I guess I figured it was NRA, just because that seems most likely to me. If
she tested positive on the IFA, doesn't that mean the infection's spread to
her bone marrow, and therefore she can't produce new RBCs? The vet didn't tell
me which one it was, but I'll ask tomorrow, if he even knows.
Olive did have her blood typed, and she's type A, fortunately. That's what you
were asking, right? The reason her brother Kudzu had to give her blood was
that there was apparently no blood stored up anywhere nearby. This now seems
slightly ridiculous to me, what with the vet school and all. Surely there
would be available blood somewhere in Knoxville or the surrounding area.
Still, I think Kudzu would've had to have been used regardless at the time,
because Olive would probably have died within a few hours if not for the
transfusion. Her packed cell count had gotten down to 4.5%.
As for how she's doing today.... She's still up and active, behaving pretty
normally. She does seem slightly slower today, unfortunately, and the
coloration in her pads has gone down. Although, I think they may actually look
a bit better now than they did earlier today. I don't know, it may just be my
imagination.
I left a message with my vet today, but unfortunately he did not get to talk
to the vet school today. He will tomorrow, and we'll also be getting my other
cats' results back. I'm also trying to get in touch with another vet who is
supposedly very passionate and will do whatever he can to save an animal. This
sounds like the type of vet I need, and hopefully I will talk to him tomorrow.
We'll see.
Please keep Olive in your thoughts. Hopefully she will be alright for the next
few days, so we can prepare to give her another blood transfusion if need be.
It seems like we might have to just to get her cell count back up, and then we
can start giving her meds. I am definitely going to push for the
haemobartonella meds, and I will ask about interferon, too.
Thank you all for your help so far. You give me hope when I'm feeling more
lost than ever. Keep your fingers crossed that my other two turn out to be
negative.
-Megan
>===== Original Message From wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> =====
>Hey Megan,
How are you doing tonight? And how is Olive? Did you find anything else out
today?
As far as what type of anemia it is, Belinda is right that it probably needs
to be typed. But, no matter what, get her on that doxy asap if you can.
Hemobart is treatable and it could very easily be that. I'm not sure why you
think it's non-regenerative anemia. Did the vet tell you that? As far as I
know, you don't have to do a bone aspirate to find out. My vet looked at
whether or not Cricket had reticulocytes in his blood when he was anemic. If
there are reticulocytes, then the body is trying to make rbc's, and it is
regenerative anemia. Cricket had regenerative, but the vet said something
about autohemolytic anemia, which means the body is killing off the blood
cells as they are made. Whether or not that was from hemobart, I'll never
know. When Cricket was sick, the vet never mentioned doxycycline or hemobart
(or maybe the did the test and said he was negative), so I didn't know about
the doxy. Sometimes I wonder if Cricket would still be
> here had he been on doxy. I didn't learn about hemobart until it was too
late.
If your vet seems like he's willing to learn, and you like him, then it's ok
to stay with him. BUT, make sure you still get Olive seen at the university
as soon as possible. Olive might be a learning experience for your current
vet and maybe his experience with her will help save someone else's beloved
kitty. However, if you feel he feels Olive's a lost cause, run. Find another
vet. You need someone who will fight for her. You can also show him or share
with him the info. you are learning here. It might also help.
You don't have to get the the next transfusion from one of your cats, however
you will probably have to have Olive blood typed for the next one. I think
you can only give cats one untyped blood transfusion. Not sure on that
though.
Please keep us posted Megan, and prayers going out for little Olive and her
siblings.
:)
Wendy
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