Nathan,
I don't give advice on FeLV on this list because I am
so new, but I CAN tell you about a hypoplastic
trachea, because I have a cat with it. She also has
asthma, and the attacks are very frightening.
I give her .5ml dexamethasone (sp) in her rear muscle.
I also give her aminophiline to open her airway. It
takes a few hours to work, but it does. She is in a
room with a HEPA air filter. You have to keep them
quiet during any breathing problems. Unless they are
mouth breathing and the gums are pink, they are
holding their own even tho it looks like they are
dying.
I am NOT a vet, and this is what I do for MY cat as
per my vet's instructions. I does sound to me like
your vets are not doing enough for Mao. I will just
add that it took me 3 yrs to find a vet that has
successfully treated Dusty. They say this condition
is fairy rare.
All the best,
Dede
--- Nathan Kennedy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Yesterday I got the bad news that my boy Mao was
> FeLV+. This was the
> worst-case scenario and one that I had dismissed
> because he tested
> negative when I rescued him from the street as a
> baby in October, as had
> the only other cat he had contact with.
>
> He saw the vet on his first visit, the next day for
> vaccinations and a
> checkup, a few weeks later for boosters, again for a
> nasty fever in
> December that cleared up shortly afterwards, and in
> January for neutering.
> Other than the fever, the only problems he had were
> recurring diarrhea
> that I tried to manage by modifying his diet and an
> occasional fit of
> whooping that the vet had dismissed as hairballs.
> Those worried me a bit,
> but the vet's clean bill of health, his big
> appetite, energy, and growth
> all reassured me.
>
> Until recently. Mao seemed to dull a bit, and
> started snoring during his
> naps. Over the past week, Mao developed a nasty
> case of earmites and
> increased trouble breathing, progressing into fits
> of gasping for air.
> Since he had no runny nose and his temperature was
> normal, I thought it
> might be asthma. I took him to the vet on Saturday,
> and he took a blood
> sample and X-rayed him, finding a constriction in
> his trachea. He
> prescribed prednisone to try to make it easier for
> him to breathe as well
> as treatment for the mites. Then Sunday night, Mao
> almost instantly
> developed a horrible eye infection. The third
> eyelid of his right eye
> closed over and swelled up, blinding him in that eye
> and making it
> impossible for him to close it--meanwhile, his
> breathing deteriorated. He
> went back to another vet in the morning, and got
> eyedrops and ointment as
> well as antibiotics. It wasn't until later in the
> afternoon I got the
> call that he had tested FeLV+.
>
> Mao's breathing is not improving. The slightest
> exertion is enough to
> send him into a loud fit of labored gasping, and
> when he is not napping
> every breath is strained--he can't climb his
> scratching post anymore,
> which used to be his favorite perch. Despite all
> that, he still wakes me
> up in the morning purring and rubbing my face. He
> still likes to eat and
> pauses between bites of his favorite food to give me
> his happy look
> through his squinting, red eyes. He has always been
> such a happy cat, and
> it still shows through all his suffering.
>
> But if his condition doesn't get any better I don't
> think he can last much
> longer. It's hard to see this happen to Mao at such
> a young age (not even
> 8 months yet). The vet who diagnosed him told me
> that he could have
> gotten FeLV shortly before I found him and tested
> negative. I didn't
> think I would lose him so soon.
>
>
>
"When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service
of your God"
Mosiah 2:17
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