Wendy:
I appreciate your candor and providing me with the right questions to ask. I don't have the answers to any of these questions and that worries me. Except that his anemia is being treated with Epoetin, which is Epogen. He's had 1 week's course of that so far. His vet did mention a blood transfusion, but said she wanted to give the Epoetin and Monkee's own system a chance to work first. Monkee has an appointment today with his Vet and my mom is going with me. We will get answers to these questions and work on building up learning curve.
The irony is, my dad was a vet (he passed in 2002 and had been retired for a few years prior). However, I just don't think the veterinary world had much knowledge/experience with Feline Leukemia when I was growing up as the daughter of a vet. My dad never talked about it and it was not something I learned about until I took Monkee in. But at least having that veterinary background does give me an edge as far as being able to understand the treatment options.
Monkee's vet had the leg tumor removed because she says she was concerned about the integrity of his leg, based on the size and location of the tumor. She did not want his circulation to be compromised. She had at first planned to treat the tumor only by chemo and only decided to surgically remove when the first round of chemo did not shrink it.
After Monkee's appointment with his regular vet, I am taking him out to Dr. Susan Maier today in Simpsonville, KY, who is a holistic vet, for a consult. She was recommended by Marylyn and I just want to make sure that I am doing everything I can to try to help Monkee.
Thanks for your advice.
From: wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: To Caroline: Re: just beginning
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:40:54 -0700 (PDT)
>Hi Caroline,
>
>Welcome to the group, although I am sorry you've had
>to come here at all. Sweet Monkee is lucky to have
>you.
>
>The first thought I had reading your post was about
>your vet. In the beginning, did he test for FeLV and
>tell you that Monkee had FeLV? Did he specifically
>tell you that Monkee is anemic, and if so, did he
>suggest a blood transfusion and did he say what type
>of anemia it is? What is Monkee's HCT count?
>Different types of anemia are treated differently.
>Which medication is he giving for the anemia? Is it
>Winstrol or Epogen possibly? Has your vet put Monkee
>on a course of doxycycline (3 week course). Doxy is
>used to treat hemobartanella, a blood parasite that is
>very hard to test for as one minute it shows up on the
>microscope slide and the next it doesn't. A lot of
>anemic cats have hemobart. Even if they don't, the
>doxy won't hurt them. I'm sorry for all the
>questions, but the answers to those questions are
>important in taking care of Monkee and knowing what
>course of treatment to take at this point. If you
>don't know the answers, see if your vet can fill you
>in in the morning. If you aren't comfortable with
>your vet, do not feel guilty at all about shopping
>around for another vet. And make sure you ask your
>current vet for copies of Monkee's test results so you
>can take them to a new vet if you choose one.
>
>As far as the cancer goes, the studies I have seen
>have shown that surgery often ends up with the cancer
>coming back stronger because not all of the cancer
>cells were removed. But that doesn't mean that
>Monkee's is going to come back. I just want you to
>know there is that possibility. I am confused as to
>why your vet wants to possibly start Monkee on a
>stronger chemo after he surgically removed the tumor?
>Monkee should not need chemo unless the tumor comes
>back and it's too soon to know that. Chemo will not
>help anemia.
>
>As soon as you know a little more about the treatment
>regime, let us know so we can help you and Monkee
>further. We're glad you found us because we want to
>help Monkee as much as we can.
>
>:)
>Wendy
>Dallas, Tx
>
>"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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