I've e-mailed my vet about my cat losing weight and I think we are going to do
a test for hemobart and pancreatitis. She also offered to do a feline thyroid
panel that is supposed to be best when you don't get the results you expect
from the basic thyroid test (we've tested twice with neg results). She
suggested we could also do a test to see if his intestines are malabsorptive if
I want and also the option of an abdominal ultrasound. Just depends how far I
want to go.
She did have one question for me about hemobart so I want to ask here. Just a
reminder, I lost Maverick quickly and unexpectedly last week. He had a
hematocrit of 23 (compared to his normal 40%) and went downhill quickly. We
didn't treat for hemobart (didn't suspect it) but rather put him on clavamox
and prednisone. She wants to know how often the people on this board see
hemobart in leuk positives and if they normally detect it right after the
leukemia diagnosis or if it seems to pop up down the road, more distant. She
said she honestly didn't suspect hemobart after doing 7 CBCs/smears on him over
the past couple years. Still not sure how it could have stayed hidden on all
those tests but his symptoms do seem like it was possible. Either way, we want
to learn everything we can about this. I know some of you have mentioned
treating for it regardless of the test results but we are just curious how
prevalent it is among leuk positives. Anybody
have any data or personal experience to help us out?
Thanks
Amy
--- On Sat, 6/20/09, Cougar Clan wrote:
> From: Cougar Clan
> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Losing weight
> To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> Date: Saturday, June 20, 2009, 7:29 AM
> I would. Otherwise, you will
> always wonder and doubt yourself.
> On Jun 19, 2009, at 5:53 PM, Amy wrote:
>
> >
> > Wow! Maybe I should just do the blood test and
> rule it out. I'll
> > join the group and learn more.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Amy
> >
> >> Hi. When first diagnosed Frankie did
> >> not have other symptoms and the
> >> diagnosis was a surprise to all of us.
> >> In fact, he was ravenously hungry. He had an
> occasional
> >> fudgy stool. That
> >> was it.
> >> Later, when it acted up (pancreatitis comes and
> goes) he
> >> was anorexic and
> >> lost 2 lbs.
> >> Pls keep us posted!
> >> L
> >>
> >> -Original Message-
> >> From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org
> >> [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org]
> >> On Behalf Of Amy
> >> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 5:11 PM
> >> To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> >> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Losing weight
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks Sharyl,
> >>
> >> Thanks for the info. My vet said they have
> never seen
> >> a case where a cat
> >> had pancreatitis and showed no signs of discomfort
> or being
> >> sick but that
> >> they are more than willing to test if that's what
> I want to
> >> do.
> >>
> >> Amy
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Here is the link for the new Yahoo
> Pancreatitis
> >> group.
> >>> http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline_pancreatitis_support/
> >>>
> >>> They have some really good info on dxing and
> treating
> >>> pancreatitis. I think it is IDEXX that
> can do the
> >> new
> >>> blood test so the sample doesn't have to be
> set to
> >> TAMU
> >>> anymore.
> >>>
> >>> Usually a kitty will show signs of pain,
> nausea and
> >>> inappetance when having a pancreatitis
> attack.
> >> Granted
> >>> many vets don't really have experience
> treating
> >> pancreatitis
> >>> but it is manageable.
> >>>
> >>> Amy, I don't think this is your problem since
> your
> >> kitty is
> >>> eating.
> >>> Sharyl
> >>>
> >>> --- On Thu, 6/18/09, Laurieskatz
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> From: Laurieskatz
> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Losing weight
> To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 9:35 PM
> Pancreatitis is a blood test (and/or
> ultrasound). They send the blood to
> Texas now. There is a yahoo group for
> feline
> >>> pancreatitis.
> It is important
> to do the right test. There is an outdated
> one
> >> that
> >>> some
> vets still use.
> It isn't really something they treat. My
> vet had
> >> me
> >>> put
> Frankie on a low fat
> diet (that is what they do for dogs and
> it
> >> hasn't
> >>> been
> proven to work for
> cats but did work for Frankie).
> L
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org
> [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org]
> On Behalf Of Amy
> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:52 PM
> To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Losing weight
>
>
> Thanks for the ideas. Since I just
> bought some
> >> baby
> food for my other cat,
> I will definitely try adding stuff like
> that for
> calories. He really seems
> to eat fine so I'm stumped why he keeps
> losing
> >> weight
> >>> :(
>
> Amy
>
> >
> > Amy, I d
