I'm so sorry about Kalleigh. Big hugs to you.
Goodnight, sweet Kalleigh.......
=^..^= Terri, Salome', Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, and 5
furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth and Alec =^..^=
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 5:59
AM
Subject: Re: Please Help
Amy,
I'm sorry to hear Kalleigh didn't make it. It sounds like she just
had too much going on all at one time.
take care,
Dear Sally,
Thank you for your prayers and concern....I took Kaleigh to the vet
last Monday because she started getting worse. She was
dehydrated and was not eating. She would take a few sips of
water some times but not much. The vet gave her fluids under the skin
and some nutragel and told me to keep giving her the amoxy drops and pet
tinic. He gave her a b12 shot as well. She seemed a little
better but on Friday morning she was really bad. She got on the side
of the bathtub, her favorite spot, and cried the most awful cry I have ever
heard from a cat. I took her to the vet on my way to work and they
kept her to give her fluids. I called on my break and the vet told me
that she was really dehydrated and he shaved her paw to give her IV fluids
and the shock of that almost killed her. He said that she was
jaundiced and that meant her liver was breaking down. He told me he
wanted to keep her over night but expected her! ! to be dead the next
morning. I had my husband pick her up after work and told the vet to
give her a sedative. My husband said she died on the way home or just
after they got home. I'm glad she is at peace now. The vet did
not do bloodwork for the anemia....she has been anemic her whole life.
He just looked at her ears and paws. The ulcer was from an infected
tooth. Over the course of 2 weeks she got 2 steroid shots 1 abx shot
amoxy drops and pet tinic for 14 days and fluids. She would get better
for a couple of days but then get worse than she was. I have
lost 5 others to felv, 4 newborns and 1 at 8 months and I
still have 1 that is 6 years old with it. I want to have her tested
again but cannot afford to do it just because I want to. Kaleigh was
very lucky, she was only sick one time before this so she lived a very full
life, even if it was short.
Again, thanks for your prayers and concerns.
Amy in Arkansas
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Dear
Amy:
I was away for several days and just read your post? Has
anyone gotten back
to you with feedback about your kitty. Kalleigh?
How is she doing?
It is not uncommon for FeLV+ kittys to have
gingivitis, stomatitis or other
types of mouth sores as the virus
enters the body via the tissues of the mouth
and so that is a primary
place of infection. Unless the ulcer is the result
of a secondary
bacterial infection, giving her antibiotics would not be of any
benefit and abx can often upset the balance of beneficial intestinal
flora, so
it is always a good idea to give some sort of probiotics
with abx therapy. I
have used Prozyme and ProBi (both available from
KV Vet supply -- kvvet.com;
also have an 800 number). Or, you can use
acidophilus capsules from any
health food store. The abx of choice for
mouth infections is clindamyc! ! in, but it
is VERY gnarly tasting and
I prefer not to use it unless nothing else seems to
help. Did the vet
give you any indication as to what was causing the ulcer in
her mouth?
Does she also have the characteristic gingivitis...a reddening of
the
gums just above the toothline? Some listmembers have used l-Lysine and
enzyme CoQ10 supplements which are available at a health food store. A
prescription medication called Peroxicam can also be
helpful.
Did the vet explain why Kalleigh may have become
dehydrated? Usually it is
from not eating or drinking and so not
taking in enough fluids, prolonged
fever, severe vomiting and/or
diarrhea, kidney failure or hyperthyroidism. You can
check to see if
your cat is becoming dehydrated by pinching the skin between
the
shoulder blades and pulling it up, then releasing it and if the skin does
not snap back down, but sort of oozes down slowly, that is a sign of
dehydration. You can learn to do! ! subQ fluids yourself, which is
much less expensive,
and it is not difficult to do.
Did the
vet do a blood test to determine Kalleigh was anemic (if so, what was
her hematocrit?) or just look to see that her gums were pale. If she
is
severely anemic, giving significant amounts of fluids can cause the
hematocrit to
drop further, perhaps by thinning the blood. It can be a
damned if you do,
damed if you don't kind of situation.
Did
the vet suggest what may be the cause of Kalleigh's anemia? Since she is
FeLV+ it is not surprising...while leukemia is a cancer of the white
blood
cells, it wreaks havoc on the red blood cells, too. Anemia is
not an uncommon
complication with FeLV+ cats, and in its most severe
form, the bone marrow's
ability to produce red blood cells is so
compromised the anemia becomes
"nonregenerative" and not enough RBC
can be produced to keep up with the natural
process of destruction, in
which case the blo! ! od is not able to carry sufficient
oxygen to
sustain life. Sometimes the use of a drug called Epogen can stimulate
the production of RBC provided the bone marrow still has some ability
to
function. Blood transfusions can become necessary if the hematocrit
drops below 9,
but unless the bone marrow can still function
sufficiently that can only buy
some time.
It is important to
determine the cause of anemia. There are other conditions
that can
cause anemia, too, such as internal bleeding from tumors or ulcers;
severe infestations of worms, especially hookworms; and there is a
blood
parasite called hemobartonella that often goes
undetected.
Whatever the cause, in treating anemia enriching the
diet with iron is
important. Dr. Martin Goldsmith recommends purreed
raw liver, raw egg yolks,
green veggies, Vit. B12, apple cider
vinegar, liquid chlorphyll and kelp. He uses
a product called Hemaplex
(Progressive Labs) which contains ! red cell-building
components:
beets, raw liver, chlorophyll and iron, among others. The
Petinic your
vet gave you is a B Vite and iron supplement (also available from KV
Vet Supply), which is good, but it will also be helpful for you to
give her a
nutritional boost. Is she still eating on her own? Anemia
causes a cat to be
weak and depresses the appetite. You may have to
"assist" her in eating with
syringe feeding.
There really isn't
a whole lot we can do for FeLV+ cats except to protect
them from being
exposed to cats that could be a source of infectious pathogens,
feed
them the healthiest, most natural diet possible and give additional
supplements to boost their immune system as much as possible. The key
seems to be
keeping whatever immune function the cat may have
supported because once the
virus gets the upper hand and the cat
begins to develop major symptoms of
illness and "crash" it is usually
just a matter of time (o! ! ften very little time)
until there is
insufficient immune function left to survive the onslaught.
I do
hope Kalleigh will respond to treatment and be able to hang in there and
keep the FeLV virus from taking control. Try to stay positive because
loving,
positive energy can be very important in helping a furkid get
well. If she
has managed to live with the virus for 3 years now, she's
already beaten the
odds so don't give up hope. Do let me know how she
is progressing and if I can
be of any further assistance. I highly
recommend the book by Dr. Martin
Goldsmith, The Nature of Animal
Healing.
I lost two precious furbabys to this horrid virus and have
three more FeLV+
still with me...two are just over a year old and have
passed that first major
milestone with only gingivitis so far; the
third is a precious little guy who
tested positive at just 6 weeks and
was going to be PTS by an ignorant owner --
he is now 16 weeks and no!
symp! toms so far other than a cyclical low-grade
fever. They are on a
natural, raw diet and supplemented with Vit. C, CoQ10 and
Transfer
Factors. I am hoping I learned enough from losing the first two that
I
can give these furkids a better chance for longer term
survival.
Wishing you the very best and keeping you and Kalleigh in
my prayers.
Sally in San Jose
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