Yes, Sherri. There's no question this is a frustrating, devastating disease, made far far worse by vets lacking in knowledge, and committed to just putting down FeLV cats. Sherri, Zander's haematocrit was actually down to 5 initially, and he had to be placed in an oxygen tent because his haemoglobin was so low his body would have had trouble transporting oxygen to the cells in his body. I gave him blood transfusions initially, but could see that they were only temporary stopgaps, and after the second one, he had a reaction, so I was told he couldn't have any more transfusions, as the next one would kill him. As a former medical technologist, I knew that to be true. (In Canada, they didn't test for blood type at the time - don't know if they do now.)
After trying Zander on a course of Interferon and a course of LTCI (or whatever it is called - I always mix up the letters), I totally by chance, opened up my drawer and rummaged through it in desperation because his haematocrit had dropped from a high of 16 after his second blood transfusion, back down to 10, and I knew I was going to lose him soon. He was on Doxycycline and Prednisone, but it wasn't doing a thing for his cell lines, which were all depressed - with the most critical being the red cells/haematocrit numbers. Imagine my total surprise when, after I gave him some old Winstrol I found in the drawer, I started noticing his ears and gums taking on a pink hue and when I tested him 3 days after starting the Winstrol, the haematocrit had gone up instead of steadily down. My surprise grew, and finally overcame my skepticism (I mean, really, what are the odds that I discovered a cure???) and Zander's results kept slowly but steadily rising for months and months until he was finally out of danger and then into the normal reference range for all his results. Then, after a year, when I told the internal specialist who had very kindly told me there was no hope with this disease, imagine my shock that he KNEW about Winstrol and said that I had gone "old-school" and this has been something they used to use for this disease until "word" spread that the drug could cause liver damage! Frankly, after reading about all the experiences of so many people in this situation, I realize how lucky I am. Because of my background in health care, my very long relationship with my vet clinic (which I would often diagnose things before them and/or I would identify problems they hadn't seen) AND very likely, my prickly personality/refusal to take no for an answer, my vets were good enough to back off and let me do my thing. They recognized that, OBVIOUSLY, they had nothing to offer me if the Winstrol didn't work. They faithfully tried the Interferon and the LTCI at my request, and ran the weekly bloodwork, and agreed that there were no positive effects. They saw the positive effects with the WInstrol. They tried on a few occasions to talk me into discontinuing or reducing the Winstrol when the liver enzymes increased, but after what Zander had been through - being on the brink of death - I was not open to discussing this option. On a few occasions I would reduce the Winstrol briefly, only to see his haematology drop. I would then hold my breath for a few days or weeks, to let the liver enzymes settle a bit, before getting him back on the WInstrol. However, I don't think any of the vets were prepared to argue with the obvious success. They had seen the unbelievably low haematocrit and red cell count, for themselves. I just don't know how we can get this message across to mainstream vets. This is NOT an evil drug which must be avoided at all costs. I wish I could address a vet convention. If I had LITTLE TIME, I would write a paper and submit it for publication in a vet publication. I get angered when I hear about all the trouble everyone has, getting some Winstrol for their cats, despite the desperate circumstances the cats are in. Sherri, the odd thing for you is that your vet is okay with the Winstrol but not the Doxycycline. Really bizarre! No wonder underground markets flourish. It just shouldn't be this hard to be at least given an opportunity and a bit of hope to save our cats. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sherri Godschalk Sent: September-30-16 5:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] FW: Continued Improvement for Bogey on Stanzolol Thanks Amani. I called the vets office right after I read what you wrote below and asked again for the Doxycycline and he insisted she did not need it. I am just going to have to hope that Bogey continues to get better on the regiment we are on. I feel very thankful for my vet that he prescribing the Winstrol. I hope it is enough. Your boy Zander must have been one strong cat to recover from how sick he was. It sounds like you really monitored him and gave him the best treatment. Your advise and knowledge of this awful disease and the benefits and pitfalls of trying to treat it is invaluable to all of us who are caring for these lovely creatures. I read this messaging board and feel so bad that cat owners who desperately need this drug cannot get it. I believe without a doubt that as fast as Bogey's counts were dropping, she would probably not still be with me today without it. I am sure the stigma attached to it keeps a lot of vets from prescribing it or maybe they are just uneducated about it. My other vet wouldn't even discuss a transfusion as she was certain that nothing could help us for very long. She was quite intent on me putting this cat down and just wanted to wash her hands of us it seemed. So the stigma isn't just about this treatment, it is around the disease itself. Her statement "There are plenty of other healthy cats that need good homes" is proof enough of that. How frustrating for all of us. Thank you again for your insight. From: Felvtalk <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Amani Oakley <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Reply-To: <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Date: Friday, September 30, 2016 at 2:29 PM To: "[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: [Felvtalk] FW: Continued Improvement for Bogey on Stanzolol Hi Sherri Keep up with the bloodwork. Good for you. Because I did Zander's bloodwork weekly, I was able to watch his counts very carefully as well, and this is why I am so firm on what I saw that worked and what I saw that didn't work. Keeping a close eye on the bloodwork will help you immediately point to the effects of the medication, and I am sure that the stall you got on the improvement of the bloodwork is solely because he removed her off the Winstrol. I saw this drop or stagnation every time I even tried to wean Zander down from 2 mg a day to 1 mg a day, for the first 10 months, but I was starting at much worse blood results than you were. Zander's haematocrit was 10 when I started the Winstrol. Interesting about your vet's background. That may well explain his openness to using Winstrol where so many others refuse. Those in athletics are well aware of the amazing body building, muscle building, strength building properties of Winstrol, and the fact that the rumoured side-effects are very very exaggerated - probably to try and scare off athletes from using the stuff. Once you use it, you find out it really doesn't have all those terrible side effects, and it makes a real difference to improving body strength. That is why I have come to the conclusion that, very sadly, we are being denied access to Winstrol, not because it doesn't work or because it has bad side effects, but because in the media it is BAD to take steroids if you are an athlete. Why that should affect cats, or elderly people with osteoporosis for that matter, is way way beyond me and very frustrating. With respect to the platelets, my concern remains that the low platelet count and the high lymphocyte count show that the virus is still actively attacking cells. My theory is that while the Winstrol is working to build up bone marrow and allow it to regenerate the lost red cells, the virus is still attacking. That is why I believe that the Winstrol on its own will not be enough, and you need to double-team the virus with the Doxycycline on the one side, interfering with the ability of the virus to reproduce and the Winstrol on the other hand, working to repair some of the damage caused by the virus. I don't think there is anything that directly will give you a boost on the platelets, and my concern is that when the platelets drop so low, you have a real risk of internal bleeding. I don't know what else to suggest. Amani From: Felvtalk [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sherri Godschalk Sent: September-30-16 2:11 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Continued Improvement for Bogey on Stanzolol _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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