Hi Alice, Thanks so much for sharing all this. I'm learning a lot following your posts and am so happy that Murphy is having a comeback. If you don't mind answering some more questions, I would very much appreciate it.
Just this week I found out by pure accident that the awesome Avis is FeLV+. His counts show nonregenerative anemia: RBC 4.37, HCT 21%. I'd love to get these numbers up a little, or at least keep them from going down for as long as possible. Because right now, he is loving life: eats well, plays with Max the Dog, stalks all those critters on the other side of the window & purrs & purrs & purrs. So, the questions: 1) How long have Murphy & Rosie been taking LTCI shots & how have they benefited from them? 2) Ditto Interferon -- how long & what benefits. Also, do you use the feline Interferon (omega) version & if so, how do you get it? Because my understanding is that feline interferon is only available in Europe, maybe Canada, and that there are some risks to using human interferon. 3) Procit -- I was under the impression that Procrit/Epogen is used when the anemia is a result of chronic renal failure. Does Murphy have CRF? 4) Any experience/thoughts on ImmunoRegulin & Staph Protein A? I am struggling with what treatments to try and when to start. Is sooner better or should I keep these treatments in reserve for when HCT goes under 20%? Thanks again, hearing your real world experience helps tremendously! Kris B. ________________________________ From: Alice Flowers <aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net> To: "felvtalk@felineleukemia.org" <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org> Sent: Fri, October 1, 2010 8:01:24 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy's little comeback-he definitely has 9 lives!! jbero tds.net (Jenny) Hi Jenny! OK-we live at the vet-LOL With FeLV, the sooner you can nip anything in the bud, the better. Murphy was put on Cyproheptadine in April for sneezing-we thought allergies because he liked to hang out at the screen door to watch the birds. I had been giving fewer LTCI shots-went to 8 weeks-dumb.....the end of July he became anemic-still sneezing and now lethargic, he had lost almost a pound in the 3 months. July 23-He has always tested negative for FHM (formerly known as Hemobartonella). We added the Doxy 2x a day (1/4 of a 100mg tab that I put in a gel cap with the 1/2 tab of 4 mg Cypro) on July 23, along with Procrit 3x a week and the iron capsule 1x a day. Still on Interferon 1cc 2x a day (both he and Rosie). I think the Doxy as more of a preventative measure. He had lots of URIs his first year. Absolute Reticulocyte count was 35200. Autoplatelet 744..Large platelets present, Slight Howell jolly bodies persent. No FHM seen. Went to every 2 wks with the LTCI. Aug 6 he had a temp of 104.7 and was given a shot of .5 ml PennG which I repeated every 5 days at home. But his in-office PCV was up to 27 from 18 in July. CBCs- RBC 3.07 HGB 6.9 HCT 22.5 Autoplatelet 897 Platelets appear increased Large platelets present Absolute Reticulocyte count 70610 Marked degree of regeneration. Sept 18-Breathing too fast-103.5 temp ultrasound showed fluid in the chest cavity and she could not see his heart and lungs on the test-his breathing was raspy. Added Prednisolone 5mg 2x a day and Lasix 1/2 tab 2x a day (I put both in one gelcap) CBC showed RBC 6.48 HGB 11.6 HCT 38.7 (no reticulocyte done) Auto Platelet 621 Platelets appear increased. Decreased Procrit to 2x a week and Iron capsule to one every other night. Added Rutin when Dawn wrote about using it and it helped her cat-1 gel cap 2x a day. LTCI once a week. Today Oct 1 "Marked Improvements!" ultrasound showed very scant fluid -lung sounds great. In office PCV 36 TP 6-continue the meds except decrease the Procrit (21 units in an insulin syringe) to once a week-mucous membranes nice and pink, temp 101.1, up to 11 lbs 1/2 oz (from 10 lbs Aug 6 but he was 12 lbs a year ago) Come back in a month for CBC (Hahahaha-we didn't know if he was going to make it to this appt and now it's see ya in a month!!) Wooo Hooo!! He has a good appetite-loves the AD wet food from the vet, strained ham is his favorite baby food-he eats dry food really well also-blue buffalo with probiotics and a few other premium grain free holistic foods without fishmeal (some fishmeal is preserved with carcinogens). I do let him have some junk food-LOL cuz he loves the hairball control treats in the silver package, and he is a fluffy boy. I hope you can make sense of the numbers. It's one heck of a roller coaster ride. Alice _______________________________________________ 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