Dee, Count your blessings as Hemobartanella is extremely hard to find on a slide at the lab and can be treated. That's what's causing the low blood count most assuredly.
Here's info. from vetinfo.com: A cat with hemobartonellosis experiences depression, weight loss, decrease in appetite and anemia. There may be jaundice associated with this and approximately one-third of untreated cats will die from the infection. Cats that "recover" are usually infected for life but the organism is suppressed by the cat's immune system. Subsequent immune compromise from viruses like feline leukemia, stress or administration of corticosteroids cause a recurrence of the infection. The disease is probably transmitted by blood sucking insects and from infected mothers to their kittens during pregnancy. It may be possible to transmit from bite wounds and blood transfusions as well. The organism is visible in blood smears of infected cats but it has a tendency to come and go in the blood stream so it is sometimes necessary to make blood smears over the course of several days to identify the parasite. It can be treated with tetracycline class antibiotics with good success but even treated cats should be considered to be carriers of the disease and may experience recurrences later. Supportive care is often necessary for several days in cats with this condition and during the acute infection if may be necessary to use corticosteroids despite the immune suppression associated with these medications. It is very important to control fleas and other blood sucking organisms in a multiple cat household in which one member is found to have hemobartonellosis. It is a good idea to occasionally do followup bloodwork to make sure anemia is not recurring. Mike Richards, DVM Dee, this is not some horrible infection. It's treatable, although not curable. Don't freak out over it. None of us here freak out over it; we're more relieved when that's what's causing anemia because many times it's not diagnosed, and the cats die from anemia. Mine did. He was tested for hemo, but of course came back neg. This was before I knew how hard it is to find on a slide. Had I known, we would have tried doxy anyway, and he might still be here today. I am not sure what caused his anemia, but I will be damn sure from now on that anyone else who posts here on anemia has the info. on hemobart and doxy. As far as the probiotics goes, I have never used them with my kitties, but others here have. Post to the group about this with the subject line "probiotics question" or something like that, and you should get good info. on this. Sorry I can't be of more help to you. :) Wendy __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
