I'm sorry this is so long - but it's my first post but I feel I need to
give some background information in the hope that some of you with more
experience may have recommendations. First and foremost - thank you for
being here...and to you who are going through the pain of having a
cat family member suffer with this disease or who have lost someone close
- my heart is with you.
Monday I noticed that a member of my cat family had a distinctly visible
nictating membrane on both eyes - nearly half way closed on one side.
The next morning, I took her to my vet's office. On a gut feeling, I
asked them to test her for FeVL. Although she had been vaccinated a
little over a year ago, she tested positive. The vet and the vet
tech gently prodded me to make a 'quality of life' decision that day.
She had lost about 14% of her body weight and didn't have enough of an immune
system to run a fever.
(She was initially a feral cat who adopted me two years ago and
blessed me with 12 kittens. My vet said that was a
record)
I am not ready to say goodbye - she will let me know when it is
time. Right now she's not feeling that great (anemia) but she seems
to have a decent quality of life. She ran up the steps to greet me
the next day with tail straight up in the air. I don't want to selfishly
keep her going just for me if she is truly suffering but my heart says it
isn't time.
I asked if there was anything that would make her more comfortable.
They gave her ammoxi drops and 'Pet Tinic' to build her blood.
I told them to expect me to have a lot of questions and they were very
understanding.
I took off work the rest of the day...came home and did my
research. That's when I found the Felineleukemia.org website.
Thanks to the information provided, I found out about Acemannan - a
drug my veterinarian had never heard about. I tracked down the
manufacturer and distributors and sent my vet a lot of information about it
and asked if this would be a reasonable course of treatment and if he would
assist me.
My vet was also able to find information about this drug and he got it
here in 2 days. We began treatment yesterday.
Since my vet is not familiar with this drug - he told me that he really
didn't know what to expect in terms of how she would feel after the shot so
I've been watching her closely. It may be a coincidence but since she
got the shot - she's been eating more than I've seen her eat in a while.
For days I've been trying to get her to eat a teaspoon of canned
food several times a day without much success and she wouldn't touch
her dry food. Yesterday after her first treatment, she ate dry food and
also about half a can of canned food. I'm trying not to have false hope
but I couldn't help but be encouraged. All the kids here eat
'Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul' cat food. I have a feeling that
nutrition is going to play a huge role in helping her to cope with
this and so I am currently looking for diet and supplementation
information too.
I'm trying to keep a level head - which isn't easy when it's your baby -
and I know and accept that realistically, the odds may not be in our
favor...but I believe I would be remiss if I didn't try.
One concern is that this is an eight cat household. Entirely too
many cats..but that is another story. While this number will not
increase - giving up even one is not an option. They live inside.
Everyone else has been vaccinated and is in good health. MK is in
the habit of being outside in the day and inside at night...but she doesn't
leave the yard (truly an extraordinary cat person). Since she's been
sick though - I've been keeping her inside except for brief periods in the
afternoon when she wants to sunbathe on the front porch. I am concerned
about infecting the other indoor cats who range in age from 2-7.
Any information or recommendation would be most welcome.
Thank you,
elizabeth
