Isabella is doing well on the prednisone. She is again purring and kneading and following Lisa around. The hemobartonella test came back negative. Here is an email from a homeopathic vet/friend. I hope others can find some helpful suggestions here.... Laurie
Hi Laurie. This little girl is very sick. I know you probably know this but as a general rule once a FeLV-positive cat gets sick they generally do not return to a "normal" state of health again. And this cat is sick - her bloodwork is horrible. It looks like your vet is doing everything possible to boost her immune system and get her fever to abate. Prednisone will possibly keep her comfortable for awhile - (which probably should become the primary goal). If Isabella feels better on the prednisone then I would keep her on it. I think doxycycline is probably worth trying - it can cause anorexia but my experience with it has been good (if the medicine is given with water and dosed correctly). It would not hurt to start giving her some supplements in her food - antioxidants and such. A good supplement would be Vitamin C (250mg daily in food). I would also start adding a little plain yoghurt & nutritional (torula) yeast (great source of Vitamin B) to the food. Vitamin B helps stimulate appetite in addition to many other great things. If Isabella is not already on a home-made or high quality food (Wellness, Solid Gold, Newman's Own, etc) I would immediately put her on such a diet. I would recommend feeding her the canned form instead of dry food. And I would do whatever is possible to keep her life stress-free.
