Kim, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. I have four leuk positives and lost one to anemia last year with a hematocrit of 5 when she died. 6 is really low but you have a miraculous kitty with a will to live. My vet said most don't survive below 10-12. It does sound like leukemia especially with the high lymphocyte count. I pray it is not but it sounds like it could be.
If it is leukemia, what is the reasoning for the bone marrow test? They were able to tell from the blood smear if there were baby red blood cells in my cat's blood. There were very few which meant the leukemia had invaded her bone marrow and she was no longer producing red blood cells. Since red blood cells die every so many days (60-90 or something like that), I knew unless I did transfusions she wouldn't have long. I did lots of research and the transfusion would only buy her about 2-4 weeks. After the first one, each transfusion becomes more risky and less likely to help because of autoimmune stuff and the cat having a reaction to the blood. Normally you can't do more than 2-3 I guess. I was told it was very tough on the cat so I chose not to do it just to buy her a couple weeks. She died peacefully at the vet with no suffering. She was happy til the last day. I woke up and she was weaker than usual and I took her to the vet. They said she probably had about 24-36 hours but the drive home would probably kill her and that she would probably start open mouth breathing which is painful and scares them. I didn't want to take that chance. I asked for some time alone with her to think about it. After I held her for about 10 minutes, kissing her and trying to decide, she looked up at me and cried and then started gasping for air. I knew that was it. I couldn't watch her scared so I held her while she was put to sleep. I know this is not probably making you feel better but believe me with this disease, it helps to know what you may be in for. I hope you have a very different outcome but I wanted to tell you how it went for me. Maybe it will help in some way. You and your kitty are in my thoughts and prayers and I'm wishing you the best. Please keep me posted. I hope all goes well. It is amazing what love does for these cats and it is so obvious this kitty is loved. Mine have survived stuff that nobody thought they would. My mom cat had round worm, hook worm, lung worm, coccidia.. She had a broken hip, leg, and ankle and has two bullets in her, one in her chest and one in her leg. She survived it all and is happy as can be. She also had 3 babies when I found her and was living out in the cold. Just have faith and know you are doing such a special thing caring for this kitty. Amy __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/
