Hello Folks, I was on the list for a while several years ago when my kitty Shane was first diagnosed as FeLV positive and then I dropped off due to time constraints (and because he was doing so well). For the past four years I have been treating him for ocular herpes, and then this past summer he was diagnosed with the additional eye disease, eosinophilic keratitis. He has been under the care of an eye specialist and those conditions are currently completely controlled by medications. He also has issues with his teeth and gums (he had a dental two years ago but things are pretty inflamed again). I have been monitoring his lab work every six months and everything had been looking pretty good for the most part. His neutrophil count was a little low about a year ago and when we checked it again last summer, it had actually rebounded a bit. There was no anemia at that time. However, I took him in for his routine lab work last week and he is now very anemic and his neutrophils have dropped well into the "danger zone." My vet feels that he will soon reach a point where he will require a transfusion in order to live. He looks very good--his weight is excellent, he is eating (though he is a little pickier than usual), and he still does mad dashes around the house. I am very torn about the transfusion issue. This guy really stresses out over vet visits and procedures. If we were transfusing in order to buy enough time for some super cure to kick in, I wouldn't hesitate, but under the circumstances, I just don't know. I'm sure many of you have been in the position of having to make such a decision and I guess I'd just like to hear from some folks who have done transfusions (or decided against them). My vet says the effects of the transfusion would most likely last about a month. By the way, he was tested for hemobartonella several years ago (negative). My vet is retesting for it via PCR, but thinks it is highly unlikely and that the anemia is simply a progression of the FeLV.
I look forward to hearing your experiences. Sue T. Shane - Manx mix, approximately 5-7 years old, diagnosed as FeLV+ 12-06 _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
