[Felvtalk] New to Fel-V positive kitty

[Amani Oakley]

Hi Kristy

The advice I repeat to everyone is that the best combination I found to treat a FeLV cat is with prednisone (prednisolone), Doxycycline and Stanozolol. I don’t know if you have run blood work to determine the haematocrit/red cell levels, but when a cat goes into crisis, it is usually because the red cells are not being replenished by the infected bone marrow (which normally produces new red cells) and the cat becomes severely anaemic. Other cell lines in the blood soon follow (white cells and platelets) because the progenitor cells which produce those blood cell lines are also found in the infected bone marrow (which is attacked by the virus). The reticulocyte count, which is a measure of new red cells being produced by the bone marrow, is very low or even zero (which it was with my cat).

I would not wait until your cat is in crisis to start the treatment. My kitten was in severe crisis when I stumbled upon this combination therapy, and it was the only thing that worked to reverse the severe anaemia. I had tried three other treatments, while doing weekly blood testing, and none of the other treatments (Interferon, LTCI and Immunoregulin) budged his results upwards by even a single point, though I had used each treatment for weeks if not months in looking for an effective treatment.

If I were you, I would get him on Doxycycline rather than, or at least in addition to the Clavamox. The Doxycycline has been found to interfere with cell wall production with some viruses. If this were my kitten, I would get started on the combination of prednisone/stanozolol/doxycycline right away. You might want to test the blood work to get a baseline first, but given that your kitten is not currently in crisis, that may not be entirely necessary.

With respect to the intestinal issues, with my FeLV cat, I had identified that there was intestinal involvement and my research confirmed that the walls of the intestines can be affected by the virus. In my cat's case, the intestines were swollen and the stool seemed to sit in there for a long time. I used metoclopramide (tiny amount 1/4 to 1/5 of a tablet before each meal) to keep everything moving along, because my cat was eating and then throwing up. Metoclopramide helps with emptying of stomach contents and moving stool out of the top 1/3 of the intestines. You might consider trying the metoclopramide to see if it will help with the bloating and gas.

Amani



-----Original Message-----
From: Felvtalk <felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org> On Behalf Of Kristy
Sent: May 31, 2019 9:41 AM
To: felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
Subject: [Felvtalk] New to Fel-V positive kitty

Hi!

My husband and I recently took in a Fel-V+ kitty that showed up outside our house a couple of months ago. We already had 7 other kitties so we had to keep Fergus (kitty’s name) isolated in the upstairs portion of our house. 

He is experiencing bloating, is very gassy, and still has diarrhea (softer stools) and I was wondering if this is a typical symptom of a positive kitty. 

He’s been to the vet and no parasites were found, but he was running a fever. He is on Clavamox to help with the fever, but other than the bloating/gas/diarrhea he is a normal kitty. We’ve tried figuring out if he had an issue or allergy to specific foods, but nothing we’ve done has changed his bloating/gas/diarrhea. He did have an ultrasound at the vet visit and there were no masses or obstructions. 

Is this possibly a symptom of the Fel-V?  What sort of stuff should we be looking for?

He’s such a sweet, loving kitty and my husband’s baby!  How can we help this kitty?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Kristy

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