Help! Questions about anemia

2006-12-13 Thread Gussies mom
I have a 3-4 month old kitten named Stamp. I noticed his tongue was pale even 
though he was running around like crazy, so I took him to the vet to have a 
PCV. It was 23. They said he was anemic and put him on Doxy, Prednisilone, and 
interferon. 2 weeks later his PCV was 26. I have never had an FeLV cat's PCV 
increase The vet said the Prednisilone can help maintain their Red blood 
cells.
   
  A friend of mine just had her 3 month old kitten test a slight positive for 
FeLV on both an in house Elisa and an Elisa they sent out (I thought the only 
one they sent out was an IFA, but she confirmed that was not what he had and 
the vet refuses to do an IFA at this point - huh?) She also refuses to put him 
on Interferon because she said it will stunt his growth - I've never heard 
that. I would think It would help boost his immune system if he is trying to 
fight it off. 
   
  Anyway. Her kitten tested at a 30 on his PCV and the vet said a 24-30 was 
normal for a kitten; that a kitten's normal PCV is different than an adults. 
I've never heard this. All my FeLV cats in the past died from anemia. The 
normal for my adults has been 37-42. They all died at PCVs of 7-10
   
  This is what the vet said about Stamp's full bloodworkup that was sent out:
   
  CBC shows anemia
  Not regenerating well
  White blood cell count low
  Stay on Doxycycline, Prednisolone and iron supplement and Innurferon
   
  Recheck in two weeks or sooner if not doing well.
   
  Has anyone had an FeLV kitten that has had a PCV and know what the vet said 
was normal. All mine were adults when they got sick.
  Stamp goes to a new vet Friday to be rechecked(Shelter is swithching vets). 
We'll see if there is a totally different opinion this time. I just don't know 
what to think right now.
   
  Beth  Stamp

 
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Re: Help! Questions about anemia

2006-12-13 Thread Nina
Dear little Stamp, (What a great name for a post office refugee).  I'm 
so pleased to hear his PCV is rising.  It sounds like your vet was 
throwing the kitchen sink at your little tyke.  In my opinion, just what 
they should do under the circumstances.  I don't know if I would have 
gone with the Pred so quickly, (since it tends to diminish immune 
response), but the Doxy makes sense since the anemia could be undetected 
Hemobart.  Prayers that the new vet is on top of their game and is able 
to keep Stamp healthy and you satisfied with his approach to treatment.


I would suggest to your friend that she seek another opinion about her 
kitten's care.  I can understand why the vet thinks that an IFA might be 
premature, but to refuse?  I've never heard anything about Interferon 
stunting growth, but felv will stunt it in a far more dangerous way 
even if there is some validity to that.  I've also never heard that a 
kitten's PCV is different than an adult's.  There's just too much head 
scratching associated with her vet's comments for me to feel comfortable.

Nina

Gussies mom wrote:
I have a 3-4 month old kitten named Stamp. I noticed his tongue was 
pale even though he was running around like crazy, so I took him to 
the vet to have a PCV. It was 23. They said he was anemic and put him 
on Doxy, Prednisilone, and interferon. 2 weeks later his PCV was 26. I 
have never had an FeLV cat's PCV increase The vet said the 
Prednisilone can help maintain their Red blood cells.
 
A friend of mine just had her 3 month old kitten test a slight 
positive for FeLV on both an in house Elisa and an Elisa they sent out 
(I thought the only one they sent out was an IFA, but she confirmed 
that was not what he had and the vet refuses to do an IFA at this 
point - huh?) She also refuses to put him on Interferon because she 
said it will stunt his growth - I've never heard that. I would think 
It would help boost his immune system if he is trying to fight it off.
 
Anyway. Her kitten tested at a 30 on his PCV and the vet said a 24-30 
was normal for a kitten; that a kitten's normal PCV is different than 
an adults. I've never heard this. All my FeLV cats in the past died 
from anemia. The normal for my adults has been 37-42. They all died at 
PCVs of 7-10
 
This is what the vet said about Stamp's full bloodworkup that was sent 
out:
 
CBC shows anemia

Not regenerating well
White blood cell count low
Stay on Doxycycline, Prednisolone and iron supplement and Innurferon
 
Recheck in two weeks or sooner if not doing well.
 
Has anyone had an FeLV kitten that has had a PCV and know what the vet 
said was normal. All mine were adults when they got sick.
Stamp goes to a new vet Friday to be rechecked(Shelter is swithching 
vets). We'll see if there is a totally different opinion this time. I 
just don't know what to think right now.
 
Beth  Stamp



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