Ardy
>From my research, I see that Doxycycline is found to interfere with RNA
>replication, which is how viruses reproduce. Thus, my theory (based on my
>observations of what happened with my FeLV little boy AND weekly blood work)
>is that with the combination of Doxycycline/Prednisolone/Winstrol each does
>something different and leaving out one of them will often not give you good
>results.
The Winstrol pumps up red cell production, promotes bone cell reproduction
(that's why it can be used in older adults with osteoporosis), which in turn
eventually increases white cell, red cell and platelet numbers since the
progenitor cells (those that make these three cell lines) are all found in the
bone marrow and are all attacked by the FeLV virus.
However, the problem is that since the Winstrol does nothing to the virus
itself, the virus will continue to attack both bone marrow and white cells,
ultimately killing the cells it attacks, or diverting them from their normal
activities (producing cells lines or attacking intruders) and instead turning
them into virus-making machines, causing a greater and greater load of viruses
in the body. This obviously will eventually overpower the good that the
Winstrol is doing, since the viruses will keep attacking the new cells being
promoted by the Winstrol.
The Doxycycline does not kill the viruses. It is an antibiotic, and is unable
to kill viruses. However, it blocks the virus replication. It is my theory that
by doing this, it slows down the virus reproduction, allowing the Winstrol to
pump up the numbers of red cells, white cells, and platelets, without having to
outcompete the rampant virus reproduction. Once the body gets back to a safe
zone in terms of red cells, white cells and platelets, it is able to withstand
and/or fight the viruses more effectively. My view, though, is that there are
still viruses in the system, and this battle will be waged pretty near
indefinitely. With Zander, I kept him on the Winstrol/Doxycycline/Prednisone
combination for almost a year before I was able to wean him down and not see a
drop in red cells when I did so. For the rest of his life, I watched him like a
hawk and any time I felt that his gums were looking a bit paler, or his ears or
pads were, I would put him back on for a period of time - maybe 6 weeks - until
his colour returned to normal or I tested his blood and was reassured he was
okay. Over the years, I found I didn't need to do this as often, so whether the
body finally is able to win the war on the viruses, or the viruses ultimately
begin to die off, I'm not sure. I think that the Doxycycline also interferes
with virus cell wall development, and without an intact viral cell wall, the
virus will die. Thus, I think that using Doxycycline over time will (a)
interfere with viral reproduction, keeping viral numbers at a lower level and
(b) the viruses that do reproduce will have cell wall defects which will mean
they will die.
To complete the medication picture, as far as I understand it, the Prednisone
or Prednisolone works to protect the liver, but also dampens down the immune
response and the virus can cause problems in the areas it attacks (like the
intestines, for example). I think the Prednisone helps with that.
With respect to the gut, I also learned that the stomach and intestines are
attacked by the virus, and initially, even when I could get Zander to eat, he
would often end up throwing it up. I learned that the intestines aren't acting
normally and the food doesn't move properly through the intestines, and when it
stagnates in one spot, it can cause inflammation in that area and other
problems with the intestinal walls. I therefore added Metoclopromide to
Zander's regime - just a tiny tiny 1/5 of a table. This helps increase the
peristaltic action of the stomach and intestines, moves the food through more
rapidly, thus making the cat feel better, preventing vomiting and avoiding the
danger of the stool stagnating in one spot and causing or contributing to
inflammation and other problems in the intestines.
I think I was successful with Zander, pulling him through a several serious
life-threatening crises, because I used this combination. I didn't start with
this combination, but as I learned more about the disease and what caused it,
and how the cat body reacted to it, I would discuss my theories with my vet,
and she was good enough to agree to my attempts to address each of these
problems in turn.
Amani
From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Ardy
Robertson
Sent: October-28-16 10:45 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Interferon
I did use Interferon for my Tigger. I also gave it 7 days on, 7 days off, for
about 2 months. I did not notice any improvement from it at all. When I finally
started the Winstrol (other name is Stanizolol) along with Prednisolone, we got
a very marked improvement in h