[Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement

[dlgegg at windstream.net]

Keep that vet!

---- Randy Henke <randy at magicedge.com> wrote: 
> Amani, you asked what our vet thought about Curly's improvement. He was
> very pleased but I think he was also a little surprised. He is an
> incredible vet and always goes the extra mile to listen and explain things.
> He was also very open to letting us try the Prednisolone, Doxy and
> Winstrol, even though he'd never treated a FELV cat in that way. I think he
> thought it would help put my mind at ease that we'd tried everything we
> could and he's right. It would have done that even if the treatment hadn't
> worked. He was very concerned about the Prednisolone opening her up to
> secondary infections but once he saw the numbers start to improve he was
> convinced we were doing the right thing and told us to keep it up. I am
> going to talk to him about continuing the Doxy.
> 
> Robert, that's a great idea about crushing the Doxy, mixing it in broth and
> administering with a syringe. We'd tried mixing it in her food once and
> that did not go well. Obviously it's a very nasty tasting medicine.
> 
> Ardy and Katherine, thanks for your support. I really wish that more vets
> were open to trying novel treatments that hold so much potential instead of
> assuming that they know everything.
> 
> Randy
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Amani Oakley <aoakley at oakleylegal.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > Oh Randy, I am so THRILLED to hear of your positive response to the
> > medications, and that your vet was so helpful. (What does your vet think of
> > the response?) You may think that 15% haematocrit is still very sick, and
> > it is still well outside the normal range, but you’ve basically had a 60%
> > increase in haematocrit in 3 weeks. That is quite amazing and wonderful. It
> > is as good a result as you would have had with 2 units of blood being given
> > as a transfusion, only it is much better than a transfusion because Curly
> > is producing her own cells, rather than temporarily filling up with someone
> > else’s blood.
> >
> >
> >
> > With respect to the Doxy, I am not sure. If it were me, I would probably
> > want to continue if you can. You’ve had a very good result. Why mess with
> > the formula? I can’t say definitively, one way or the other, since I very
> > much figured things out by running weekly blood work and if I saw a dip or
> > a reversal in the numbers, I would adjust the medication accordingly. I
> > don’t know if I am right about my Doxy theory (and it is just pure
> > conjecture on my part, based on my non-vet research) but I really think
> > that the Doxy is part of the effective package. I feel that the Doxy holds
> > the virus in check – perhaps slowing down its reproduction by inhibiting
> > RNA synthesis – enough to allow the body to make some progress with the
> > Winstrol. I don’t think that the Winstrol on its own is enough.
> >
> >
> >
> > With the Doxy, I used to scrape the quarter tablet into a slab of butter
> > to coat it with butter, to help it slide down better, since the quarter
> > table it very dry and scratchy. I also posted recently that the Doxy we get
> > from vets (and even from our doctors) is the same as what you can get to
> > treat fish or birds, in a pet store, and that is sold in powdered packages
> > of 100 mg (same as 1 tablet). A prescription isn’t needed for it, and
> > because it is powdered, it can be mixed into food or liquid.
> >
> >
> >
> > Great news, too, with your success in getting her to eat more and put on
> > weight.
> >
> >
> >
> > I love to hear good news on this front. Let’s hope she continues in the
> > right direction.
> >
> >
> >
> > Amani
> >
> >
> >
> > *From:* Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org] *On Behalf
> > Of *Randy Henke
> > *Sent:* January-19-17 9:53 PM
> > *To:* felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
> > *Subject:* [Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement
> >
> >
> >
> > It has been a little over a month ago that I asked for advice on this
> > forum for our little girl, Curly.
> >
> > At that point, I had little hope. She was so lethargic and her hematocrit
> > had dipped to a critical 9%. I took everyone's advice, especially Amani's,
> > and asked our vet for Predisolone, Winstrol and Doxycycline.
> >
> > According to her latest CBC two weeks ago, she is still a very sick kitty
> > but her hematocrit rebounded to 15% which I know is still very low. All
> > other numbers are improving slowly as well. That was after less than three
> > weeks of treatment.
> >
> > She is due for another CBC next Tuesday and I am hopeful we will see more
> > improvement. I've noticed her gums are more pink which I believe is a good
> > sign.
> >
> > We were still having problems with getting her to eat. She would have her
> > good days and her bad days but her weight was still creeping down. Last
> > week I asked our vet about Mirtazapine and our vet agreed to give us a
> > prescription for it. I have to thank Robert for mentioning this in one of
> > his posts.
> >
> > One day last week she didn't want to eat so I gave her a quarter pill
> > (3.75 mg) which is the dose our vet prescribed to give her daily. The
> > result was phenomenal and almost a little scary. She was bouncing off the
> > walls within a few hours and eating everything she could get her paws on. I
> > almost felt a little sorry for her because it was like she couldn't sit
> > still for more than a couple of minutes. But it was like getting our old
> > Curly back again in just a single day!
> >
> > The effect tapered off after a couple of days and we didn't feel
> > comfortable giving her another dose until she stopped eating again because
> > of how dramatic the change was. I've read online that a smaller dose could
> > be effective if given every 72 hours so we are going to try doing that so
> > she keeps eating. It was incredible to see her weight go up by a quarter
> > pound in just a couple of days.
> >
> > We are continuing the Prednisolone and Winstrol at the recommended doses
> > but our two week Doxycycline prescription ran out over a week ago. She does
> > appear to still be making improvement without it but I'm wondering if I
> > should ask for another prescription to keep that going as well.
> >
> > I always worry about giving her the quarter pill of Doxy because I know it
> > can cause esophageal damage if it isn't followed by liquids. I was
> > following the pill with the liquid Winstrol solution but wasn't sure if
> > that was enough.
> >
> > Many thanks to everyone who gave us advice. It looks like we might have
> > our Curly back for at least a while yet and it's all because of you people.
> >
> > Randy
> >
> >
> >
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> >