Thank you so much, Lance!
Taylor Scobie Humphrey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


On Apr 17, 2007, at 6:51 PM, Lance wrote:

They're the same thing. FIO is feline interferon omega (the generic name) and VO is Virbagen Omega, Virbac's trade name for FIO. VO (or FIO) is feline-specific interferon. Many of us here give low-dose human interferon to our FeLV cats. While it would seem that this helps the immune system, it would be nice if we could give it in high doses. Unfortunately, high dose human interferon isn't good for a number of reasons, one of which being that the cat develops a tolerance to human interferon, and it can no longer be used to any effect.

On the other hand, since VO is feline specific, it can be used in high doses. Unfortunately, it's very expensive and hard to get here in the US, where one has to go through the FDA to acquire it. For those who live across the pond, the availability isn't a problem.

Lance

On Apr 17, 2007, at 4:49 PM, Taylor Scobie Humphrey wrote:

I'm such a newbie here:  What's VO and what's FIO?
Taylor Scobie Humphrey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


On Apr 17, 2007, at 11:36 AM, wendy wrote:

Hey Lance,

I tend to be in agreement with Nina.  Listen to your
heart and gut.

If it were me, I would be hesitant to do anything
differently if my kitty were asymptomatic.  Can your
vet put off ordering the VO or order it for other
client's symptomatic kitties to see how it works?
Does his FDA approval have an expiration?  I have seen
good things about VO from European users.  You might
query the archives and see what pulls up on it because
I know it's been discussed here before.

:)
Wendy

--- Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

It's wonderful to hear Ember is doing well.  That
was such a scary
episode with her anemia symptoms.  I have long
suspected that FIO might
be useful in treating kitties when they first
contract the disease to
fight it off.  Unfortunately, we don't have the
research to prove or
disprove that.

You asked for thoughts and opinions...  If my memory
serves me
correctly, FIO lasts a year before reconstitution in
the fridge.  I
think if it were me, I'd order it as a safeguard
measure to keep close
in case it's needed.  I'm betting if you started to
near the expiration
date, there would be someone on the list willing to
buy it from you.  I
don't know about using it on asymptomatic kitties.
Who knows, it might
help in some way.  I would probably use Interferon A
while she's
asymptomatic to help her stay that way.  I think
it's Gloria that has
used the IA that way and had kitties crash when she
took them off it,
(I've used IA off and on when symptoms presented,
but not consistently
while they were feeling good).  I don't know Lance,
it's such a crap
shoot, I so wish we had more answers.  My best
advice is to follow your
intuition and do what your heart tells you.  Along
with fighting felv,
the next big battle is fighting the potential "what
ifs".
Hugs to you and Ember,
Nina

Lance wrote:
Hello all,

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting any lately.
I've seen some sad
news, and my heart goes out to all who have lost
feline friends in the
last few weeks.

I have a question that will be hard to answer.
Really, I'm looking for
thoughts and opinions, since I don't think we know
enough about
Virbagen Omega and feleuk. My vet was recently
approved by the FDA to
import the standard course of VO for Ember. I have
put money aside for
quite awhile, hoping that we would get this
chance.

The thing is, Ember is, for the most part,
asymptomatic. She did have
an odd spell of anemia (down to 19 last October
and subsequently back
to 35 for the last few vet visits, starting in
November). She also had
especially low wbc at the same time, which is now
back to low-normal.
She seems to have developed a food allergy to
Innova EVO dry, though
she tolerates EVO canned (and now Felidae) just
fine.

Ember will have another ELISA to verify her
status. If she is still
positive, do you think we should go ahead with the
VO, even though she
seems to be doing pretty well?


Thanks,

Lance








"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~


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