[Felvtalk] Felvtalk Digest, Vol 29, Issue 8

Fri Sep 16 10:15:50 CDT 2016

Any suggestions on what to do if the vet doesn't want to prescribe
Winstrol?

Elizabeth McCarty, ASW #36438

On Sep 16, 2016 6:48 AM, <felvtalk-request at felineleukemia.org> wrote:

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>    1. Re: My baby recently diagnosed with FeLV (Amani Oakley)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:48:06 +0000
> From: Amani Oakley <aoakley at oakleylegal.com>
> To: "felvtalk at felineleukemia.org" <felvtalk at felineleukemia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] My baby recently diagnosed with FeLV
> Message-ID:
>         <E0C1DFB06E10174B9D4AE353A62CECE30166FB1F5D at OAKLEYSRV.oakley.
> local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi Liz
>
> The only thing that works to turn back on red cell production is Winstrol
> (Stanazolol). It is an ANABOLIC steroid (as opposed to most steroids we are
> used to getting, like prednisone, which is a corticosteroid.
>
> Anabolic steroids are ones which build muscle, tissue, etc.
>
> Adding Winstrol to the combination of medication you have your cat on
> right now, would be the best thing to do. The Doxycycline acts to slow down
> or inhibit the reproduction of the FeLV virus by interfering the RNA
> duplication. The prednisone is helpful in keeping inflammation at bay, but
> neither of these helps to increase the red cells. The Winstrol acts
> directly and very quickly on the bone marrow and seems to get red cells
> generated again, quite promptly. At least it did for my Zander, and I have
> been contacted directly by several people from this group, who have
> reported to me that they also saw almost immediate (within 3 days) evidence
> of their cats? gums/ears/pads pinkening up.
>
> The problem is that Winstrol is a controversial drug because it is also
> what professional athletes use to get bigger, stronger and faster. Quite
> unfortunately (since none of our cats are entering the Olympics) that
> association with doping scandals has cast a shadow on its use in both
> animal and people medicine. In human medicine, it is the only drug found to
> be effective in treating hereditary angioedema and anemia.
>
> Here is a blurb I found about it:
>
> Winstrol was first invented in 1959. Soon after that, the UK based
> Winthrop Laboratories created a prescription medicine from it. Later, in
> 1961, Winthrop?s patent was bought by the US based Sterling that started
> manufacturing and selling the drug in the American markets.
> In the beginning, Winstrol was used for a variety of medical reasons. But
> later, by the 1970s, the FDA had restricted its use to only promoting
> growth and treating osteoporosis. In the 1980s, there was a termination of
> the manufacture of anabolic steroids in the American market. But Winstrol
> was among those steroids which not only survived, but thrived in the 1980s
> and 1990s. During this period, its use was reinforced as a cure for anemia
> ? as it had the power to boost red blood cell count, and was used as a
> treatment for facial swelling or angioedema.
> When the manufacture of Winstrol was finally discontinued, Ovation
> Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to manufacture it, in 2003. However,
> Ovation Pharmaceuticals have ceased their operations now, so the Winstrol
> products available today in the American markets are only generic and not
> pharmaceutical grade. Outside the USA, however, several large brands still
> manufacture and sell Winstrol.
> Genuine Stanozolol can be distinguished in water suspensions because it
> separates from the liquid into micrometer particles. These particles will
> fall to the bottom if the container is not disturbed for a few hours. The
> crystals have a milky white color.
> Winstrol can not only be used for humans, but it has veterinary uses as
> well. Weakened or injured animals can be treated with Winstrol in order to
> promote red blood cell count, strengthen bones, stimulate appetite, and
> enhance muscle growth. It has also reportedly been used to dope horses in
> US horse races.
> If your vet is willing to try this, he/she will need to order it from a
> compounding pharmacy.
>
> The dose should be 1 mg 2 times a day for a cat. If your cat is in poor
> shape and needs an immediate boost, start him on 2 mg x 2 times a day for a
> week or so, and then drop down to the lower dose.
>
> Your vet will undoubtedly say that Winstrol is known to cause liver damage.
>
> The first answer to this is, so what? FeLV will almost invariably result
> in the premature death of cats. The vets have nothing which is directly
> effective to fight FeLV. Things like Interferon may or may not assist but
> such a treatment is again a side treatment where you are hoping to boost
> your cat?s immune system, rather than a direct attack on the virus. It is
> also quite indirect in that IF the interferon helps, it will be more long
> term, and only if it manages to boost the immune system enough to permit
> your cat?s system to try and fight the virus, and when/if the virus is
> inhibited enough, then MAYBE (if the virus hasn?t already destroyed all the
> progenitor cells in the bone marrow) will red cell production begin to
> climb again. Winstrol is the only medication that I know of, (and believe
> me, I have looked!) that seems to work by turning back on those progenitor
> cells or possibly promoting the growth of new ones since it also works to
> enhance the production of bone cells
>   (effective against osteoporosis).
>
> The second answer, regarding the liver damage, is that the only
> information about this is quite suspect, coming out of a very poorly
> designed research study where the cats in the study were given doses found
> effective on HUSKY SLED DOGS for lord?s sake! The cats were given a LOADING
> DOSE via intravenous injection, of 25 mg ? more than 10 times the
> recommended daily dose for cats. That?s the only study which has found this
> supposed link between Winstrol and liver damage. And even in that study,
> with those remarkably ridiculous doses, the cats in that study only had
> elevated liver enzymes (no tumours, etc.) and the liver enzymes dropped
> back to normal levels when the Winstrol was discontinued. This is
> consistent with my experience as well. I refused to stop the Winstrol for
> my cat, when the enzymes went up, because he was going to die with the low
> red cell count he had. I kept him on Winstrol for around 10 months, before
> the red cells were in a normal range. During that ten mon
>  th period, I would wean him down a few times, but ALWAYS the red cells
> would immediately drop again, so it was more than clear that it was the
> Winstrol making the numbers rise. So, in the end, he had Winstrol pretty
> much for the duration of 10 months and his liver enzymes went right back to
> normal again, once I discontinued the Winstrol ? NO lasting damage. This
> was also my experience with a second cat with a nasal sarcoma, and where I
> used the Winstrol to keep her appetite up and reduce the swelling (she was
> 16). The enzymes went quite high at the outset of my use of Winstrol, but
> went back to normal when I weaned her off for a bit and then again when I
> ultimately took her off the Winstrol.
>
> Get the Winstrol if you can, and use it in combination with the prednisone
> (which I am told also helps to protect the liver when the Winstrol is used)
> and Doxycycline.
>
> Amani
>
> From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of
> Liz McCarty
> Sent: September-15-16 1:40 PM
> To: felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
> Subject: [Felvtalk] My baby recently diagnosed with FeLV
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Looking for support, suggestions, and information. I've never had a cat
> with FeLV. We took our 1 year old, Hodor, to the vet because he seemed
> lethargic and in his stool there was a piece of floss that was red. At the
> vet things escalated and they told us he was severely anemic and would need
> a transfusion that day. I took off work and rushed him to a specialist. The
> vet there told us she would run an FeLV test before doing anything in case
> we wanted to avoid the extra tests and procedures. She told us he was FeLV
> positive and persistently talked to me and my fiance about euthanizing him
> which was out of the question for us. I took him to the vet thinking it was
> going to be minor and then she's talking to me about killing him! We went
> forward with the blood transfusion. It's been almost 3 weeks now. They had
> him on doxycycline  in case there was a bacterial cause, and prednisone.
> Last week he started interferon... Does anyone have experience with that
> and know if it was effec
>  tive? I also started him on Pet Tinic.   Any other suggestions? Any
> insight into whether you think he will be able to pull through? He doesn't
> have cancer, they ran the tests but don't know if it's in the bone marrow.
> I'm scared. We have another one year old, unrelated, and they are best
> friends. It breaks my heart to think they might be separated. She's not
> FeLV positive.
>
> Additionally I have set up a go fund me to help with the costs we
> incurred, and I want to donate half to FeLV research if anyone is
> interested.
> http://www.gofundme.com/2mzdpgk
>
> Mainly looking for support and advice. Thank you in advance.
>
> Elizabeth McCarty, ASW #36438
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