We all struggle in trying to figure out what's best for our kitties. And every day, we have to make decisions that we hope are the right ones. All our kitties are different--some can handle more invasive treatments, but for other kitties, an injection, a transfusion, even a trip in a carrier to a vet would put so much stress on them that any treatment would likely be counterproductive.
I do read about any new treatment possibilities. It was on this site that I first learned about immune regulin, and as it turned out, my own vet uses it with the FELV + cats he treats. For my Tucson, it seemed to do the trick on the 2 occasions that her white blood cell count went down dangerously low. Was it the immune regulin? I can't prove that but her count went right back up. That doesn't mean it would work for all other cats. And interferon, well I opted not to use. I'm sure it does help but for my Tucson and for the late great Romeo, the stress alone would have killed them. As for newer treatments, I do like some sort of basis for their purported success. I did talk to my vet about the newest and he did not recommend, at this time. But I'm not in the same situation as you--if I had 6 kitties who were dying before my eyes, I might have tried it. And there is nothing wrong w. putting down a kitty who is suffering. I have always regretted waiting a few days too long for my Romeo who it turned out had a huge lymphoma mass in his chest. But taking him to vet was incredibly stressful to him that I held off trying various things and talking to my vet. He was having trouble breathing and I should have taken him as soon as that started instead of waiting a few days.... Bottom line, each of our situations is so very different. I've learned a tremendous amount from this board and though I don't necessarily follow the regimens others do, I've learned enough about each option to make what I hope are informed decisions. That's what we're all here for. Conversations can sometimes get a bit rough but this is an awful disease that takes a lot out of each of us, emotionally and financially. We do the best we can and learn from each other. Christiane Biagi Cell: 914-720-6888 [email protected] Volunteer-St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alice Flowers Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 5:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Felvtalk] Just wondering-Isn't the purpose of this site for progressive treatment? I was directed to this site because of the "Mission Statement" being one of progressive treatments. I don't understand the negativity towards people who opt to treat their cats with newer treatments. If you don't want to treat, that's fine-it's just really mean to knock the people who are treating and have hope still. I did just lose 4 kitty brothers in the past 6 months-I only tried to transfuse one...forgive me for wanting him to live. The last one (at just a year old) did not get that, but he screamed out while he panic-ed and couldn't breathe due to all the fluid in his chest-forgive us for having him euthanized to spare him a few hours of agony. The fluid came bubbling out his nostrils after his last breath. We probably should have gone to the movies until he passed. Why are you on a site constantly harping at and about people who are trying the products that are listed on this site as showing promise.....I don't get it at all-I know you care about your pets, why can't you allow us to care for ours? What I do know is my 2 remaining cats have so much energy now-they beg to play with the laser pointer, Rosie brings her favorite mousie for us to throw so she can play fetch-are they suffering?? Quite the opposite, these 2 are having fun finally! I haven't had a cat in over 12-15 years, then rescued these 6 kittens last year-I didn't have a clue-never even knew anyone with FeLV cats. Please forgive me for wanting to learn and try and treat the disease. I did not expect this site to have all the nasty "cattiness" (ha-ha) of some of the other sites when I read the website's opening page-have you read it? Here is a portion of it cut and pasted from the site: Our mission in presenting the information on these web pages is intended to help those whose feline babies are not responding to traditional veterinary methods of treating feline leukemia. People should be forewarned that many vets are skeptical and will resist using these newer treatments. We urge folks that encounter such opposition to seek out another vet that is willing to administer these medications as recommended below. In July of 1997, the Central States Veterinary Conference held in Kansas City, Missouri held discussions on these newer methods and were optimistic about their use in treating FeLV+ cats. For more details on the protocols for these drugs, please review the book, The 5 minute Veterinary Consultant: Canine and Feline by Tilley and Smith 1997. Although we are not veterinarians, much of the information available here was written by veterinarians. Our sole purpose in presenting these pages is to educate people on newer, more effective treatments for feline leukemia. Ours is a not-for-profit endeavor, even though we may mention companies by name that sell some of these products. Veterinarians and researchers are encouraged to send comments and contributions for this site to me: James G. Wilson NOTICE: All materials at this website (including HTML pages, text pages, and images) are the property of the owner of this website. This includes external links to some Geocities sites, Fortunecity sites, and Prohosting sites. Under no circumstances are these pages to be copied, altered, or otherwise misrepresented. All other external links (including image links) are the property of those website owners. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
