Hi Bill. Welcome to the List! First of all, thank you for taking care of these babies- 4 Felv+ cats? That's quite a few, even for this List :)
All I know about blood transfusions is that they don't typically work if it is nonregenerative anemia- meaning the virus has destroyed the bone marrow and it is no longer producing red blood cells. If they have anemia BECAUSE of something, like a parasite (hemobartinella for example) or an iron defeciency it can be helpful. Of course you would have to also correct the cause of the anemia by getting rid of the parasites, increasing the amount of iron they are getting, etc. To me it seems that it is just like putting a band-aid on a gun shot wound. It doesn't really fix the problem. They DO get better, temporarily. Drugs such as epogen can help w/ RBC production, but I don't recall many long term success cases with it on this List, at least not as used for Felv related nonregenerative anemia. If you cats are currently healthy, I would focus on prevention. Such as starting Interferon ASAP, increasing vitamin C, maybe some CoQ10, DMG, thymus, or any of the other supplements we all use. I have my Felv+ looked over and a complete blood count done twice per year just to stay on top of things. I also feel him for any unusual lumps and check his gums daily for signs of anemia (pale gums). Sometimes if you catch this stuff early, you can pull them back. If your cats are sick, you may want to look into Immunoregulin or Acemannan. Good luck and welcome to the List! Jamie
