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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Hi Amani – you just reminded me that I had purchased Doxycyclene for our 21 year old cockatiel – Selu – a few years ago. He was experiencing some respiratory problems and I had to mix it into his water. It worked well as I remember.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ardy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces@felineleukemia.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Amani Oakley<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 19, 2017 9:11 PM<br><b>To:</b> felvtalk@felineleukemia.org<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Great news, too, with your success in getting her to eat more and put on weight.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>I love to hear good news on this front. Let’s hope she continues in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Amani<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> Felvtalk [<a href="mailto:felvtalk-bounces@felineleukemia.org">mailto:felvtalk-bounces@felineleukemia.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Randy Henke<br><b>Sent:</b> January-19-17 9:53 PM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:felvtalk@felineleukemia.org">felvtalk@felineleukemia.org</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [Felvtalk] Curly's gradual improvement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>It has been a little over a month ago that I asked for advice on this forum for our little girl, Curly.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<br><br>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!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-CA>Randy<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN-CA><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>