Re: ImmunoRegulin for Chelsea?

[Lernermichelle]

Hi. With a hematocrit of 9.6, if you want the chance to treat her I think you need to get her a transfusion. That value is very low, and if it goes lower she will not make it.  A transfusion can buy you days or weeks to get other treatments going.   Tell your vet that several of the cats on this list serve who are FeLV+ and had hematocrits almost that low turned around with epogen.  With a hematocrit that low she is close to losing the fight, so what could possibly be the downside of trying the Epogen? If she says they can get reactions to it, that is not usual and when it does happen it is normally months into the treatment and reverses when the treatment is stopped.  At this point, I do not see what you have to lose.   The other thing that has seemed to help is putting 800 micrograms of folic acid in the cat's food. And definitely, absolutely steroids-- preferably a pretty high dose of prednisone or dexamethasone to start.  The combination of Epogen and a high dose of prednisone brought Belinda's Bailey from something like a hematocrit of 15 all the way up to 40.   I would get her on Epogen right away, and steroids, and if your vet will not try it I would go to another vet, preferably a board-certified internist.  An internist could probably also give you more idea what might be causing this, and if lymphoma is likely.  Lymphoma can get other treatments.  My Simon, when he had anemia, had his hematocrit go up from 11 to 30 pretty quickly from chemotherapy and steroids.  He lived about 2 months, with some very good weeks, after that, then died of a hemolytic reaction that made his hematocrit plunge too quickly to have a response.   Michelle   In a message dated 4/16/2006 5:56:02 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Chelsea got her first ImmunoRegulin shot yesterday.  She also had blood drawn, after which she collapsed but later revived.  She is still eating but is very weak.  Below are the results of her bloodwork, it doesn't look good at all at this point.  I'm giving her pet tinic, oral interferon and a product called Feline Immune System Support from Standard Process.  The bloodwork showed no Hemobart, should I still ask for Doxycycline?  My vet really isn't comfortable with Epogen