[Felvtalk] Please help! Anemic felv kitty, what can be done??

[N. E. Juskowich]

I'd just like everyone to know how much your responses have meant to me and
my sick little boy. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your
experiences and knowledge.

The second transfusion barely made a dent in his HCT and now I come to
learn that his platelet count is abysmally low. No one is feeling very
positive about his chances for recovery, so we're mostly focusing on
palliative care and holistic treatment at this time. He gave me a very
eloquent Look and lengthy plaintive meow right after he got home from the
hospital that clearly said, "Mom, please don't put me through that again."
 I want his final days to be about love and comfort, not stress and
needles, so we aren't going to try a third transfusion.

He is starting to feel the illness now, spends most of the day sleeping,
still has a good appetite and takes interest in the view from his perches.
He's spending more time cuddling up with me; I don't know if it's because
he knows now that he's unwell or he's trying to comfort mom. I try to hold
it together and send peaceful vibes to him, but sometimes my emotions get
the better of me.

Condolences to everyone who's lost a kitty (or kitties) to this horrible
disease.


On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 3:00 PM, N. E. Juskowich <nej917 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Time is of the essence for us and I need to know if there's something else
> that can be done for my sweet little just-turned-one-year-old boy.  He had
> a PCV of 12% and received a blood transfusion, his PCV went up a little,
> then back down, then up to 17% over the course of 24 hours.  He was put on
> 7.5 mg. prednisone, 25 mg. mycophenolate, 18.75 mg. plavix (to prevent
> clots from the pred/mycophenolate combo), 25 mg. doxycycline (in case of
> mycoplasma infection), and 5 mg. famotidine to prevent GI issues from the
> pred.
>
> His anemia is currently non-regenerative with two most likely potential
> causes: he was agglutination positive, a sign of immune mediated red blood
> cell destruction; he may have leukemia in the marrow.  We did not do a bone
> marrow aspirate because cancer would be too advanced at this stage, the
> severe anemia indicating this to be the case.  The doctor said it could
> take a few days of immunosuppressant therapy for the bone marrow to
> respond.
>
> Two days after the PCV of 17% we had a recheck and it is now down to 14%.
> He is going to receive another transfusion.
>
> I need to know as quickly as possible: Is there anything else that can be
> done at this stage?  I was looking into treatment with TCyte (LTCI), but my
> vet said it would be a waste of time and money.  I'd read on a forum that a
> severely anemic felv kitty responded very well to the drug and I would've
> been willing to give it a shot.  My vet is of the opinion that I should not
> have bothered with this second transfusion (he had to go to emergency
> hospital for it) and the TCyte is "hogwash".  I'm sitting here feeling
> hopeless and wondering if this really is the end and what do I do now if he
> doesn't respond to the transfusion.
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  No sugar coating necessary, but
> please be gentle.  If nothing can be done, what can I do for him to keep
> him happy and comfortable?  Will he need euthanized or will he pass
> peacefully?
>
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