[Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience?
Hello, I'm considering doing this somewhat new lymphocyte t-cell immune modulator, LTCI, treatment for my FeLV kitty who's recently taken a turn for the worse - she's lethargic, decreased appetite, etc. I'm assuming that if I do nothing, she'll die in a few days or weeks (I'm sad because she seemed fine like a week ago, and I only noticed this change in her behavior about 2 days ago). I brought her to a vet today who basically said to give her palliative care until she dies, but then I did some google searching when I got home and found info about LTCI (I didn't even know it existed until literally this afternoon). I'd love to hear about people's experiences with it, and whether you've had success? My kitty was a stray and I'm 99% sure she got it when she was a kitten, or was maybe even born with it. I am not going to do intensive treatments like feeding tubes and stuff like that, that seems too traumatic and I'd rather she have a peaceful exit. But if she can be helped by one little shot per month, that seems do-able. thank you, Daniella___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience?
Daniella, I have used LTCI, but it's hard to answer your question because you do not say what your cat has been diagnosed with, and honestly it sounds like she has not been diagnosed with anything but FeLV, which is not what usually actually makes them sick. FeLV is just a very suppressed immune system. It can lead to many different diseases, from lymphoma to infections to primary anemia. There are treatments available for all of these things (though when effective usually only for a limited time, unless it's a basic infection that can be cured with antibiotics). But it really depends on getting an actual diagnosis, which means blood work and possibly x-rays or ultrasound depending on the blood work. If your vet is just saying it's the FeLV, I would take her to a different vet, preferably an internist, and find out what is actually wrong. I used LTCI successfully for my FIV+ cat when he had very low white blood cell counts. I gave it once/week for a month and then less frequently and it raised his white blood cell count quite a bit. It apparently can also help primary anemia (red blood cell count low) when it is severe. But it is not going to help cancer (steroids and/or chemo might for a few months though). It might help fight an infection, by raising the white blood cell production, but antibiotics would also be necessary. It is understandable if you do not want to do anything very invasive or expensive if it will not give her more time. But treating an infection is worthwhile if that is what she has. If she has lymphoma, just putting her on high dose of prednisone or dexamethasone, which are steroids, is cheap and does not make them feel bad, it makes them feel good, and can give them weeks or months of feeling relatively ok. If it's dry FIP, there are new medications that have cured some cats (though I don't know if FeLV+), and high doses of steroids can help with quality of life for a while. But you don't want to give steroids if it's an infection. So if the problem is low white blood cell counts and an infection, I would recommend LTCI. Also I would try it if red blood cell anemia is severe and appears to come from the bone marrow shutting down from the virus rather than from cancer or an auto-immune reaction to something. But I would find out what the problem actually is first, and go from there. At least do blood work. Michelle -Original Message- From: Daniella Leifer dh_lei...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Fri, Feb 7, 2014 6:57 pm Subject: [Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience? Hello, I'm considering doing this somewhat new lymphocyte t-cell immune modulator, LTCI, treatment for my FeLV kitty who's recently taken a turn for the worse - she's lethargic, decreased appetite, etc. I'm assuming that if I do nothing, she'll die in a few days or weeks (I'm sad because she seemed fine like a week ago, and I only noticed this change in her behavior about 2 days ago). I brought her to a vet today who basically said to give her palliative care until she dies, but then I did some google searching when I got home and found info about LTCI (I didn't even know it existed until literally this afternoon). I'd love to hear about people's experiences with it, and whether you've had success? My kitty was a stray and I'm 99% sure she got it when she was a kitten, or was maybe even born with it. I am not going to do intensive treatments like feeding tubes and stuff like that, that seems too traumatic and I'd rather she have a peaceful exit. But if she can be helped by one little shot per month, that seems do-able. thank you, Daniella ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience?
Just to drive my point home, my double positive (FeLV+ and FIV+) cat Patches got very lethargic and sick and my local vet, who had just seen one of my other positive cats die of FIP, told me it was probably FIP. But he did blood work and she turned out to be diabetic and was ketotic from it not being treated. I took her to an internist at a hospital and she was hospitalized for 3 days on fluids and insulin, and they got her regulated and back to normal. We tested her urine and gave her a low dose of insulin twice/day for a long time, a couple years I think. She then got hyperthyroidism and needed medication for that too. But she was really fat and happy and energetic. She then eventually got lymphoma, but even then we caught it early and she responded really well to chemo for a while and was really happy still. But then she stopped responding to the chemo and it was the lymphoma that killed her. But she was 9 years old at that point and would have died a lot earlier if we had assumed it was her FeLV every time she got sick and not looked for the actual problem and treated it. Of my other 5 positives, 3 got lymphoma and the other 2 got FIP. That is what killed them. Not the FeLV, though the FeLV is probably why they got lymphoma and FIP. Michelle -Original Message- From: lernermichelle lernermiche...@aol.com To: felvtalk felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Fri, Feb 7, 2014 9:26 pm Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience? Daniella, I have used LTCI, but it's hard to answer your question because you do not say what your cat has been diagnosed with, and honestly it sounds like she has not been diagnosed with anything but FeLV, which is not what usually actually makes them sick. FeLV is just a very suppressed immune system. It can lead to many different diseases, from lymphoma to infections to primary anemia. There are treatments available for all of these things (though when effective usually only for a limited time, unless it's a basic infection that can be cured with antibiotics). But it really depends on getting an actual diagnosis, which means blood work and possibly x-rays or ultrasound depending on the blood work. If your vet is just saying it's the FeLV, I would take her to a different vet, preferably an internist, and find out what is actually wrong. I used LTCI successfully for my FIV+ cat when he had very low white blood cell counts. I gave it once/week for a month and then less frequently and it raised his white blood cell count quite a bit. It apparently can also help primary anemia (red blood cell count low) when it is severe. But it is not going to help cancer (steroids and/or chemo might for a few months though). It might help fight an infection, by raising the white blood cell production, but antibiotics would also be necessary. It is understandable if you do not want to do anything very invasive or expensive if it will not give her more time. But treating an infection is worthwhile if that is what she has. If she has lymphoma, just putting her on high dose of prednisone or dexamethasone, which are steroids, is cheap and does not make them feel bad, it makes them feel good, and can give them weeks or months of feeling relatively ok. If it's dry FIP, there are new medications that have cured some cats (though I don't know if FeLV+), and high doses of steroids can help with quality of life for a while. But you don't want to give steroids if it's an infection. So if the problem is low white blood cell counts and an infection, I would recommend LTCI. Also I would try it if red blood cell anemia is severe and appears to come from the bone marrow shutting down from the virus rather than from cancer or an auto-immune reaction to something. But I would find out what the problem actually is first, and go from there. At least do blood work. Michelle -Original Message- From: Daniella Leifer dh_lei...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Fri, Feb 7, 2014 6:57 pm Subject: [Felvtalk] LTCI treatment experience? Hello, I'm considering doing this somewhat new lymphocyte t-cell immune modulator, LTCI, treatment for my FeLV kitty who's recently taken a turn for the worse - she's lethargic, decreased appetite, etc. I'm assuming that if I do nothing, she'll die in a few days or weeks (I'm sad because she seemed fine like a week ago, and I only noticed this change in her behavior about 2 days ago). I brought her to a vet today who basically said to give her palliative care until she dies, but then I did some google searching when I got home and found info about LTCI (I didn't even know it existed until literally this afternoon). I'd love to hear about people's experiences with it, and whether you've had success? My kitty was a stray and I'm 99% sure she got it when she was a kitten, or was maybe even born with it. I am not going to do intensive treatments like feeding tubes and stuff
