[Felvtalk] Avis Update -- Something to be Thankful for!
Hi all, The last six weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster with Avis. We were able to get medical record details from the summer of 2009 when he was first rescued as a 5-6 month old kitten: four snap tests (2 weak positive 2 negative) plus a negative saliva test. On 10/20, Avis had an IFA second CBC to establish a firm baseline before starting an LTCI regime. The IFA came back positive which was no surprise given the strong positive on the 9/28 snap. What WAS surprising was that all counts on CBC #2 were completely, absolutely, wonderfully normal! So we postponed the LTCI order and waited a month to do a third CBC to figure out what the heck was going on. The 11/17 results came back a couple of days ago and they were pretty much a mirror image of the 10/22 one - perfectly normal on all counts! Not sure why the RBC, HCT Retic numbers on Avis' first CBC were so bad, but they did lead to us discover his FeLV+ status, so I'm grateful for them. Aside from some minor gingivitis, Avis currently has no clinical symptoms so we are treating him as FeLV+, asymptomatic and will closely monitor with checkups CBCs every 3-4 months. LTCI is in the toolkit if RBCs, WBCs, and/or platelets start to decline down the road. Happy Thanksgiving to all the wonderful furrbabies and their people who have been so kind to us the last few months. We are truly grateful! Kris, Avis Max (the dog) ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy is gone.
Oh Alice, I am so sorry. You and Murphy had an amazing journey together. Thank you for sharing it with us. Kris B. ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy's vet visits / what he looks like
I am such a Murphy fan after reading all your posts. Hope that he gets through this setback like he's gotten through the rest. Please keep us all up to date with how he's doing. What a champ! Kris B. From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sat, October 23, 2010 10:53:16 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy's vet visits / what he looks like Murphy is the most beautiful black / white, sorta fluffy tuxedo boy. He was either a throw away or a lost kitty that was in with the ferals-he was a sweet and friendly boy-we posted his photos in the local newspapers and craigslist for a month, not one response. We then took him to clinic to neuter, vaccinate and find a foster home for him so he could find a family. I didn't want him to come to my home with the 5 FeLV kittens I already had rescued from the ferals and had tamed. The clinic called and said he was positive and was going to be euthanized unless I came right away and picked him up. So we brought him home and said it was Murphy's Law-LOL hence his name. He has the biggest paws with 3 thumbs (7 toes) and goes clickity when he walks around the house. He is the official greeter, like a nosy puppyloves everyone. I was not a cat person, but raising the 6 kitties has me totally a cat nut job! I am smitten with his sweetness and will miss him so much. He has the biggest eyes, maybe part persian, has a fluffy coat, not real long but is soft and he has a spring loaded tail that is always straight up in the air. Even with all the meds and treatments he has had, never held a grudge, he normally comes into the kitchen and waits when it's time. His pic and Rosie's too are on my facebook (along with all my FarmVille therapy!!) if you want to see him, go to my photos and they are under my random photos album. We only have 2 out of the 6 that we began with. Alice Flowers-Clark ___ 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] Aww Geez-Murphy's starting to crash-vet visit today
Get better soon Mr. Murphy! And say hi to Ms. Rosie also. Thoughts purrayers from Kris Avis ( Max the Dog) From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tue, October 19, 2010 9:13:19 PM Subject: [Felvtalk] Aww Geez-Murphy's starting to crash-vet visit today This is the craziest roller coaster!!! Geez-Sunday Murphy was a busy bee, all happy and jabbering up a storm. He was finally feeling better with a week of Lysine under his belt and the sneezing and sniffles were subsiding. Yesterday he was fairly quiet but I thought he may have done too much the day before. Last night he did not eat, went into the spare room and laid on the floor in the dark. Not his style, normally he's nearby. This morning he laid in the kitchen until he got his meds, then didn't want to eat. I was able to call the vet from work and get him in this afternoon. We just got home. His PCV dropped 10 pts to 28 and may be even lower because he's a bit dehydrated. We will bump the Procrit up to 2x a week and increase the iron caps to every night instead of every other night. Maybe we lowered the dose too quicklyhe began the end of July with his first crash at 3x a week with the Procrit, then we dropped it to 2x-he bounced back so well that we dropped him to once a week when his HCT got to 38 two weeks ago. His lungs still sound good, but breathing is a little labored from being anemic. Ultrasound showed a little fluid around the heart, but nothing like the fluid in his chest in July and August, temp is normal, eyes clear. So please friends, more little purrayers for my bestest buddy!! Alice and the kiddos! ___ 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] Another Murphy relapse-now URI
Hi Alice Murphy! Sorry to hear about the URI and hope he is feeling more comfortable today. I learn so much from your Murphy updates and can't tell you how much I appreciate your taking the time to post them. Many thoughts and prayers coming your way from Kris, Max Avis. From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sun, October 10, 2010 4:41:23 PM Subject: [Felvtalk] Another Murphy relapse-now URI Another Murphy relapse...poor boy is all congested and sneezy with a URI, he began with light sneezing earlier this week, I gave him a PennG shot Friday night because he had sneezed so much that he was getting bloody droplets. Now he's really getting plugged up. I called the vet to see about reducing his prednisolone dose because steroids suppress the immune system. He's been on Lasix and Pred for 3 weeks since his diagnosis of Lymphoma. We are cutting him down to 1/2 from 5mg 2x a day to once a day. I have put some L-Lysine powder into gel caps because he will not eat it in his food nor eat the very expensive Lysine treats we tried in the past. Seems the Lysine is supposed to help keep the herpes virus (viruses in general) from replicating. This flares up every time his immune system is low and he ends up with upper respiratory problems. I know he's not feeling well because I've waken up with him snuggled with me on the bed for the last 2 mornings. He normally doesn't get on the bed, he likes to sleep by the open slider screen door. I am still optimistic because his breathing is still better, hopefully the fluid is still gone from his chest area, he was in for his check up a week ago and the vet was impressed with how clear his lungs sounded. Maybe he picked up a bug from the exam room-he was wandering on the floor, my fault for letting him move around. He's such a people person, he likes all the people at the vet clinic and wants to see what they are doing. I hope the Lysine helps soon. They said if he's still congested, we can try a mild Afrin nasal decongestant. He's not that bad yet, I don't think, just somewhat depressed. Not eating as much, but still eating the AD and all the gravy from the fancy feast plus some dry food. I know some may be tired of hearing about Murphy, but I think it may help to keep hope alive, he keeps bouncing back since the end of July when he became so anemic that by the first of August I had to syringe feed him for a few days. He is on Procrit now just once a week instead of 3x a week. Please, purrayers help!! Alice ___ 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] Aggie Introduction Part 2
Andy, What a great introduction to the wonderful Aggie! Glad that she Crookshanks are accepting the baby so well. When my daughter was born, my cat Chaucer gave her the cold shoulder for months. Didn't go into her room, pretended all the baby paraphernalia was invisible, a definite if I don't acknowledge its presence, it'll just go away attitude. But during their 12 years together, my daughter turned out to be the person Chaucer loved best. I was extremely interested in Aggie's history, especially your experience with treatments like LTCI and Interferon. Since there are so few clinical trials studies to go by, shared first hand experiences are invaluable. Thank you so much for taking the time to write everything up. Will look for your posts about your continuing journey with Aggie... Kris B. From: Andy Domek oxjake...@hotmail.com To: FELV List felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Mon, October 11, 2010 2:02:07 PM Subject: [Felvtalk] Aggie Introduction Part 2 Our story continues with Aggie introduction, part 2.. At this point, I would have chalked the seizure up to the mirtaziprine if it wasn't for the fact that the day before we gave her the drug, Aggie was meowing very loudly and had thrown up a bit of a clear liquid. While my wife didn't see it, she wasn't covered in drool and wasn't disoriented like after the two known seizures. So, we really don't know what happened, but suspect it was a milder seizure type incident, and the mirtaziprine made everything worse. My vet, nor the vet I consulted with at UC Davis, thinks the mirtaziprine was the major cause, though they did admit that it might be what triggered the grand mal, and the later, smaller seizure. So, to be on the safe side, she has been on phenobarbitol for about a month now, with no further seizures (my wife is home with our 3 month old baby, so she would know). The first three weeks on it were rough--sluggish, lots of sleeping, and incoordinated with weakness in her hind legs. (Cat, not the wife, for those of you still reading!) As of now, she is pretty much back to normal, with just a little residual weakness. Nowhere near where it was, though. At present, still getting interferon every day, reloaded her with LTCI weekly for three weeks, and now moving back to what had become the sweet spot of every 2 weeks (next shot is this Saturday) and hoping for the best. When we next test her blood in a few weeks, we might see if we can screen for toxoplasmosis and cryptococcus (I know I misspelled this!) but didn’t have the cash to do it the first time around. Another possibility is that she might have been exposed to insecticide, as we had the outside of our home sprayed for wasps a month or so ago. The day of the first incident it had rained, and she was sitting for most of the day at the screen door looking out into the yard. She was sitting over the door jam (but still behind the screen, mere inches from an area that had been heavily sprayed, as it was a problem area, and the recent rain could have easily washed some of the toxins through the screen for her to breathe or even lick. Could have gotten to her paws, and she could have licked them--I don't know. Other possibilities are of course, a brain tumor, the FELV crossing the blood brain barrier, lymphoma of the gut that had metastatized (probably misspelled this one too) into her brain but avoided the lungs and hasn’t swelled up her lymph nodes enough that the vet can feel, or the aforementioned poisoning, crypto, and toxoplasmosis. Our other cat, who has lived with us for five years (and is FELV negative but vaccinated) was a cat that settled on the front porch of the house we had just moved into. So, it is possible he brought it in, but her immune system was strong enough to deal with it for 5 years. At this point, Aggie seems happy, weight is alright, appetite is good, and her zest for life is apparent. She doesn't mind being around the baby at all, and we are trying to make every day a party for as long as we have her. She is the protypical cat, in that she is alternatingly spunky, sweet, and antisocial and loves to chase my wife's hair clips all over the house. She'll ignore almost every other toy, but not those hair bands. Our FELV negative boy--Crookshanks, is the sweetest animal known to humanity. He loves the baby, and (supervised of course) will sit with her and occasionally nuzzle her feet. He will sit on the couch above me as I hold the baby, and groom my head with his tongue. He does the same to my wife, if he isn’t in her lap. He would love to groom the baby too, but that is a bit much! So—that is one long introduction! In all likelihood, we are on the downhill slope of our time together, but who knows—she is a spunky girl and we’ve been lucky to have her for so long. I’ll keep you posted as we go through the rest of our journey together.
[Felvtalk] Avis treatment plan (BIG thanks to Alice, Sharyl Natalie!!)
After pondering the excellent advice of Alice, Sharyl and Natalie, and scouring the FeLV archives, I think I've come up with a reasonable treatment plan to propose to my wonderful, open supportive vet. Any comments would be much appreciated. Recap: Avis is an approx 21 month old neutered male, rescued from an Avis parking lot when he was about 9 months, bounced around for about 8 months, living with us the last 4 months. A 9/27 CBC prior to a minor eye procedure requiring general anesthesia revealed non-regenerative anemia: HCT at 21%, RBC at 4.37, Retic 1%. The subsequent 9/28 FeLV/FIV test was positive. Beyond somewhat pale gums and a little lower energy compared to other young cats (no wild acrobatics for Avis!) he is physically fine right now. 11 lbs eats like a champ, uses litterbox regularly, keeps his glossy soft coat perfectly groomed, chases Max the Dog all over the house, spends hours twitching his tail at the squirrels on the other side of the window. Treatment Plan: 1. Diet - continue with daily 5.5 oz can of Wellness Wet Food and a 1/3 cup of California Naturals Chicken Brown Rice dry food. After 4 months of trying to wean Avis off his dry food addiction, this is the balance we've mutually agreed to! He eats it all up and hits the water bowl pretty good once or twice a day. 2. Treats - about 8 pieces of Greenies baked dry cat treats each day, he LOVES them and they do seem to have some vitamins added. 3. Supplements - either Pet-tinic or NutriVed. Still researching. 4. Immediately start LTCI injections. Given that results from only a few formal studies are currently available, I view the LTCI regime as sort of an unofficial phase II clinical trial. But given Avis' prognosis, it is definitely worth trying. 5. Immediately start on 2x daily Interferon Alpha (unless there is some way I can get Interferon Omega from Europe). Anecdotally, this seems to help some cats, and has been safely given to FeLV+ cats for several years. Again, well worth trying. 6. Keep the big guns like Epogen Prednilosone in reserve for when the HCT goes below 20% or he starts to feel weak and lose appetite. 7. Stable, stress free environment and lots of love. That's it! Thoughts from the FeLV community? ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts
Alice, It's a rainy, melancholy Sunday where I am too. But what a lucky day it was two years ago when that litter of feral kittens ended up with you. And Murphy is now exactly where he needs to be. I feel so bad about your little ones who have passed, but Murphy and Rosie obviously wake up each day happy and loved and safe and warm. I do understand that there is no cure for this horrible disease. But LTCI and Interferon really might help give our little buddies a chance at as much quality time as possible. Hope is a good thing, and it sure is helping me right now. As I add up everything I'm committing to, I also realize that it is going to get expensive. Thank goodness I'm only caring for Avis, and not multiple special needs kitties like you and Sharyl and so many other angels on this forum. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your time and generosity in sharing your experiences and stories about your wonderful companions. And the FeLV talk archives are a priceless resource for someone who's sole knowledge about FeLV was umm, right, there's something called Feline Leukemia that cats can get and it's not so good when they do. Will keep you posted about Avis, Kris From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sun, October 3, 2010 3:44:59 PM Subject: [Felvtalk] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts Kris-just looking back over the past 2 years with the 6 kitties, as a total amateur on FeLV, here are some of my random thoughts. Interferon-Good-I am glad to be giving it-not a cure, but it may keep the virus somewhat at bay. LTCI-it gave me alot of hope, and still does-but for cats like mine who are infected from a very young age or in utero, I feel it helps them develop a stronger immune system than they would normally have. They seemed to not get URIs after we began the LTCI. My only experience is with the one litter of 5 feral kitties and Murphy, a sweetie who ended up in the same colony-either a throw away, or lost. There are people here that have so much more knowledge and have helped lots of rescued kitties with FeLV-probably not giving all the stuff, but that's fine-It's very expensive and I don't think it's really a cure anyway. But they are giving the cats a chance to live and be cared for, maybe for the first time ever-they were probably going to be euthanized quickly at the shelters. They are giving them a loving touch, maybe a sunny window to snooze in. I could not do rescue-Bless all those that do. I have tunnel vision when it comes to my babies. I look at Murphy and know we are on borrowed time now-he's only 2 1/2 (I didn't count on my fingers the other day and typed 1 1/2-LOL) but as long as he is comfortable and happy go lucky, we continue the little battles. He waits in the kitchen for his meds morning and night-takes less than a minute for the Interferon and the 3 capsules. He eats like a horse most days. He is Rosie's only companion now since her 4 brothers passed. She will be running around the house in the middle of the night, wailing when he passes, looking for him like she did for her brothers. That makes me really sad, plus he is my little shadow when I'm not at work. I guess it's a melancholy Sunday for this old lady-LOL ___ 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] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts
Okay, Mr. Tux is a great name but Eliot Spitty is just plain awesome! Avis is in a very different place than your two wonderfully healthy and asymptomatic cats. My vet flat out told me that his CBC numbers were not good and needed to be monitored carefully, and that his prognosis depends on how long they stay stable and/or how fast they go down. She is willing to pursue any reasonable treatment that might help keep those RBCs, HCTs Retics up, which is why I've been all over this forum the last five days. Stories like Murphy's, who keeps on bouncing back, give me hope. First I've heard of CoQ10. Is that a vitamin supplement? From: Natalie at...@optonline.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sun, October 3, 2010 8:05:22 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts Hi, It's so sad to hear about all your symptomatic FeLV+ cats and kittens. Years ago, I had a FeLV+ kitten that was on interferon, but suddenly got seizures and died at the vet before it was 3 months old. My two, Mr. Tux and Eliot Spitty, are perfectly healthy asymptomatic cats. Other than providing good nutrition, a stressless life, TLC, and CoQ10, I'm not doing anything else - should I be doing more?? Natalie -Original Message- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of nise...@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 6:42 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts Alice, It's a rainy, melancholy Sunday where I am too. But what a lucky day it was two years ago when that litter of feral kittens ended up with you. And Murphy is now exactly where he needs to be. I feel so bad about your little ones who have passed, but Murphy and Rosie obviously wake up each day happy and loved and safe and warm. I do understand that there is no cure for this horrible disease. But LTCI and Interferon really might help give our little buddies a chance at as much quality time as possible. Hope is a good thing, and it sure is helping me right now. As I add up everything I'm committing to, I also realize that it is going to get expensive. Thank goodness I'm only caring for Avis, and not multiple special needs kitties like you and Sharyl and so many other angels on this forum. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your time and generosity in sharing your experiences and stories about your wonderful companions. And the FeLV talk archives are a priceless resource for someone who's sole knowledge about FeLV was umm, right, there's something called Feline Leukemia that cats can get and it's not so good when they do. Will keep you posted about Avis, Kris From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sun, October 3, 2010 3:44:59 PM Subject: [Felvtalk] Kris-Avis ...me n Murphy and some random thoughts Kris-just looking back over the past 2 years with the 6 kitties, as a total amateur on FeLV, here are some of my random thoughts. Interferon-Good-I am glad to be giving it-not a cure, but it may keep the virus somewhat at bay. LTCI-it gave me alot of hope, and still does-but for cats like mine who are infected from a very young age or in utero, I feel it helps them develop a stronger immune system than they would normally have. They seemed to not get URIs after we began the LTCI. My only experience is with the one litter of 5 feral kitties and Murphy, a sweetie who ended up in the same colony-either a throw away, or lost. There are people here that have so much more knowledge and have helped lots of rescued kitties with FeLV-probably not giving all the stuff, but that's fine-It's very expensive and I don't think it's really a cure anyway. But they are giving the cats a chance to live and be cared for, maybe for the first time ever-they were probably going to be euthanized quickly at the shelters. They are giving them a loving touch, maybe a sunny window to snooze in. I could not do rescue-Bless all those that do. I have tunnel vision when it comes to my babies. I look at Murphy and know we are on borrowed time now-he's only 2 1/2 (I didn't count on my fingers the other day and typed 1 1/2-LOL) but as long as he is comfortable and happy go lucky, we continue the little battles. He waits in the kitchen for his meds morning and night-takes less than a minute for the Interferon and the 3 capsules. He eats like a horse most days. He is Rosie's only companion now since her 4 brothers passed. She will be running around the house in the middle of the night, wailing when he passes, looking for him like she did for her brothers. That makes me really sad, plus he is my little shadow when I'm not at work. I guess it's a melancholy Sunday for this old lady-LOL ___ Felvtalk mailing
Re: [Felvtalk] Avis treatment plan (BIG thanks to Alice, Sharyl Natalie!!)
Thanks, Sheryl. Powder definitely sounds easier to dose than capsules. I will also talk to the vet about l-Lysine because Avis does have herpes. It damaged his 3rd eyelid which was why we were at the vet ophthalmologist and got the fateful blood test. TWO feral cat colonies?! Wow. That is sad to think about. So many throwaway cats. Or are most of them born feral? From: Sharyl cline...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sun, October 3, 2010 4:24:59 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Avis treatment plan (BIG thanks to Alice, Sharyl Natalie!!) Sounds like a good plan. The diff. between Pet-Tinic and NutriVed is the NutriVed contains folic acid. On the 'how bad do they taste' scale NutriVed may taste a little worse. If you go with Pet-Tinic you can always added folic acid. I prefer either powdered supplements or those in a capsule. Easier to mix in food or water than grinding up a tablet. Something we haven't talked about in a while is L-lysine. It is available as a powder on line. I buy it by the lb and add it to the water for my house kitties and the 2 groups of ferals I feed. Seem to help keep herpes infections at bay which most rescues have. I also add it to the canned food I put out for the feral colonies. Figure they need all the help they can get. Hugs to Avis Sharyl --- On Sun, 10/3/10, nise...@yahoo.com nise...@yahoo.com wrote: From: nise...@yahoo.com nise...@yahoo.com Subject: [Felvtalk] Avis treatment plan (BIG thanks to Alice, Sharyl Natalie!!) To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Sunday, October 3, 2010, 2:24 PM After pondering the excellent advice of Alice, Sharyl and Natalie, and scouring the FeLV archives, I think I've come up with a reasonable treatment plan to propose to my wonderful, open supportive vet. Any comments would be much appreciated. Recap: Avis is an approx 21 month old neutered male, rescued from an Avis parking lot when he was about 9 months, bounced around for about 8 months, living with us the last 4 months. A 9/27 CBC prior to a minor eye procedure requiring general anesthesia revealed non-regenerative anemia: HCT at 21%, RBC at 4.37, Retic 1%. The subsequent 9/28 FeLV/FIV test was positive. Beyond somewhat pale gums and a little lower energy compared to other young cats (no wild acrobatics for Avis!) he is physically fine right now. 11 lbs eats like a champ, uses litterbox regularly, keeps his glossy soft coat perfectly groomed, chases Max the Dog all over the house, spends hours twitching his tail at the squirrels on the other side of the window. Treatment Plan: 1. Diet - continue with daily 5.5 oz can of Wellness Wet Food and a 1/3 cup of California Naturals Chicken Brown Rice dry food. After 4 months of trying to wean Avis off his dry food addiction, this is the balance we've mutually agreed to! He eats it all up and hits the water bowl pretty good once or twice a day. 2. Treats - about 8 pieces of Greenies baked dry cat treats each day, he LOVES them and they do seem to have some vitamins added. 3. Supplements - either Pet-tinic or NutriVed. Still researching. 4. Immediately start LTCI injections. Given that results from only a few formal studies are currently available, I view the LTCI regime as sort of an unofficial phase II clinical trial. But given Avis' prognosis, it is definitely worth trying. 5. Immediately start on 2x daily Interferon Alpha (unless there is some way I can get Interferon Omega from Europe). Anecdotally, this seems to help some cats, and has been safely given to FeLV+ cats for several years. Again, well worth trying. 6. Keep the big guns like Epogen Prednilosone in reserve for when the HCT goes below 20% or he starts to feel weak and lose appetite. 7. Stable, stress free environment and lots of love. That's it! Thoughts from the FeLV community? ___ 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 ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy's little comeback-he definitely has 9 lives!! jbero tds.net (Jenny)
Hi Alice, Thanks so much for sharing all this. I'm learning a lot following your posts and am so happy that Murphy is having a comeback. If you don't mind answering some more questions, I would very much appreciate it. Just this week I found out by pure accident that the awesome Avis is FeLV+. His counts show nonregenerative anemia: RBC 4.37, HCT 21%. I'd love to get these numbers up a little, or at least keep them from going down for as long as possible. Because right now, he is loving life: eats well, plays with Max the Dog, stalks all those critters on the other side of the window purrs purrs purrs. So, the questions: 1) How long have Murphy Rosie been taking LTCI shots how have they benefited from them? 2) Ditto Interferon -- how long what benefits. Also, do you use the feline Interferon (omega) version if so, how do you get it? Because my understanding is that feline interferon is only available in Europe, maybe Canada, and that there are some risks to using human interferon. 3) Procit -- I was under the impression that Procrit/Epogen is used when the anemia is a result of chronic renal failure. Does Murphy have CRF? 4) Any experience/thoughts on ImmunoRegulin Staph Protein A? I am struggling with what treatments to try and when to start. Is sooner better or should I keep these treatments in reserve for when HCT goes under 20%? Thanks again, hearing your real world experience helps tremendously! Kris B. From: Alice Flowers aliceflow...@sbcglobal.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Fri, October 1, 2010 8:01:24 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Murphy's little comeback-he definitely has 9 lives!! jbero tds.net (Jenny) Hi Jenny! OK-we live at the vet-LOL With FeLV, the sooner you can nip anything in the bud, the better. Murphy was put on Cyproheptadine in April for sneezing-we thought allergies because he liked to hang out at the screen door to watch the birds. I had been giving fewer LTCI shots-went to 8 weeks-dumb.the end of July he became anemic-still sneezing and now lethargic, he had lost almost a pound in the 3 months. July 23-He has always tested negative for FHM (formerly known as Hemobartonella). We added the Doxy 2x a day (1/4 of a 100mg tab that I put in a gel cap with the 1/2 tab of 4 mg Cypro) on July 23, along with Procrit 3x a week and the iron capsule 1x a day. Still on Interferon 1cc 2x a day (both he and Rosie). I think the Doxy as more of a preventative measure. He had lots of URIs his first year. Absolute Reticulocyte count was 35200. Autoplatelet 744..Large platelets present, Slight Howell jolly bodies persent. No FHM seen. Went to every 2 wks with the LTCI. Aug 6 he had a temp of 104.7 and was given a shot of .5 ml PennG which I repeated every 5 days at home. But his in-office PCV was up to 27 from 18 in July. CBCs- RBC 3.07 HGB 6.9 HCT 22.5 Autoplatelet 897 Platelets appear increased Large platelets present Absolute Reticulocyte count 70610 Marked degree of regeneration. Sept 18-Breathing too fast-103.5 temp ultrasound showed fluid in the chest cavity and she could not see his heart and lungs on the test-his breathing was raspy. Added Prednisolone 5mg 2x a day and Lasix 1/2 tab 2x a day (I put both in one gelcap) CBC showed RBC 6.48 HGB 11.6 HCT 38.7 (no reticulocyte done) Auto Platelet 621 Platelets appear increased. Decreased Procrit to 2x a week and Iron capsule to one every other night. Added Rutin when Dawn wrote about using it and it helped her cat-1 gel cap 2x a day. LTCI once a week. Today Oct 1 Marked Improvements! ultrasound showed very scant fluid -lung sounds great. In office PCV 36 TP 6-continue the meds except decrease the Procrit (21 units in an insulin syringe) to once a week-mucous membranes nice and pink, temp 101.1, up to 11 lbs 1/2 oz (from 10 lbs Aug 6 but he was 12 lbs a year ago) Come back in a month for CBC (Hahahaha-we didn't know if he was going to make it to this appt and now it's see ya in a month!!) Wooo Hooo!! He has a good appetite-loves the AD wet food from the vet, strained ham is his favorite baby food-he eats dry food really well also-blue buffalo with probiotics and a few other premium grain free holistic foods without fishmeal (some fishmeal is preserved with carcinogens). I do let him have some junk food-LOL cuz he loves the hairball control treats in the silver package, and he is a fluffy boy. I hope you can make sense of the numbers. It's one heck of a roller coaster ride. Alice ___ 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
[Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia
I am so grateful to find this group. Please help me with your collective experience wisdom on this horrible disease. I don't have many specifics about Avis' history, but I gather that he was a stray in bad shape when he was rescued, then bounced around before settling in a dorm room with a college student friend of my daughter. Avis is currently about 21 months old. In May, I agreed to keep him for the summer. The original plan was that he would live in my good-sized, many-windowed basement safely separated from Max, my 9 year old border terrier who has never shared his home with another animal. Avis would return to his college student when school started after labor day. I absolutely did not expect the silly dog cat to become best friends in a week, playing together all over the house. Max wasn't the only one who quickly became fond of Avis, so I offered to keep him through the school year to avoid cooping him up in a dorm room. Avis came to us with a diagnosis of Feline Herpes a third eyelid permanently raised about halfway on one eye. A few days ago, I took him to a vet ophthalmologist for a minor procedure to improve his vision. A complete blood workup was done as prep to general anesthesia. It showed anemia, nonregenerative. WBC, Neutrophils LYM were also very low normal. The eye procedure was postponed. I rushed Avis to my vet for a FeLV/FIV test. Positive for FeLV, which was heartbreaking, but not really a surprise. Avis feels just fine right now. But because he already has blood abnormalities there is obviously no way to predict how long he will continue to feel good. My vet says she is willing to try any reasonable option to give him a chance at as much good quality life as possible. So I am now researching LTCI, Interferon, ImmunoRegulin, Staph Protein A -- all the treatments I'm sure have been thoroughly discussed on this forum before. Any consensus about what is most safe effective? Because there do not seem to be any definitive clinical trials or studies to go by. I will likely take care of Avis for the time he has left -- this is too much for a busy, stressed out college student to handle. Any suggestions to keep Avis as strong and comfortable and happy as possible for as long as possible will be very, very much appreciated. Thank you! Kris B. ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia
Hi Beth, RBC 4.37 HCT 21% Gums tongue a little pale, lower energy than other cats his age, but eating well, playing keeping up with everything that's going on the other side of the windows. My vet tells me that many anemic cats feel fine until the HCT hits 15%, give or take. We will do another blood test end of Oct, then approx every few months to see if the numbers hold steady, or monitor how fast they drop. So my goal is to keep those numbers up as high as possible for as long as possible. I understand that sometimes treatments like LTCI, Interferon, etc can help with that. Any thoughts/experiences? KB From: Beth create_me_...@yahoo.com To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thu, September 30, 2010 2:58:29 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia How anemic is he? what is his HCT? It is a common thing with FeLV needs to be monitored. Beth Dont Litter, Fix Your Critter! www.Furkids.org --- On Thu, 9/30/10, nise...@yahoo.com nise...@yahoo.com wrote: From: nise...@yahoo.com nise...@yahoo.com Subject: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Thursday, September 30, 2010, 1:39 PM I am so grateful to find this group. Please help me with your collective experience wisdom on this horrible disease. I don't have many specifics about Avis' history, but I gather that he was a stray in bad shape when he was rescued, then bounced around before settling in a dorm room with a college student friend of my daughter. Avis is currently about 21 months old. In May, I agreed to keep him for the summer. The original plan was that he would live in my good-sized, many-windowed basement safely separated from Max, my 9 year old border terrier who has never shared his home with another animal. Avis would return to his college student when school started after labor day. I absolutely did not expect the silly dog cat to become best friends in a week, playing together all over the house. Max wasn't the only one who quickly became fond of Avis, so I offered to keep him through the school year to avoid cooping him up in a dorm room. Avis came to us with a diagnosis of Feline Herpes a third eyelid permanently raised about halfway on one eye. A few days ago, I took him to a vet ophthalmologist for a minor procedure to improve his vision. A complete blood workup was done as prep to general anesthesia. It showed anemia, nonregenerative. WBC, Neutrophils LYM were also very low normal. The eye procedure was postponed. I rushed Avis to my vet for a FeLV/FIV test. Positive for FeLV, which was heartbreaking, but not really a surprise. Avis feels just fine right now. But because he already has blood abnormalities there is obviously no way to predict how long he will continue to feel good. My vet says she is willing to try any reasonable option to give him a chance at as much good quality life as possible. So I am now researching LTCI, Interferon, ImmunoRegulin, Staph Protein A -- all the treatments I'm sure have been thoroughly discussed on this forum before. Any consensus about what is most safe effective? Because there do not seem to be any definitive clinical trials or studies to go by. I will likely take care of Avis for the time he has left -- this is too much for a busy, stressed out college student to handle. Any suggestions to keep Avis as strong and comfortable and happy as possible for as long as possible will be very, very much appreciated. Thank you! Kris B. ___ 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 ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
Re: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia
Thanks for the kind welcome, Natalie! It really was a joy to watch my feisty old terrier become such friends with a young cat. For whatever reason, they just clicked. I am glad it happened, because I think that Avis needs us. So are you doing anything special for your FeLV+ cats? Diet, supplements? How about stuff to avoid? Any insight is much appreciated. KB From: Natalie at...@optonline.net To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thu, September 30, 2010 2:24:14 PM Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia That's so wonderful, Kris - now you know that your dog is really open to another animal buddy! I'm sure you'll get great advice from othersI am also fairly new to this group and have two very healthy FeLV+ adult male cats. I just wanted to tell you that I am currently socializing two 3-month old kittens, they are extremely well-adjusted. Our small dog, a Shnorky (Schnauzer/Yorky) and the male kitten absolutely love each other. They chase each other, roll around, chewing one another, playing hide and seek, pouncing out from behind the hiding places, etc...and the female doesn't mind any of that craziness, either! None of the adult cats mind our dog, they were here first. But I am seriously considering not finding a home for Tobey because Cookie and he are such great friends! Natalie -Original Message- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of nise...@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 1:40 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] Trying to do the right thing for Avis who is FeLV+ w/nonregenerative anemia I am so grateful to find this group. Please help me with your collective experience wisdom on this horrible disease. I don't have many specifics about Avis' history, but I gather that he was a stray in bad shape when he was rescued, then bounced around before settling in a dorm room with a college student friend of my daughter. Avis is currently about 21 months old. In May, I agreed to keep him for the summer. The original plan was that he would live in my good-sized, many-windowed basement safely separated from Max, my 9 year old border terrier who has never shared his home with another animal. Avis would return to his college student when school started after labor day. I absolutely did not expect the silly dog cat to become best friends in a week, playing together all over the house. Max wasn't the only one who quickly became fond of Avis, so I offered to keep him through the school year to avoid cooping him up in a dorm room. Avis came to us with a diagnosis of Feline Herpes a third eyelid permanently raised about halfway on one eye. A few days ago, I took him to a vet ophthalmologist for a minor procedure to improve his vision. A complete blood workup was done as prep to general anesthesia. It showed anemia, nonregenerative. WBC, Neutrophils LYM were also very low normal. The eye procedure was postponed. I rushed Avis to my vet for a FeLV/FIV test. Positive for FeLV, which was heartbreaking, but not really a surprise. Avis feels just fine right now. But because he already has blood abnormalities there is obviously no way to predict how long he will continue to feel good. My vet says she is willing to try any reasonable option to give him a chance at as much good quality life as possible. So I am now researching LTCI, Interferon, ImmunoRegulin, Staph Protein A -- all the treatments I'm sure have been thoroughly discussed on this forum before. Any consensus about what is most safe effective? Because there do not seem to be any definitive clinical trials or studies to go by. I will likely take care of Avis for the time he has left -- this is too much for a busy, stressed out college student to handle. Any suggestions to keep Avis as strong and comfortable and happy as possible for as long as possible will be very, very much appreciated. Thank you! Kris B. ___ 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 ___ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
