Are you SURE that there are no fleas in the house? Fleas are the most common cause of anemia. Did you test them for Hemobartonella (several times, several different cats)? What brand of food do you feed (what's the first ingredient)?
Hemobartonella: How is Diagnosis Confirmed? Confirmation of diagnosis has been problematic since the discovery of the organism. Because it lacks a cell wall, Mycoplasma haemophilus cannot be cultured, which means one cannot simply culture a blood sample and isolate the organism the way one might isolate the organism causing something like a urinary tract infection. Most reference labs scan all feline blood samples under the microscope looking for the characteristic appearance of infected red blood cells (see graphic at the top of the page). Unfortunately, the number of organisms cycles in a matter of hours such that the number of infected cells can change from 90% to 1% in a matter of 3 hours. This makes it very easy to miss infected cells, even in a grossly infected cat. Hemobartonella felis was first discovered in Africa in 1942 but it was not recognized as a mycoplasma until gene sequencing was possible recently. This has led to renaming Hemobartonella felis to Mycoplasma haemophilus, though after decades of celebrity we shall see if they new name becomes commonly used. Complicating matters further, gene sequencing has revealed a second species, previously thought to be another variant of Hemobartonella felis. This one, which is smaller, has been named Candidatus M haemominutum. This smaller mycoplasma seems to only be a problem for cats infected with the feline leukemia virus. Phaewryn I just don't know why everyone has become so anemic!!! It's driving me CRAZY - What could it be? Rikki tested all the parasites and it's negative, too. Though his ARF is causing anemia, probably in his case..
No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.14.6/535 - Release Date: 11/15/2006
