[Felvtalk] FW: Merlot

Mon Oct 19 12:46:33 CDT 2015

Thank you Amani. Thank you to everyone in this group, it has been a very
supportive for the last 15 months or so since I lost my first cat to FeLV.

On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 1:43 PM, Amani Oakley <aoakley at oakleylegal.com>
wrote:

>
>
> I adopted a cat last summer (2014) from a feral colony. I found out, just
> after I adopted her, that several of the other cats taken from the colony
> died from FIP. The kitten I had taken was about 8 months old, and she got
> deathly ill just after I took her home. She was congested with runny eyes
> and a temperature when I took her, but got REALLY bad after that. She ran a
> very high temperature and wouldn’t eat, and just basically slept for days.
> I couldn’t get any real food into her, but did manage to get some pureed
> baby food in via syringe (this is always a great life-saver!). I started
> her on the Winstrol, because again, FIP is a game-over virus and I had
> nothing to lose as she was clearly not going to make it otherwise, and
> there is nothing that treats FIP effectively. I spoke to the woman from
> whom I had adopted her and she told me that the cat I had been stroking and
> cooing over the night before had also just passed away and again, it looked
> like FIP.
>
>
>
> Samantha had a very hard belly – another sign of FIP, and I think she had
> fluid accumulation AROUND her lungs (another sign of FIP).
>
>
>
> It took longer for me to see an effect with Samantha than I had seen with
> Zander – my FeLV cat – but she was looking a lot better in about a week and
> much better in 2 weeks. I discontinued the Winstrol after about a month
> because she was very difficult to catch and pill, being a semi-feral.
> Otherwise I would have continued for much longer. She got better in every
> way except she continued to have sounds of chest congestion even though an
> xray done eventually, showed no accumulation within the lungs. The sounds
> in her chest continued, though nothing else was wrong.
>
>
>
> Recently (about 1 month ago now) I decided to try the Winstrol again, to
> see if I could clear out what I felt was the accumulated fluid AROUND the
> lungs, typical of FIP. I didn’t notice a change after 1 week of Winstrol
> (which is unusual as I can usually tell when this stuff is working, very
> early on). I decided to persevere, nonetheless, because Winstrol is really
> a more long-term kind of medication. She has now been on it for 5 weeks and
> I just mentioned to my husband today that I have now noticed that the
> unusual gurgling and air restriction which I had always heard with her,
> were now almost completely dissipated. Still a bit there, but very mild.
>
>
>
> I know that for the people on the chatline who have seen my posts before,
> they must think I have Winstrol on the brain, but I have had good results
> with it almost every time one of my cats receives a death sentence from one
> of these incurable viruses, and other situations where it has helped boost
> energy and food intake (sarcoma of the nasal cavity). The way I look at it,
> it really can’t hurt in most of these circumstances, and there is a good
> possibility of a positive effect. One of the Listserve members emailed me
> recently to indicate she had gotten her cat on Winstrol after my
> suggestions, and this turned him right around, so hopefully, others will
> experience some of these good results too.
>
>
>
> Amani
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org
> <felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org>] *On Behalf Of *Maya D'Alessio
> *Sent:* October-19-15 1:20 PM
> *To:* felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Felvtalk] Merlot
>
>
>
> Wow, after looking in to FIP, it does sound like that could be what is
> going on.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 12:22 PM, Amani Oakley <aoakley at oakleylegal.com>
> wrote:
>
> Then get the Winstrol ASAP. My cat was in an oxygen tent and his
> haemotocrit was down to 5 before I got the Winstrol into him.
>
>
>
> The abdominal pain sounds more like FIP, to be honest, but I have a FIP
> cat who also responded remarkably to the Winstrol, so same advice. Call the
> vet today and speak to him about getting the Winstrol right away. I
> understand that it can be injected though I have never done that. If the
> vet is able, starting with an injection might give Merlot a faster boost.
>
>
>
> Amani
>
>
>
> *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Maya D'Alessio
> *Sent:* October-19-15 12:04 PM
>
>
> *To:* felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Felvtalk] Merlot
>
>
>
> Thanks for the advice re. the winstrol. I am honestly concerned about him
> making it past the next few days.
>
>
>
> His abdomen is really sore/tense/uncomfortable and he complains heavily
> when being moved/picked up/palpated. Do you have any idea if that fits with
> the FeLV?
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 11:59 AM, Amani Oakley <aoakley at oakleylegal.com>
> wrote:
>
> Maya
>
>
>
> I would be pretty sure that the platelet drop is from FeLV and I am not
> sure why that is stumping the vets. FeLV can attack any one of the three
> cell lines (red cells, white cells and platelets) because it effects the
> bone marrow where these cells are all produced. Thus, when FeLV begins to
> affect a cat, you can get a drop in one or two or all three of the cell
> lines.
>
>
>
> In addition to the treatment he is getting, ask the vet to put him on
> Winstrol. I have posted here many times, and will again, that Winstrol is
> the only medication I found effective that actually turned back on the cell
> production of the bone marrow. He can remain on the prednisolone and the
> Doxycycline. Even though the Doxycycline is an antibiotic and thus not
> effective against viruses, my vets have said that they have gotten some
> positive results from using it with FeLV cats. I used it with my cat, in
> addition to the Prednisolone and the Winstrol, but having used the
> Doxycycline and Prednisolone WITHOUT the Winstrol first, I can confirm that
> it was the Winstrol that did the trick (confirmed by weekly monitoring of
> my cat’s blood work – checking specifically for haematocrit levels, RBC
> levels, Reticulocyte levels, white cells (total, neutrophils and
> leukocytes) and platelet counts. (I have posted this before, but just so
> that you know, before moving to Winstrol, I had my cat on Interferon –
> which did nothing to his blood work results at all – and then LTCI – which
> again had no positive result on the bloodwork.)
>
>
>
> Winstrol (Stanozolol) is an anabolic steroid which usually is required to
> be ordered from a compounding pharmacy. The dose I used was 1 mg 2x a day.
>
>
>
> If you want to confirm the effectiveness as I did, place Merlot on the
> Winstrol and after a week or two, run his haematology blood work again. You
> should start seeing a nudging up of the red cells, although the platelet
> counts in my cat at least, were the last to respond to the Winstrol. Don’t
> give up if there is no change in 2 weeks, and you will likely also get a
> bump up in his appetite and his general feeling of wellbeing (playing,
> purring, etc.)
>
>
>
> Merlot may start having his liver enzymes rise. Resist the urge or the
> advice of your vet to discontinue the Winstrol. The liver enzymes will very
> likely drop after he is weaned off the Winstrol, and for the time being,
> the more important thing is to deal with his failing bone marrow.
>
>
>
> Amani
>
>
>
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>
>

-- 
Maya D'Alessio
PhD student
B1 377B, x32320
Graduate Studies Endowment Fund Coordinator
Biology GSA Vice Chair
GSA Director At-Large
University of Waterloo
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