I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but what exactly is she
basing her information that FeLV+'s have such a bad experience with
using epogen, because I have not heard of any studies that have been
done on this to bear that out and if there is one I would like the
reference so I can look into it and give it to my vet.
Amy never be afraid to say anything on this list, all I am saying is
that in my experience your vets information is incorrect about the use
of epogen. Both from other people experiences that I know of that have
FeLV+'s and from my vets experiences.
And there isn't a lot of information out there because most vets won't
even try it and I am not lying when I say most vets are terrified of
epogen in general and have no idea how to use it because in vet school
they are taught that 30% or better of cats using it will have an adverse
reaction to it. That is old information and most vets who actually use
it on a regular basis, mostly on CRF cats say that number is closer to
10% or less and only after 5 months or longer of use.
And everyone here knows I have no love for Cornell, their information
about FeLV had always been outdated and in my opinion inaccurate. And
years ago when most vets knew little to nothing about FeLV, their
outdated information caused many positive, healthy cats their lives
since they were then the only veterinary site with the most info out
there about FeLV+, no matter it was inaccurate.
I see they have updated their info, still not perfect in my eyes but
much better than it was years ago when people were freaking out about it:
This statement however is contradictory:
*Secondary viremia*, a later stage characterized by persistent
infection of the bone marrow and other tissue. If FeLV infection
progresses to this stage it has passed a point of no return: the
overwhelming majority of cats with secondary viremia will be infected
for the remainder of their lives.
It says it is to the point of no return but *ONLY the majority of cats*
will remain infected for the remainder of their lives, doesn't add up,
if it is to the point of no return then *ALL of those cats* would be
infected the remainder of their lives. Guess they got to cover their
butts in case a cat does fight off secondary viremia. I have heard of
one cat that did but have no proof so can't say it has or hasn't happened.
*This is on their website:*
There is no scientific evidence that alternative, immunomodulator, or
antiviral medications have any positive benefits on the health or
longevity of healthy infected cats.
*Why is that?*
In my opinion because they won't spend the money to do those tests, but
if you talk with many people using one or another of these treatments
most are having good results, so since there isn't scientific evidence
because no studies have been done, well I personally will go with people
with positives that have experience using these types of treatments, but
if you tell anyone at Cornell that, I'm pretty sure they will poo poo it
and tell you it is a waste of your time and money.
*And this is my way of thinking and only my opinion.* If my furkid has
something that IS going to kill them if I do nothing, *or if what I am
trying isn't working*, but there is something I can try that may work
... I am going to try it. If the options are for sure death and
possible life, I'm going for the possible life, the out come is going to
be the same if it doesn't work, but if there is a 1% chance it may work,
I'm going for that 1% chance. And thank god my vet knows me well enough
to know that. Now if she strongly feels that what I want to do is going
to hurt my furkid she will argue with me but if she can't convince me,
she knows I will go somewhere else to find a vet that will work with
me. If she can convince me then I won't do it.
My vet isn't perfect and she has made mistakes and there have been times
when I didn't go with my gut and to be honest one of those times was
when I felt Bailey had pancreatitis because of how he was acting when I
fed him. I asked my vet if it were possible and she said no she didn't
think so because his gloucose and amylese didn't bear that out, well it
doesn't always affect those values and in Baileys case my NOT insisting
on a specific pancreatitis test probably cost him his life, because he
died from pancreatic cancer, so he probably did have pancreatitis and
left untreated it turned into cancer, and if that isn't the case that
not treating it would have kept it from turning into cancer, if the
cancer was already there at the very least doing the pancreatitis test
would almost certainly have found the cancer and we could have treated it.
So I am sorry if I am coming off so strongly but if I can save one life
because of the mistakes I made with Bailey it is worth it to me.
No vet is right 100% of the time and anyone who thinks they are is
asking for trouble, my vet was wrong about the pancreatitis and it isn't
the first time she has been wrong, does it upset me, yes, but it also
upsets me that I didn't insist we do the pancreatitis test because in my
gut I knew it was a very good possibility.
My vet does the best she can and I know she is only human and is not
going to be right 100% of the time but when she does the best to her
ability and I know she has researched everything she can about something
and something like that still happens I can't blame her, she doesn't
know everything but she gives 110% and I really can't ask more than
that. Bailey had had ultra sounds and xrays, blood work everything
except exploratory surgery to find the suspected cancer we thought he
had, and his pancreas looked normal in shape and size in all of those
tests, the one test that probably would have found the cancer is the one
test I didn't insist on ...
Fred my negative was also on epogen in the final stages of his kidney
disease and his HCT was low normal (went from 18% to 30%), when he
passed, he had only been on the epogen for about 1 1/2 months because
other CRF final stage related problems started and took him, so I have
had 2 cats on epogen, one positive one not and they both benefited from
epogen.
--
Belinda
happiness is being owned by cats ...
http://bemikitties.com
http://BelindaSauro.com
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