom of FeLV (pay particular attention to the 3rd paragraph): --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I just wanted to remind everyone a little bit about the facts on Procrit.  A lot of vets give people the impression that Procrit (and Epogen) are more risky for cats than the anemia that may be killing them.  Thankfully, my specialist vet knew more about it and wasn't afraid to use it when it was needed. Cats do not "quickly develop antibodies" against it.  Vets don't prescribe it until it is a last resort because there is a risk of developing antibodies, so they want to exhaust other means first.  If they can keep the cat going for longer with B supplements and iron, or additional liver which contains a lot of iron, they will do that for as long as possible.  However, when the cat is not longer making retics, and new red blood cells can't be made, Procrit is the only thing that can help them.  They haven't developed one made out of cat blood, even though they started testing one, so, yes, there is a risk of antibodies being developed because it is made from human blood.  However, even in the testing, the antibodies only developed in 30% of the cases.  That means 70% of the cats never developed antibodies.  And when they do develop antibodies, it usually is not for about four months. What happens is the Procrit quits working, so the cats HCT or PCV starts to drop again.  So that means that if the cat does develop antibodies, he will at least have four or five months of good quality life that he wouldn't have had otherwise.  Jean-Luc would have died last December without it.  He has been on it for over a year, and it keeps him going.  When we had a vial that lasted almost six months, I found out that the tiny amount he still gets is very necessary.  The vial lost its potency and his HCT started dropping. Some vets might have automatically assumed antibodies and taken him off of it.  My vet increased the dosage and we got a new vial.  He recovered quickly, and we lowered the dosage again to the usual once a week subq shot. (I just need to make sure I pay attention to when the vial is four months old and throw it out then.) If the anemia is not below 18%, usually Procrit is not needed yet. Jean-Luc's HCT was actually down to 13% before he was put on Procrit.  They do a blood test after it gets below 20%, and that tells them if the anemia is regenerative or non-regenerative.  If it is still regenerative, meaning they are making red blood cells, then Procrit would not help.  If it is non-regenerative, then Procrit (or Epogen) is needed, because without replacing that building block, the cat will die in very short order. I don't want people whose cats need it to be afraid to give Procrit.  I learned some of this from my specialist vet, who does a good job of explaining things, and some from the Feline anemia list, where there is a lot of great information." PS.  I asked my vet about this too and she said she didn't know of any positive cats that had tried it, she didn't know if it would work or not, but said if Bailey ever came down with anemia that wasn't due to hemobartenella she would certainly give it a try if I wanted to and I most certainly would.  When cats get non-regenerative anemia they are going to die it is only a matter if time, and I wouldn't hesitate to try something that may possibly save Bailey since the only other option is certain death. -- Belinda Happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties ... http://www.bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candle Light Service http://www.bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com (affordable hosting & web design) http://HostDesign4U.com ----------- BMK Designs (non-profit web sites) http://bmk.bemikitties.com