one vet's thoughts on sub-q ImmunoRegulin

[Lance]

Last Spring, when Ember first tested positive for FeLV, I started  
looking into treatment options. ImmunoRegulin came up, so I spoke to  
my vet about it. I asked him if we could do it sub-q, and he  
recommended that we not. At that time, I wasn't ready to give IR a  
shot, so I didn't pay good attention to his reasons for not wanting  
to do IR sub-q (something about proteins and something...).

Anyway, IR has come back up, and Nina encouraged me to find out what  
my vet thought about sub-q IR and let everyone know. This will all be  
paraphrased, since I didn't ask him to write it down. :) As well, I  
may not be giving you the full picture. It was a small part of my  
conversation with him.
My vet started off by saying we don't understand fibrosarcomas in  
cats very well. He went on to explain that IR is protein-rich and  
that, putting that into the skin, he's afraid there's a risk of  
fibrosarcoma popping up down the road, as it does with some  
vaccinations. I think he feels that it may not be dispersed out of  
the injection site well enough.

These are just his thoughts, and I don't think he'd be surprised to  
hear that none of the cats who have had IR sub-q have turned up site  
sarcomas so far. He's being cautious. Another downside to sub-q IR is  
that the IR just doesn't reach everywhere it can with an IV. I've  
seen this point made on the web other places.

I hope this is food for thought, and is something to talk to your own  
vet about when deciding how to give IR. I certainly don't mean to  
worry anyone who has already done IR sub-q. Just wanted to report  
back what my own vet thinks. I really trust him, and, should we have  
to go the IR route, I think I'll take Ember to the clinic.


Lance