Re: transfusion question
good point, hideyo--see if one of the vet tech's from you vet's office would be willing to make a house call. On 1/26/07, Hideyo Yamamoto [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Michelle – can you call around and see if there is any way that you can find someone to draw a tiny bit of blood to check on her PCV – they can do it in such a way that they only need a very very small amount to check her PCV – the fact that she is eating so much of baby food is so wonderful though – has she lost any weight? -- *From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Sent:* Friday, January 26, 2007 5:08 PM *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org *Subject:* transfusion question Lucy seems more comfortable and happy, but also much more tired. She has hardly moved all day-- just once or twice she went into the other room to use the litter box, then got right back up on the futon couch. At one point she climbed onto the other couch a few feet away to lay next to me, and then later climbed back to the futon couch. She has been eating baby food when I offer it to her-- about 2.5 jars so far today-- and is grooming herself sometimes (like right now). But mostly she is just sleeping or laying there. So I am worried that her HCT and PCV have continued to drop. Her HCt was 16.5 and her PCV 18 last Wed (9 days ago). She has been on epogen since Monday (third shot today) and pet tinic. She is pale, especially her gums, but her tongue is still pink. I have not gotten her HCT checked since last Wed, because I do not want to bring her to the vet and draw blood until I need to, because she gets incredibly stressed and because I want to conserve her blood. So here is my question-- in your experience, does a cat who is anemic enough to need a transfusion still eat, groom, and purr? When Simon needed them he was like a dish rag and almost unable to focus on anything. But his HCT dropped quickly from lymphoma, so he did not have much time to adjust. My Buddy's HCT was at 8 before he died, and he was still walking around, but he was zipped up on dexamethasone, and was not moving around much when he was just on pred, like Lucy is, and not getting the dex-- and I do not know when his HCT got that low because he did not have frequent checks. If it is absolutely necessary to get her a transfusion to give the epogen time to kick in, I may do it, but really do not want to do it to her if I don't have to, do to how far I have to take her, the fact that I have to do it at an ER, and the fact that she gets abominably upset and depressed from going there. If anyone has any ideas or information about how cats normally look and act when needing a transfusion (i.e. just tired, or not eating and almost nonresponsive?), I would appreciate it. Thanks, Michelle -- Spay Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892
transfusion question
Lucy seems more comfortable and happy, but also much more tired. She has hardly moved all day-- just once or twice she went into the other room to use the litter box, then got right back up on the futon couch. At one point she climbed onto the other couch a few feet away to lay next to me, and then later climbed back to the futon couch. She has been eating baby food when I offer it to her-- about 2.5 jars so far today-- and is grooming herself sometimes (like right now). But mostly she is just sleeping or laying there. So I am worried that her HCT and PCV have continued to drop. Her HCt was 16.5 and her PCV 18 last Wed (9 days ago). She has been on epogen since Monday (third shot today) and pet tinic. She is pale, especially her gums, but her tongue is still pink. I have not gotten her HCT checked since last Wed, because I do not want to bring her to the vet and draw blood until I need to, because she gets incredibly stressed and because I want to conserve her blood. So here is my question-- in your experience, does a cat who is anemic enough to need a transfusion still eat, groom, and purr? When Simon needed them he was like a dish rag and almost unable to focus on anything. But his HCT dropped quickly from lymphoma, so he did not have much time to adjust. My Buddy's HCT was at 8 before he died, and he was still walking around, but he was zipped up on dexamethasone, and was not moving around much when he was just on pred, like Lucy is, and not getting the dex-- and I do not know when his HCT got that low because he did not have frequent checks. If it is absolutely necessary to get her a transfusion to give the epogen time to kick in, I may do it, but really do not want to do it to her if I don't have to, do to how far I have to take her, the fact that I have to do it at an ER, and the fact that she gets abominably upset and depressed from going there. If anyone has any ideas or information about how cats normally look and act when needing a transfusion (i.e. just tired, or not eating and almost nonresponsive?), I would appreciate it. Thanks, Michelle
RE: transfusion question
Michelle- It's absolutely depending on a cat - I hate to say,, my Tsubomi was eating a day before when she needed the transfusion - and her PCV was 9 - and her gum and tongue was very pale.. but she was still eating.. and did not seem that sick until two days before she died of anemia though she got transfusion a day before she passed away - I don't really want you to make a decision based on what other cats may have or may not have as behavior may be so different on each cat - I never thought that Tsubomi was that sick --- the day I took her to the vet and found out that her PCV was 9 - One another thing to remember is that epogen increases the likelihood of causing a reaction from transfusion- not so much for the first time of transfusion, but the 2nd or 3rd time of the transfusion - so you want to make sure that blood type are the same at least - and call emergency clinic to make sure that they do have a blood supply there - because my emergency clinic did not have blood for Tsubomi and I had to bring my own donor cat --- My Tsubomi had a reaction and her temp went up to 107 that night - but again, I did not regret it because I needed to do that to save her life - unfortunately she had some type of auto mediated disease and her body was destroying her own blood cells and her transfusion effect only lasted a few hours - it was very sad -but I wouldn't have done any differently - as if I did not, I would have regretted it that I did not --- _ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 5:08 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: transfusion question Lucy seems more comfortable and happy, but also much more tired. She has hardly moved all day-- just once or twice she went into the other room to use the litter box, then got right back up on the futon couch. At one point she climbed onto the other couch a few feet away to lay next to me, and then later climbed back to the futon couch. She has been eating baby food when I offer it to her-- about 2.5 jars so far today-- and is grooming herself sometimes (like right now). But mostly she is just sleeping or laying there. So I am worried that her HCT and PCV have continued to drop. Her HCt was 16.5 and her PCV 18 last Wed (9 days ago). She has been on epogen since Monday (third shot today) and pet tinic. She is pale, especially her gums, but her tongue is still pink. I have not gotten her HCT checked since last Wed, because I do not want to bring her to the vet and draw blood until I need to, because she gets incredibly stressed and because I want to conserve her blood. So here is my question-- in your experience, does a cat who is anemic enough to need a transfusion still eat, groom, and purr? When Simon needed them he was like a dish rag and almost unable to focus on anything. But his HCT dropped quickly from lymphoma, so he did not have much time to adjust. My Buddy's HCT was at 8 before he died, and he was still walking around, but he was zipped up on dexamethasone, and was not moving around much when he was just on pred, like Lucy is, and not getting the dex-- and I do not know when his HCT got that low because he did not have frequent checks. If it is absolutely necessary to get her a transfusion to give the epogen time to kick in, I may do it, but really do not want to do it to her if I don't have to, do to how far I have to take her, the fact that I have to do it at an ER, and the fact that she gets abominably upset and depressed from going there. If anyone has any ideas or information about how cats normally look and act when needing a transfusion (i.e. just tired, or not eating and almost nonresponsive?), I would appreciate it. Thanks, Michelle
RE: transfusion question
Michelle - can you call around and see if there is any way that you can find someone to draw a tiny bit of blood to check on her PCV - they can do it in such a way that they only need a very very small amount to check her PCV - the fact that she is eating so much of baby food is so wonderful though - has she lost any weight? _ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 5:08 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: transfusion question Lucy seems more comfortable and happy, but also much more tired. She has hardly moved all day-- just once or twice she went into the other room to use the litter box, then got right back up on the futon couch. At one point she climbed onto the other couch a few feet away to lay next to me, and then later climbed back to the futon couch. She has been eating baby food when I offer it to her-- about 2.5 jars so far today-- and is grooming herself sometimes (like right now). But mostly she is just sleeping or laying there. So I am worried that her HCT and PCV have continued to drop. Her HCt was 16.5 and her PCV 18 last Wed (9 days ago). She has been on epogen since Monday (third shot today) and pet tinic. She is pale, especially her gums, but her tongue is still pink. I have not gotten her HCT checked since last Wed, because I do not want to bring her to the vet and draw blood until I need to, because she gets incredibly stressed and because I want to conserve her blood. So here is my question-- in your experience, does a cat who is anemic enough to need a transfusion still eat, groom, and purr? When Simon needed them he was like a dish rag and almost unable to focus on anything. But his HCT dropped quickly from lymphoma, so he did not have much time to adjust. My Buddy's HCT was at 8 before he died, and he was still walking around, but he was zipped up on dexamethasone, and was not moving around much when he was just on pred, like Lucy is, and not getting the dex-- and I do not know when his HCT got that low because he did not have frequent checks. If it is absolutely necessary to get her a transfusion to give the epogen time to kick in, I may do it, but really do not want to do it to her if I don't have to, do to how far I have to take her, the fact that I have to do it at an ER, and the fact that she gets abominably upset and depressed from going there. If anyone has any ideas or information about how cats normally look and act when needing a transfusion (i.e. just tired, or not eating and almost nonresponsive?), I would appreciate it. Thanks, Michelle
