Hi Jenny, Thanks for the advice. I have certainly considered all my options and I know that this is not a good place for Wolfie to be at. I've had so many positive cats and unfortunately I know how it usually ends. This one has made it longer than any of my other ones and I would do anything to save him if I thought that something existed.
Wolfie started pred after testing positive for hemobart. I tried weaning him off the pred once the treatment was completed and he became very weak and lethargic after dropping to one pill a day. The specialist at Cornell told me that the pred could definitely be helping if we are dealing with lymphoma or other issues and we all agreed that having Wolfie crash right now by taking him off the pred is probably not the way to go. I know it's not going to reverse his non-regenerative anemia. Is there anything that can do that? Nothing I'm aware of does. That's why I posted asking if anybody has seen a cat brought back by LTCI once non-regenerative anemia has been confirmed. There are some definite pros and cons to using it. Numerous vets have told me that it doesn't come without the stress of bloodwork, additional visits, monitoring, etc. If I had evidence that this could reverse Wolfie's situation, I would seriously consider it. Heck I'm considering it even knowing it probably won't. I have nothing but Wolfie's best interest in mind. I'm not sure monitoring and routinely drawing blood on a cat that is no longer making red blood cells is a wise decision when not one person out there has been able to say "yes, this saved my cat from non-regenerative anemia." I hope that LTCI turns out to be a life-saver. I really do. I'm just afraid of all the hype because if just seems too good to be true. I have to think about Wolfie and the fact that he is very opinionated. He's not a cat that would want to sit at a vet getting drips or being hospitalized. I'm all for doing everything I can to save him but I also have to respect the cat that he is and how I want his last months, weeks, days, whatever to be spent. I'm trying to gather as much info as possible to make the best decision for him. I hate this disease and I hate that I might not be able to do anything to save him :( Thanks again for all the suggestions. I am definitely researching everything. I am very familiar with holistic approaches and by no means feel obligated to follow conventional medicine. I just want to do what is best for Wolfie and I'm not sure any of us really know the answer to that when it comes to this disease. Amy --- On Thu, 11/26/09, jbero tds.net <jb...@tds.net> wrote: > From: jbero tds.net <jb...@tds.net> > Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] WBC/RBC/platelet count decreasing > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Date: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 3:37 PM > > > > Amy, > > > You have a cat in the stages that most of us dread. > You have a few options > available to you. You can follow conventional advice > or you can take a > chance. From what I've seen conventional medicine > does not help in this > scenario. > > My first question is this; Why is he on prednisone? > The only possible > reason I can see for this is hemobartonella. If > that's not present, I fail > to see the value. Prednisone seems to be the cure all > in veterinary > medicine and with few exceptions it simply relieves > symptoms while your cat > dies. > > I don't think you have much time to make a choice. > Unless there is a valid > reason for using the prednisone, I would stop it (taper > it) I would be > aggressive at this point. I would get acemannan, LTCI > and I would probably > try the vitamin c drip (I have not used this yet, but Sally > would certainly > be willing to help you with it). I would do it all > together and right now. > This is of course dependent on your financial situation - I > understand the > massive investment this could mean. If, however, you > simply treat symptoms > and try transfusion, antibiotics, prednisone etc you are > simply prolonging > the inevitable and only by a small amount - this will also > be exceptionally > expensive. > > Here's the thing, you have not done a transfusion yet so > you sort of have > that as a back door immediate rescue if you need it. > The prednisone is not > raising the Hct so why do you think it's helping? You > have a non > regenerative anemia on your hands. Unless you reverse > that you're dead in > the water - prednisone will not do this. > > You are facing a tough decision, I know, I understand and I > am so sorry for > that. If you leave the beaten path of veterinary > medicine you have to do > the leg work and fight an uphill battle. Medicine is > not perfect and > neither are people but I can honestly say that from what I > have seem, > conventional medicine has failed time and again in this > situation. > > Good luck and God bless. > > Jenny > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
