I am very sorry that you had such a bad experience, Jennifer. It's really unforgivable that a vet should be so unclear about what to expect from a transfusion for a kitty with nonregenerative anemia. I had my FeLV kitty, Flavia, given a transfusion after she was diagnosed with nonregenerative anemia and her hematocrit dropped to 7.5. Unlike Jennifer's careless (unethical?) vet, mine did tell me it would give her (only) an extra couple of weeks at most. I wanted those extra weeks to try to find a way to prolong her life significantly. I obtained immunoregulin for her but too late, so I didn't get a chance to try it. Nonetheless, in the same circumstances, I would not do a transfusion again. It was tremendously stressful for Flavia, it was very expensive ($1000 total for transfusion plus drawing my healthy cat's blood) and it gave her only 10 days extra (her HCT went up to 23), when her HCT plummeted again to 13. Like Jennifer, I would much rather concentrate on doing everything possible to ensure my cat enjoys every moment of the rest of her time, however long that may be, in the comfort of her own home. Kerry M.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James G Wilson Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Felvtalk] (Fwd) Blood transfusion on Felv+ cat ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Jennifer Dykhouse <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: Blood transfusion on Felv+ cat Date sent: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:17:45 -0500 Hello everyone, I thought I'd let you know how the blood transfusion helped/didn't help my Felv+ cat, so that if you need to reach that decision, you can see my example. The day before we did the blood transfusion, Mr. Darcy's hematocrit count was at 7 (I was told that 30 is the lowest you can be and still be healthy). He was extremely lethargic and as a result would eat. He lost 2 pounds in a month (even with us assist feeding him) and he was starting to catch a respiratory bug. Right after the transfusion, which cost 800 dollars and took about 5 hours, his hematocrit was at 17. That's great, but I am upset. I was thinking he'd be brought up to a healthy level, not just a slightly better level. He had perked up and he is eating turkey baby food now, but he still is extremely tired and now he has balance troubles. What I am most upset with was the lack of information from my vet and the animal hospital. When told about the blood transfusion by my normal vet, she made it sound like he'd be back at a healthy level and that it could work for months and that it was perfectly safe. When we were handing him over to the vet at the hospital, he finally told me that Mr. Darcy could die during the procedure and that it may only last a few hours, days. I am furious. It makes me feel like money is more important then informing the owner. I have decided to not do any more transfusions due to the fact that he's in the last stage of his illness and going to the vet really stresses him out. He won't eat for the rest of the day and since the transfusion may only give him days, I would rather have him enjoy his last days/weeks. So right now, we're at the point where the most we can do is get him to eat and sleep and to pet him and love him as much as we can. Now, your cat may have a different experience, but I just wanted to tell my story. Jennifer and Mr. Darcy ______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _____________________________________________________________________________ IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE. Any tax advice expressed above by Mayer Brown LLP was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any taxpayer to avoid U.S. federal tax penalties. If such advice was written or used to support the promotion or marketing of the matter addressed above, then each offeree should seek advice from an independent tax advisor. This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
