[Felvtalk] Harley (resent)

[Lance]

[This is being resent, as I used another email address when I originally tried to send it—hopefully there won’t be any duplicates on the list]

Hi Marsha,

I’ll try to answer your questions in this email.

AZT: I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’ve spoken to my vet about it, and I think there’s a greater risk of doing damage than of affecting the virus. AZT might make sense when the vet has experience with it (I doubt many do at this point) and the cat is *very recently* infected. My understanding is that an established infection would require constant AZT dosing, which would likely be unhealthy for Harley. Still, I’d like to hear other thoughts, particularly if anyone has tried it. You might try calling Cornell or getting in touch with Dr. Alice Wolf.

Subtypes: I haven’t heard of a way to detect them. Maybe PCR does? I’m pretty sure that’s the closest an average person would come to being able to find out. Otherwise, it seems like you would need a nice bone marrow sample, access to a campus lab with sophisticated diagnostic equipment, and a virologist. I’m not even sure that the presence of the subtype definitely means that something will happen. I think it just means that problems like anemia and lymphoma are more likely. 

I could be wrong about this, but I think subtype A is the doer of the most immediate damage. It’s responsible for the immunosuppression we see in the vast majority of infected cats. Check the 2008 Retrovirus Management Guidelines paper to see if it offers any clues. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it, I am not a vet, etc. 

<http://www.catvets.com/guidelines/practice-guidelines/retrovirus-management-guidelines>

RetroMAD1: Sadly, could be a promising drug that no one outside the company and some local vets have tested. It also might be snake oil. I haven’t seen anything about it, either. I suspect that, if it had any kind of effect, we would know more about it by now. It’s been around for at least three years. A drug that cures (or even positively treats) cats with retroviral infections would be a big deal in veterinary medicine, and I’m sure a lot of researchers who study HIV and other viruses would also be interested.

I don’t know much about FIP, but the only cat I’ve seen with it went downhill very quickly. The vet did not conduct an autopsy to verify, but he felt certain that our boy had it (not sure if it was dry or wet FIP). Appetite for food and water disappeared almost overnight, and he was hiding almost immediately. He crashed, and it was very sad. 

Best hopes for Harley.

Lance