Lucy seems more comfortable and happy, but also much more tired. She has
hardly moved all day-- just once or twice she went into the other room to use
the litter box, then got right back up on the futon couch. At one point she
climbed onto the other couch a few feet away to lay next to me, and then later
climbed back to the futon couch. She has been eating baby food when I offer
it to her-- about 2.5 jars so far today-- and is grooming herself sometimes
(like right now). But mostly she is just sleeping or laying there. So I am
worried that her HCT and PCV have continued to drop. Her HCt was 16.5 and her
PCV 18 last Wed (9 days ago). She has been on epogen since Monday (third shot
today) and pet tinic. She is pale, especially her gums, but her tongue is
still pink. I have not gotten her HCT checked since last Wed, because I do not
want to bring her to the vet and draw blood until I need to, because she gets
incredibly stressed and because I want to conserve her blood.
So here is my question-- in your experience, does a cat who is anemic enough
to need a transfusion still eat, groom, and purr? When Simon needed them he
was like a dish rag and almost unable to focus on anything. But his HCT
dropped quickly from lymphoma, so he did not have much time to adjust. My
Buddy's
HCT was at 8 before he died, and he was still walking around, but he was
zipped up on dexamethasone, and was not moving around much when he was just
on
pred, like Lucy is, and not getting the dex-- and I do not know when his HCT
got that low because he did not have frequent checks.
If it is absolutely necessary to get her a transfusion to give the epogen
time to kick in, I may do it, but really do not want to do it to her if I
don't
have to, do to how far I have to take her, the fact that I have to do it at
an ER, and the fact that she gets abominably upset and depressed from going
there. If anyone has any ideas or information about how cats normally look
and act when needing a transfusion (i.e. just tired, or not eating and almost
nonresponsive?), I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Michelle
