I've always understood that low dose (7 days on/7 days off, etc.)
interferon alpha doesn't produce resistance. High dose interferon
alpha, which I don't think I've read of anyone on the list using,
DOES produce resistance at around 7 weeks of treatment. Low dose
seems to be the better way to go with interferon alpha, for other
reasons as well.
On the other hand, while I've seen people on the list using VO at low
doses, most of the reports I've read on it (including Paolo's
firsthand account of what he saw with his FeLV+ cat and VO) has been
with high doses.
So, perhaps I'm wrong here, but my personal conclusion is that
interferon alpha is still the way to go for low dose treatment. It's
easier to get and afford, at least here in North America. On the
other hand, interferon omega would be better used at high doses for a
short amount of time (par the schedule developed in the study - can't
recall the name).
I'm hoping to get Ember a high dose VO treatment sometime soon. I'm
not sure if it will help, since she's mostly asymptomatic. My
uneducated guess is that it might lower the viral load in her
bloodstream.
Hi Folks,
Do any of you know if it is possible to switch from interferon
alpha to
Virbagen interferon omega if/when a cat becomes resistant to the
interferon
alpha? My thinking on this is to start my FeLV+ kitty Shane on the
alpha now
since it is readily available and affordable and if at some point
it stops
working for him, to look into importing the omega. (Everything on
his CBC is
presently within normal range.) Would that work, or when they become
resistant to the alpha does that cross over to the omega? Anybody
know? The
other hope is that by the time that happens, maybe the Omega will be
licensed for use in the USA. Also, how can you tell that a cat has
developed
a resistance to the interferon alpha, just by clinical signs or is
there a
specific test?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Sue and Shane
Jerome, AZ
