Glenda, As I stated, I can't help much here.... but I WOULD start antibiotics. why not? also I've NEVER heard epogen only helps with kidney disease!! I may be wrong... but your vet could be too. (It's been known to happen.) tonya --- Sharon Siders <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Glenda, > > Immunoregulin is worth a shot, but it is probably just that. It was > too late > for Ernie by the time we tried it. I wasn't aware the Epogen was > only for > kidney-related problems, but I'm sure the vet knows. > > I wish I had some great idea for you and Francisco. You are in my > thoughts > and prayers. > > Sharon > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Glenda Gardam > Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 10:33 PM > To: FELV List > Subject: Update on Francisco - not good > > > Thanks everyone who wrote in with their experiences and suggestions. > I > printed them all out and took them to a different vet (along with the > original bloodwork done) this morning (my regular one is not back > until > Tuesday) along with Francisco. That in itself took precious TIME to > find > one that would not automatically say PTS as with my association with > the > cat shelter you get to know which ones are that way inclined and are > not > interested in people like us on this list want to keep our FeLV+ > alive > and well as opposed to having them PTS as soon as they are > diagnosed... > Makes me very very frustrated to say the least. I have YET to find a > conventional vet who is willing to work with me on treating my 5 > FeLV+ > cats proactively!!! Are we to wait until they get sick so then they > can > be treated??? I also spent time phoning all sorts of Vet Clinics to > see > if they sold Pet Tinic. Many were very helpful and from their > efforts, > some even looking in their Pfizer catalogs, it seems like it is not > something distributed from Pfizer to Canada????? > Three of the clinics have supplied something that used to be called > Diamino, which has been changed to something called Vetamino which > sounds very similar, BUT no one has been able to get it.......it has > been on Back order for over 3 months at two of the clinics and they > say > it is considered "liquid gold" for anyone who can get there hands on > it. > So what am I to do in the meantime. It is too late for Francisco but > would like to have it on hand for down the road. I do think the > Revival > Animal Clinic will ship to Canada. Foster and Smith do not, and > neither > do any of the others (I can't remember where I even looked on line at > this point) If any other members happen to live in Canada (I'm in > Vancouver, BC) and can recommend where they purchased it.. (Susan??) > > Back to Francisco...... > He did not fare well in the car. He started experiencing shortness of > breath even though I had the windows open and cool air on high for > the > drive. He was OK once I got him out of the car and faced his carrier > towards a breeze....... > > Here is the Vet's responses to my queries: > > Epogen > Will only work if they is something wrong with the kidneys. Fran's > blood > test showed no kidney problems. > > Hemobart > The original blood test I had taken on April 10th was different from > others in that there was a request to test for hemobart, but the > results > did not state either way if it came up positive or negative. I asked > my > regular vet to call the Pathologist at the lab to determine if it was > tested for and it was and the results were negative. When I asked the > Vet this morning about it not showing up all the time on blood tests > he > stated there was no point to treat him because in his opinion his > reticulyte count would be higher if the anemia was from the > hemobart....and his treatment (which I think is limited as far as > treating for it) was to put the cat on Prednisone and Tetracycline. > The > Prednisone could cause more harm then good, he said, because of > Fran's > already FeLV suppressed immume system......I don't know anything > about > blood test results etc so........ > > Blood Transfusion > The Vet's explanation based on the pathologist's comments on Fran's > first blood test which were " > Severe nonregenerative anemia with increased NRBCS and undiff cells > are > RBCS blasts - reflect inappropriate RBC release without proper > maturation consistent with erythroleukemia/erythroid dyslasia as seen > with FeLV positive cats." > > The vet said that blood transfusion will not buy Fran time in this > case > because the FeLV virus is crowding the bone marrow and not allowing > red > blood cells to mature. He says that also because of his reticulite > count > of 2%, it kind of shows that there is no more ability for poor Fran > to > make red blood cells anymore....He did a Hemocrat test at his office > and > the result was the same as the original blood test. > > He said the ONLY reason that the cat is still alive is from me force > feeding and giving him fluids. This is so incredibly hard to say, but > I > think I will have to let him go. I took Francisco back home here > because > I want him to pass on in comfortable surroundings and I know I would > be > a danger on the road driving back because I would be so emotionally > wrecked if I had to drive back with an empty carrier...... If anyone > has > any other suggestions, please let me know. He is getting too weak now > to > last much longer and I don't want him to pass on without me holding > him > (I don't want to find him dead on one of my frequent checks on him) > so > will spend time now just loving him and letting him know that I did > all > I could and that I will miss him dearly but he will always be in my > heart and I will be OK (I feel it's important to let THEM know that). > This is awful because he is still purring... down the road I will be > able to hopefully look at it that I let him go when he was still able > to > do that.... > > Thank you all so much for listening and sharing your views and kind > words and I will keep you posted. > > > Glenda > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/
