Great results for Curly and the vet! ---- Randy Henke <ra...@magicedge.com> wrote: > Curly's latest labs from yesterday show another hematocrit leap from 15% to > 23% in 2 1/2 weeks. She has also gained 6/10 of a pound! (7.1 up from 6.5). > Behaviorally she is almost back to her old self. She is no longer hiding, > seeks out attention and is eating well. Our vet told us he is astounded. > But more importantly, he said that he is changing his treatment for FELV > cats based on Curly's remarkable improvement and will be using Prednisone, > Winstrol and Doxycyline in the future. A small win for our side against > this disease. > > Her blood chemistry test did show that her ALT levels have risen to 174 > which is an indicator that liver cells are being destroyed. Our vet said it > is definitely a result of the anabolic steroid but he isn't overly > concerned yet. H wants us to continue treatment for another month. Once > Curly's hematocrit is up to around 30 he wants to start cycling the > Winstrol, one week on and one week off, to give her liver a chance to > regenerate. > > Without this forum and the advice I received here along with a very > understanding and open-minded vet, I'm quite sure Curly wouldn't be around > anymore. I have my fingers crossed that we can keep things balanced and > headed in the right direction but so far, so good! > > On Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 12:23 PM, Amani Oakley <aoak...@oakleylegal.com> > wrote: > > > Hopefully, we start winning the vets over when they see the results, and > > they start to tell each other about some success for FeLV cats with this > > combination. By the way, I have also effectively used this combination for > > a cat who, I believe had FIV, and I currently am using just the > > Doxy/Winstrol combination on 2 of 3 kittens we picked up from the side of > > the road in August and they displayed the symptoms of Lyme Disease > > (alternating lameness and other signs). In the last case, I am pretty sure > > that the majority of the effect on the Lyme organism *(Borrelia > > bergdorferi) *is from the Doxycycline, but the good effect on the > > lameness (which had been in place for several months before I thought to > > try the medications) is I believe as a result of the use of the Winstrol. > > > > > > > > When the vets tell me that (a) they don’t know what the diagnosis is and > > other options seem ineffective or (b) they tell me there is no hope, I will > > usually try the Winstrol and almost always get a decent result. > > > > > > > > Amani > > > > > > > > *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf > > Of *Randy Henke > > *Sent:* January-22-17 11:54 AM > > *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > > *Subject:* Re: [Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement > > > > > > > > Amani, you asked what our vet thought about Curly's improvement. He was > > very pleased but I think he was also a little surprised. He is an > > incredible vet and always goes the extra mile to listen and explain things. > > He was also very open to letting us try the Prednisolone, Doxy and > > Winstrol, even though he'd never treated a FELV cat in that way. I think he > > thought it would help put my mind at ease that we'd tried everything we > > could and he's right. It would have done that even if the treatment hadn't > > worked. He was very concerned about the Prednisolone opening her up to > > secondary infections but once he saw the numbers start to improve he was > > convinced we were doing the right thing and told us to keep it up. I am > > going to talk to him about continuing the Doxy. > > > > Robert, that's a great idea about crushing the Doxy, mixing it in broth > > and administering with a syringe. We'd tried mixing it in her food once and > > that did not go well. Obviously it's a very nasty tasting medicine. > > > > Ardy and Katherine, thanks for your support. I really wish that more vets > > were open to trying novel treatments that hold so much potential instead of > > assuming that they know everything. > > > > Randy > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Amani Oakley <aoak...@oakleylegal.com> > > wrote: > > > > Oh Randy, I am so THRILLED to hear of your positive response to the > > medications, and that your vet was so helpful. (What does your vet think of > > the response?) You may think that 15% haematocrit is still very sick, and > > it is still well outside the normal range, but you’ve basically had a 60% > > increase in haematocrit in 3 weeks. That is quite amazing and wonderful. It > > is as good a result as you would have had with 2 units of blood being given > > as a transfusion, only it is much better than a transfusion because Curly > > is producing her own cells, rather than temporarily filling up with someone > > else’s blood. > > > > > > > > With respect to the Doxy, I am not sure. If it were me, I would probably > > want to continue if you can. You’ve had a very good result. Why mess with > > the formula? I can’t say definitively, one way or the other, since I very > > much figured things out by running weekly blood work and if I saw a dip or > > a reversal in the numbers, I would adjust the medication accordingly. I > > don’t know if I am right about my Doxy theory (and it is just pure > > conjecture on my part, based on my non-vet research) but I really think > > that the Doxy is part of the effective package. I feel that the Doxy holds > > the virus in check – perhaps slowing down its reproduction by inhibiting > > RNA synthesis – enough to allow the body to make some progress with the > > Winstrol. I don’t think that the Winstrol on its own is enough. > > > > > > > > With the Doxy, I used to scrape the quarter tablet into a slab of butter > > to coat it with butter, to help it slide down better, since the quarter > > table it very dry and scratchy. I also posted recently that the Doxy we get > > from vets (and even from our doctors) is the same as what you can get to > > treat fish or birds, in a pet store, and that is sold in powdered packages > > of 100 mg (same as 1 tablet). A prescription isn’t needed for it, and > > because it is powdered, it can be mixed into food or liquid. > > > > > > > > Great news, too, with your success in getting her to eat more and put on > > weight. > > > > > > > > I love to hear good news on this front. Let’s hope she continues in the > > right direction. > > > > > > > > Amani > > > > > > > > *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf > > Of *Randy Henke > > *Sent:* January-19-17 9:53 PM > > *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > > *Subject:* [Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement > > > > > > > > It has been a little over a month ago that I asked for advice on this > > forum for our little girl, Curly. > > > > At that point, I had little hope. She was so lethargic and her hematocrit > > had dipped to a critical 9%. I took everyone's advice, especially Amani's, > > and asked our vet for Predisolone, Winstrol and Doxycycline. > > > > According to her latest CBC two weeks ago, she is still a very sick kitty > > but her hematocrit rebounded to 15% which I know is still very low. All > > other numbers are improving slowly as well. That was after less than three > > weeks of treatment. > > > > She is due for another CBC next Tuesday and I am hopeful we will see more > > improvement. I've noticed her gums are more pink which I believe is a good > > sign. > > > > We were still having problems with getting her to eat. She would have her > > good days and her bad days but her weight was still creeping down. Last > > week I asked our vet about Mirtazapine and our vet agreed to give us a > > prescription for it. I have to thank Robert for mentioning this in one of > > his posts. > > > > One day last week she didn't want to eat so I gave her a quarter pill > > (3.75 mg) which is the dose our vet prescribed to give her daily. The > > result was phenomenal and almost a little scary. She was bouncing off the > > walls within a few hours and eating everything she could get her paws on. I > > almost felt a little sorry for her because it was like she couldn't sit > > still for more than a couple of minutes. But it was like getting our old > > Curly back again in just a single day! > > > > The effect tapered off after a couple of days and we didn't feel > > comfortable giving her another dose until she stopped eating again because > > of how dramatic the change was. I've read online that a smaller dose could > > be effective if given every 72 hours so we are going to try doing that so > > she keeps eating. It was incredible to see her weight go up by a quarter > > pound in just a couple of days. > > > > We are continuing the Prednisolone and Winstrol at the recommended doses > > but our two week Doxycycline prescription ran out over a week ago. She does > > appear to still be making improvement without it but I'm wondering if I > > should ask for another prescription to keep that going as well. > > > > I always worry about giving her the quarter pill of Doxy because I know it > > can cause esophageal damage if it isn't followed by liquids. I was > > following the pill with the liquid Winstrol solution but wasn't sure if > > that was enough. > > > > Many thanks to everyone who gave us advice. It looks like we might have > > our Curly back for at least a while yet and it's all because of you people. > > > > Randy > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > >
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